204 



Popular Science Monthly 



Filipinos built six of these towers so that the 

 engineers of our Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 could survey an island of dense jungles 



Building Eiffel Towers in the 

 Philippine Jungle 



THE accompanying photograph il- 

 lustrates one of the many hazard- 

 ous tasks which the engineers of the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey must un- 

 dertake in order to overcome the ob- 

 stacles of nature. Six towers, similar 

 to the one illustrated, and ranging in 

 height from 190 to 230 feet, were built 

 to enable the surveyors to get long 

 sights in the flat jungle country of 

 southern Palawan, an island of the 

 Philippines. 



The feat is all the more remarkable 

 when one considers the fact that the 

 work was done by half wild Filipinos, 

 many of whom were unable to under- 

 stand English. Under the supervision 

 of two American officers, the towers 

 were built entirely of rough trees and 

 saplings cut in the forest and carried 

 to the station on the shoulders of the 

 natives. Wire and nails brought from 

 the Coast Survey vessel were used to 

 fasten and secure the structures. 



Some of the towers were located back 

 several miles from the coast, so that 

 the party had to camp on the spot. 

 It was necessary to "pack" all of their 

 outfit and provisions, even to drinking 

 water, through the dense jungles and 

 swamps where it was impossible to 

 travel unless two or three natives went 

 ahead with their bolos and cut trails. 

 The natives were found to be excel- 

 lent at tower building; they could climb 

 up and around with almost as much 

 agility as monkeys. In spite of the 

 dangers naturally incurred in working 

 on such crude structures and at so great 

 a height, enough natives always volun- 

 teered to "work topside." The risks 

 they ran would make those of our 

 better known steeplejacks and steel 

 workers look tame by comparison. 



The towers are composed of two 

 separate structures, one inside the 

 other. This is necessary in order that 

 the theodolite (the instrument used 

 to measure the angles to far distant 

 stations) may be free from vibration. 

 Mounted on top of the inner tower, 

 it permits the observer to walk on the 

 outer one without shaking the instru 

 ment and disturbing its adjustment. 



