68 



The National Geographic Magazine 



the many varied sources of information, 

 to reconcile conflicting statements, to set 

 forth only the facts upon which the mar- 

 iner can rely with confidence, and to 

 exercise a care in their preparation com- 

 mensurate with the interests of life and 

 property at stake. 



AIDS TO NAVIGATION 



The aids to navigation required by 

 mariners are numerous, but I shall only 

 speak of those which are prepared and 

 issued by the Hydrographic Office. 

 With due regard to sequence, the No- 

 tices to Mariners issued weekly by the 

 Hydrographic Office, which particularly 

 affect the charts and sailing directions, 

 should be considered first. These no- 

 tices consist of a collection of statements 

 pertaining to safe navigation, made up 

 in pamphlet form, which are issued 

 weekly by the Hydrographic Office. 

 The statements are notices themselves 

 pertaining to every matter which is of 

 importance to the seaman and navi- 

 gator. When a new rock, shoal, or 

 other danger is discovered and reported 

 to the Hydrographic Office, the infor- 

 mation is immediately published, the 

 source and its nature being clearly set 

 forth. The same is true of the instal- 

 lation of new lights, changes in lights, 

 alterations or changes in buoyage and 

 other day marks in any part of the 

 world, wrecks, and all subjects a knowl- 

 edge of which would tend to lessen the 

 dangers of navigation. These notices 

 are issued in a convenient form for cut- 

 ting out. They are distributed from 

 the Hydrographic Office and from its 

 numerous branch offices to all vessels 

 of the Navy arid to not less than 3,000 

 merchant vessels, officers of which at 

 the present time are collecting informa- 

 tion for the Hydrographic Office. When 

 received, the immediate duty of the 

 navigator or master is to enter the cor- 

 rections by hand on the charts affected 

 (these charts being designated in the 

 notices), and, in addition, to cut out 



each notice and place it in its proper 

 place in the Sailing Directions. You 

 will be surprised to learn that notices 

 affecting navigation issued by the Hy- 

 drographic Office now amount to about 

 fifty a week, or over 2,500 a year. This 

 does not seem so strange, however, when 

 we take into consideration the amount 

 of cooperation which the Hydrographic 

 Office receives in this most important 

 aid to mariners. Cordial cooperation 

 is afforded by the United States Engi- 

 neers, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, the U. S. Lighthouse Service, 

 the U. S. Weather Bureau, the U. S. 

 Life-saving Service, Fish Commission, 

 United States Consuls, hydrographic 

 offices of foreign governments, foreign 

 astronomical and meteorological observ- 

 atories, our own naval vessels, and 

 something like 3,000 ships of various 

 nations, in which are included men-of- 

 war of some of those nations as well. 

 Reports to this office come in as many 

 as fourteen different languages. 



In this day of high speed on the ocean 

 you can readily understand the anxiety 

 which the great shipping firms have in 

 regard to the safetj 7 of their vessels, a 

 feeling which actuates them as well as 

 their governments to hesitate at no ex- 

 pense to obtain such information as is 

 contained in these notices. It is not 

 uncommon for the Hydrographic Office 

 to get cablegrams from abroad giving 

 information of serious dangers to navi- 

 gation. 



A glance through one of these pam- 

 phlets would give an inkling of the 

 dangers to which those who go to sea are 

 subject. A fair part of these notices 

 come through the branch hydrographic 

 offices, which are located in sixteen of 

 our principal ports. 



BRANCH HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICES 



These branch offices, which are in 

 charge of naval officers, with nautical 

 experts as assistants, are veritable bu- 

 reaus of nautical information. They 



