Geographic Notes 



79 



at an opportune time for irrigation. 

 Mr Forbes maintains that when the Col- 

 orado is understood and utilized as suc- 

 cessfully as the greater and better-known 

 Eg3'ptian stream, it will be recognized 

 as the American Nile — the creator of a 

 new country for the irrigator, the mother 

 of an occidental Egypt. 



ALASKAN BOUNDARY DISPUTE 



BY the terms of a treaty signed Janu- 

 ary 24 by Secretary Hay and the 

 British Ambassador, the Alaskan bound- 

 ary dispute is to be referred to a special 

 commission or tribunal consisting of 

 three jurists from the United States and 

 three from Canada. The vote of four 

 members of the commission will be a 

 binding decision. This is the plan origi- 

 nally proposed by the American members 

 of the Joint High Commission, but 

 which was rejected at that time by the 

 British Commissioners. The Senate will 

 doubtless ratify the treaty, so that this 

 vexing question of the interpretation of 

 the treaty of 1825, raised by Great 

 Britain for the first time in 1898 after 

 the American interpretation had been 

 accepted for 73 years without a protest 

 or complaint, will soon be settled. In 

 this connection attention should be again 

 directed to the masterly discussion of the 

 dispute by Hon. John W. Foster, ex- 

 Secretary of State and of the Joint High 

 Commission, in the November, 1899, 

 number of the National Geographic 

 Magazine. 



RECENT MAPS AND PUBLICATIONS BY 

 THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



THE latest and most complete repre- 

 sentation of the physical features 

 of southern Indiana are found in a 

 series of topographic map sheets issued 

 by the Survey and known as the Degonia 

 Springs, Boonville, and Belton sheets — 

 each sheet being named from a prominent 

 place appearing on it — and covering por- 



tions of Warwick, Spencer, Dubois, Pike, 

 Gibson, and Vanderburg counties. 



As a part of its investigation of the 

 coal-producing regions of the country, 

 the Survey has also issued, as Geologic 

 Folio No. 84, a series of maps covering 

 the larger portion of the coal region in- 

 cluded in the First Congressional District 

 of Indiana. The quadrangular area cov- 

 ered embraces nearly 1 ,000 square miles, 

 and includes parts of Pike, Vanderburg, 

 Warrick, Spencer, and Dubois counties. 



The Survey, in cooperation with the 

 State of Maine, has recently issued a 

 new map of the region surrounding the 

 entrance to the Penobscot River, known 

 as the Castine quadrangle. The map 

 differs from the charts issued by the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey in giving the 

 details of features on the islands and 

 the mainland, whereas the latter maps 

 are confined almost exclusively to the 

 marine features of the region — sound- 

 ings, channels, and the outlines of the 

 coast. 



A topographic map of the region em- 

 bracing Ticonderoga, in New York and 

 Vermont, has been issued by the Sur- 

 vey. It is the result of a survey made 

 in cooperation with the State of New 

 York. 



A map of East Liverpool and Wells- 

 ville, Ohio, and vicinity will be issued 

 at an early date. The surveys were in 

 charge of Van H. Manning, topographer, 

 who completed the mapping of an area 

 comprising 225 square miles along the 

 Ohio River, which will include portions 

 of Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



A detailed topographic map has been 

 issued of a portion of the San Bernar- 

 dina Valley, California, noted as one of 

 the most highly developed irrigation 

 districts in the country. 



A reprint has been made of the map 

 covering the famous Franklin Furnace 

 Mining region in New Jersey. 



Recent publications by the Survey 

 include: 



