OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. 25 
glance what parts of the vast area under your jurisdiction yet remain 
as public domain. Although of small scale, it suffices for receiving 
all applications for grounds situated off shore. 
As fast as applications are received they are mapped on this map 
and tinted blue and the number of the application inked on it. 
Should an application be rejected, or cancelled, it is at once erased 
from this map. Applications which are too small to show distinctly 
have their numbers conspicuously placed within the limits of the town 
where the ground is situated. A memorandum is added, and refer- 
ence to the file of applications is all that is necessary to learn other 
details concerning such application. Ground which was designated 
prior to May 1, 1881, is shown by a pink tint. 
The tracings for assessment use were made by Mr. Sanford. Also 
the buoy tracings, and the record searches. He also prepared the 
books of buoy angles, of which full mention is made hereafter. 
The copies of the buoy books were made by Mr. R. G. Pike, Jr., 
and like the original notes, they present a uniform and handsome 
appearance. He also assisted for two weeks in the clerical work of 
the Tax Department, and also made various tracings. 
THE WORK IN APRIL AND MAY. 
Excepting the days occupied in doing buoy work and in repairing 
and building of signals, the months of April and May were devoted 
to completing necessary. office work for surveys planned for the field 
season. 
THE FIELD WORK—SIGNALS. 
The twenty-six signals necessary to be maintained for buoy work, 
extending from Portchester to the Connecticut River, were inspected 
by Mr. Pike, Jr., during the month of April and early part of May. 
They were found to be in good condition and required but slight 
repairs. The practice of whitewashing the signals was abandoned 
and white paint substituted. The result has been highly satisfactory, 
the signals gleaming with great distinctness, and thus enabling us 
to observe on many days when otherwise the signals would have been 
too dim to warrant safe observing. I would recommend painting the 
signals at each spring inspection. Also that next spring, the signals 
that are near dwellings, have the land sides of the tripods boarded up 
and painted. ~Thus the same symmetrical and tidy appearance will 
be presented to the dwellers on the shore as to the observers on the 
water, and all grounds of offense as to their appearance be removed. 
