
carrying two meters, one for wading measurements 
and the other for cable measurements, was accepted 
as a necessary evil. That circumstance was demon- 
strated by the decision to manufacture a new model 
(no. 618) exclusively for wading measurements as a 
companion to model no. 617 for cable measurements. 
The new model no. 618 had no tailpiece. In its 
earliest version (fig. 24) it was suspended by means of 
a wading rod screwed into the top of the contact 
chamber, in the place normally occupied by the 
contact-chamber cap. In a later version (fig. 25) the 
wading rods were screwed into a boss on the yoke. 
In both instances the electrical contact facilities were 
identical to those furnished in the 617 models. 
Small Price “‘Combination Type’’ 
Current Meters 
With the advent of the model nos. 617 and 618 Small 
Price current meters, the Geological Survey assumed 
practically all responsibility for any changes in the 
design of such meters. ‘This was not strange or arbi- 
trary because the Survey had become a world pioneer 
in conducting stream gaging on a systematic basis, and 
such an organization inevitably must take charge of 
the improvement of its own working tools. In any 
event, that was the prevailing attitude when John 
Clayton Hoyt of the Survey began to make his influ- 
ence felt on the improvement of current meters and 
their accessories. Although Hoyt was not noted for 
possessing any particularly outstanding mechanical 
ability, he was quick to recognize and to act on good 
ideas when he saw or heard of them. 
BULLETIN 252: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 

THE 
Figure 20.—ORIGINAL SMALL PRricE 
current meter designed by Edwin 
Geary Paul and constructed by 
W. & L. E. Gurley; 
Smithsonian’s Museum of History 
(USNM eat. 
Smithsonian photo 
now in the 
and ‘Technology. 
no. 289643; 
44538-E.) 

Figure 21.—E. G. Paul 
617 Small Price current meter. 
(seated) rating a later model 
(From U.S. Geo- 
logical Survey Water-Supply Paper 56, pl. 12A.) 
About the same time the Geological Survey spon- 
sored the new-model no. 617 Small Price current 
meters, the use of electrical counters for evaluating the 
number of revolutions of the impellers began to lose 
favor. Newell reported that circumstance as follows: 1! 
The more experienced men . prefer to reduce their 
equipment to the simplest form, and, instead of reading 
11 U.S. Geological Survey, 79th Annual Report (1897-98), p. 23. 
MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 
