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REPORT

OF THE

SUPERINTENDENT, COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY

REPORT

OF THE

SUPERINTENDENT, COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR,

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY,
Washington, September 6, 1911.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following statement covering the operations of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911:

SUMMARY OF WORK OF THE YEAR.

FIELD WORK.

Work during the year has included surveys along the coasts of the United States and outlying territories, including Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines, and triangulation, leveling, gravity, and magnetic work in the interior States and Territories.

A reconnoissance for primary triangulation to extend from the thirty-ninth parallel triangulation in the vicinity of Colorado Springs, Colo., to the Canadian boundary was begun in Colorado early in May, and by the end of the fiscal year over 400 miles of progress had been made. Provision was made for connections with triangulation stations of the United States Geological Survey, section corners of the General Land Office, and with monuments of several State boundaries. The line follows approximately the one hundred and fourth meridian.

One party was engaged in primary triangulation, one in reconnoissance for primary triangulation, six in revision of triangulation, one in gravity work, and one in determinations of latitude, longitude, and azimuth.

The Texas-California arc of the primary triangulation extending from central Texas to the Pacific coast, connecting the ninety-eighth meridian primary triangulation in the vicinity of Weatherford, Tex., with the Pacific coast triangulation in the vicinity of San Diego, Cal., was completed during the year. It is connected with the United States and Mexican boundary at a number of places and is joined to and correlates a number of detached Government surveys. It furnishes the geographical positions on the United States Standard Datum of more than 200 points which can be used to control future public surveys within the region traversed.

Tidal observations have been recorded at a number of permanent stations and at temporary tidal stations maintained in the progress of the field work. Observations of currents along the Atlantic coast have been carried on with the cooperation of the Bureau of Lighthouses, and arrangements have been made with the Bureau of Education of the Interior Department and the Revenue-Cutter Service of the Treasury Department by which tidal observations on the coast of Alaska will be obtained at numerous points at a nominal cost to the Government.

Exchange of data with the United States Engineers, the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department, the General Land Office, the Geological Survey, and the Isthmian Canal Commission has been continued as heretofore.

The collection of information for the Coast Pilot and for the correction and revision of charts on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines, has been continued.

A number of parties have been engaged in making magnetic observations at numerous points in the United States, in Alaska, Porto Rico, and Hawaii, and magnetic observations have been made on vessels of the Survey at sea whenever practicable.

Work at the latitude observatories at Gaithersburg, Md., and Ukiah, Cal., maintained by the International Geodetic Association, has been continued, under the direction of the Superintendent, and the results have been transmitted to the association.

An officer of the Survey has served as a member of the Mississippi River Commission, in addition to other duties, and another has been continuously employed in cooperation with the Maryland State Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. This officer was also authorized to supervise the survey of certain portions of the oyster beds in the State of Delaware, without expense to the Government.

Assistance was rendered by furnishing points, location of stakes, etc., to the Fish Commission of the State of North Carolina, and points were determined by triangulation for use in the survey of the oyster beds of the States of Alabama and Mississippi.

Latitude, telegraphic longitude, and an azimuth were determined at Fairbanks and Tanana, Alaska, at the request of the United States Geological Survey. The latitude and longitude of a point in the grounds of the American Museum of Natural History, in New York City, were also determined.

On the Atlantic coast, hydrographic surveys were made on the coasts of Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, and field work for the Coast Pilot has covered the coast from Maine to Rhode Island. Four vessels and one land party were employed in the work, as follows:

Steamer Bache: Hydrography of Nantucket Shoals, examination of Five Fathom Bank off Cape May, triangulation and hydrography near Key West, search for a reported shoal near Rebecca Shoal lighthouse and for another shoal reported near Marquesas Rock buoy; incidentally the position of the steamer Luckenbach while stranded on New Ground Shoal and the position of the wreck of the schooner Hannah M. Bell on Elbow Reef were determined.

Steamer Endeavor: Hydrographic surveys in Buzzards Bay, Mass., assisting the steamer Bache in determining the positions of buoys for

use in the survey of Nantucket Shoals, hydrography of Chesapeake Bay between Smith Point and Cherrystone Light, and determination of the positions of lights and beacons in Mobjack Bay, Va.

Schooner Matchless: Revision of the hydrography of the James River from the vicinity of Newport News and the triangulation and topography from Jamestown Island to Petersburg and Richmond, Va., and revision of the hydrography, triangulation, and topography of the York River.

Steamer Hydrographer: Engaged in Coast Pilot examinations along the coast from Calais, Me., to Point Judith, R. I., for the field revision of the Atlantic Coast Pilots, Parts I-II and III.

Wire drag work was done on the coast of Maine in Penobscot Bay, and in Long Island Sound south of Clinton, Conn.

Improvements have been made in the mechanical appliances used in connection with the wire drag, permitting the increase in the length of the drag to any desired extent, and enabling a larger area to be covered in a less time than heretofore.

On the Pacific coast general surveys were made on the coast of Alaska by six vessels of the Survey during the season available for work. During the intervening time one of these vessels was employed on the coast of California, two on the coast of Washington, and one in the Hawaiian Islands, as follows:

Steamer Explorer: Triangulation, topography, and hydrography of Bristol Bay, Alaska, examination of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River, hydrography and topography of the island of Oahu, Hawaii, completed.

Steamer Patterson: Triangulation, topography, and hydrography in Cook Inlet, Alaska; off-shore hydrography of the coast of California between Bodega Head and Cape Arena, and of the coast northward of San Francisco; general surveys on the coast of Alaska in the vicinity of Dolgoi Island.

Steamer Gedney: Survey of Tongas Narrows, southeast Alaska, and of Wrangell Strait; topography and hydrography at the head of Portland Canal; chart revision work in Puget Sound, and survey of the entrance to Willapa Bay, Wash.

Steamer McArthur: Survey of Cook Inlet, Alaska, north of the Forelands; survey of Grays Harbor, Wash.; examination of Perouse Glacier and Icy Bay, Alaska, and additional hydrography in Katalla Bay.

Steamer Taku: Survey of shores of Knights Island, and of Prince of Wales Passage, and Bainbridge Passage, Alaska; location of aids to navigation in Cordova Bay.

Steamer Yukon: Surveys on east shore of Cooks Inlet, Alaska, south of the Forelands.

Five parties were engaged in the field revision of charts in various localities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Magnetic observations were made at the regular observatories at Cheltenham, Md., Tucson, Ariz., Honolulu, Hawaii, Sitka, Alaska, and Vieques, P. R., and the magnetic declination, dip, and intensity were determined by field observers at about 350 stations on land and in 24 localities at sea by the vessels of the Survey.

Self-registering tide gauges were maintained at Portland, Me., Fort Hamilton, N. Y., Philadelphia, Pa., Baltimore, Md., Wilmington,

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