RELATION U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO PUBLIC 



653 



incut cartographers, for example, in 

 making the Post Route maps of the 

 Post-office Department, or as bases for 

 the military maps prepared by the War 

 Department. \Yhile we know the ex- 

 tent to which the maps are put to a 

 federal use, we can only estimate how 

 largely they are utilized by the engineer 

 in private practice in the great indus- 

 trial enterprises of the day 



These maps now possess a degree of 

 accuracy which fits them to serve the 

 general purposes of preliminary sur- 

 veys, so that the engineer can use them 

 for the location of railroads, canals, 

 highways, trolley lines, or in connec- 

 tion with planning water supply, sewer- 

 age, drainage, or irrigation systems. 

 The fact that the sales of these Sur- 

 vey maps average over a thousand 

 sheets every day in the year is evidence 

 of a popular demand, but the measure 

 of the contribution of these surveys to 

 the public includes more than the ex- 

 tent of map distribution. Over all parts 

 of the country there have been lines of 

 levels run amounting to more than 

 200,000 miles, over 8,000 miles be- 

 ing run last year. Permanent bench 

 marks are established, 2 100 last 

 year, as a result of this accurate level- 

 ing, and these monuments serve the 

 public, whether it be the western ranch- 

 ers planning their irrigation system or 

 the eastern engineers selecting a pipe- 

 line route. 



Geologic mapping by the Survey 

 geologists is another branch of explora- 

 tion work, in which not only is the 

 surface distribution of the rocks and 

 soils observed and mapped, but also the 

 subjacent formations are studied, to the 

 end that the published maps may fur- 

 nish the prospector, the mine-operator, 

 or the driller for oil, gas. or water with 

 reliable information as to what may be 

 encountered at hundreds and thousands 

 of feet beneath the surface. Detailed 

 geologic maps covering thousands of 

 square miles are issued each year, and 

 the issue of such a map of a mining dis- 

 trict is eagerly awaited by the mining 

 engineers and mine-owners. 



Nowhere has the Survey made a 

 better record than in Alaska. Ex- 



ploration work in this northern out- 

 post of our country has resulted in 

 maps that have well served the pur- 

 poses of the prospectors and miner- 

 who have added so much to the Na- 

 tion's wealth. The literature on Alaska 

 of value to mining men i- almost wholly 

 of Survey authorship ; yet the explora- 

 tions represented by these reports and 

 maps have involved an expenditure of 

 less than half a million dollars or only 

 one-half of one per cent, of the gold 

 output of Alaska for the same period. 

 not to mention the increasing produc- 

 tion of coal and copper. Few taxes are 

 so light as this. 



The investigation work of the Survey 

 is closely connected with the explora- 

 tions by the field-men. The data col- 

 lected must be studied, whether thesc 

 are geologic, geographic hydrograr/h.c. 

 or technologic: that is, whether the;, 

 concern, for instance, ore deposit-, 

 mountain passes, waterfalls, or smoke 

 abatement. Many are the lines of in- 

 vestigation, and each in its final analy- 

 sis is found to be utilitarian. 



One of the most important investi- 

 gations under the Geological Survey is 

 that of the water resources of the coun- 

 try. The daily flow of streams has 

 been gaged at over 1,500 points 

 throughout the United States for a 

 period of years, and from these records 

 tne public can gain the most authorita- 

 tive information available regarding 

 the average flow of these rivers. Dur- 

 ing the past year 630 gaging stations 

 were maintained. 



Still anotln r line of activity in scien- 

 tific investigation by the Geological 

 Survey is its technologic work. Tin- 

 testing of the fuels and structural matt- 

 rial?, of which the Government itself 

 is so large a consumer, has inaugurated 

 investigations which have alread\ 

 yielded results of the greatest value 

 to the public. Time permits mention 

 only of the general scope of this \\-ork. 

 but this is sufficient t > indicate it- im- 

 portance. These investigations include 

 the gas-producer tests which have 

 shown the practicability of utilizing for 

 power generation lo\v-grade fuels, such 

 as slack coal. Ixuie. and lignite, the 



