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COAST AND GE'ODETIC SURVEY', UNITED STATES. A bureau of the Department of Commerce and Labor, which has for its object the survey of the coasts of the United States and all coasts under the jurisdiction thereof, and the publication of charts covering said coasts. This includes the investigation of the character of the sea bottom, the location of reefs, shoals, etc., the rise and fall of tides, the direction and strength of currents, the character and amount of magnetic disturbances, and the position and elevation of points in the interior, for the benefit of commerce. The origin of the survey dates from recommendations made by President Jefferson in 1807 in his message to Congress. As the result of these recommendations an act of Congress, approved February 10, 1807, authorized a survey of the coast of the United States and appropriated $50,000 to pay for beginning the work. On March 25, 1807, a circular letter from the Secretary of the Treasury requested plans for the execution of the work. Nothing was immediately done beyond the consideration of these plans, and no further action was taken until April 16, 1811, when F. R. Hassler (q.v.), whose plans had been approved by President Jefferson, was sent to Europe to procure the necessary instruments. Mr. Hassler's proposed plan, briefly stated, was to determine the positions of certain prominent points of the coast by astronomical observations and to connect these points by trigonometrical lines from which to make a geodetic survey. Mr. Hassler sailed for Europe on August 29, 1811, and owing largely to the war between England and the United States which intervened, he spent four years in England and on the Continent, returning to the United States with his outfit complete on October 16, 1815. Field work was actually begun on August 6, 1816, under the direction of Mr. Hassler as superintendent. From this time until April 14, 1818, operations were continued in the vicinity of New York City. A base line was measured in the valley of English Creek, May 7, 1817, and one of verification, twice measured, was completed on December 6 of the same year. The triangulation connecting these measured lines represents the nucleus of the work of the Coast Survey and embodies its first tangible results. The trigonometric work now spans the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Maine to Mobile; it covers the entire coast and promises ultimately through the coöperation of Canada and Mexico to encompass the continent from Acapulco to the Arctic Ocean. On April 14, 1818, it was enacted by Congress that so much of the law relating to the survey of the coast as authorized the employment of other persons than those belonging to the army and navy be repealed. Between 1818 and 1832 little work was done. The instruments, records, and funds were transferred to the War Department, and the Coast Survey may therefore be considered as in army service during this period.

sumed in April, 1833. Less than a year later, March 12, 1834, the administration of the Survey was transferred from the Treasury Department to the Navy Department, Mr. Hassler, however, remaining in charge. These conditions held for two years, when a transfer was effected on March 25, 1836, and the Treasury Department again assumed control. Operations continued without interruption until March 30, 1843, when a Board of Reorganization was convened with Mr. Hassler as chairman. The plan submitted by this board practically continued in force the plans which had been formulated and acted upon in former years by Mr. Hassler. The scientific organization of the Survey may be properly said to date from 1832. Mr. Hassler died in 1843, having held the office of superintendent twice, from August 3, 1816, to April 14, 1818, and from August 9, 1832, to November 20, 1843. During his incumbency of office the original triangulation in the vicinity of New York City was extended eastward to Point Judith, Rhode Island, and southward to Cape Henlopen, Delaware. The area included in this triangulation amounted to 9000 square miles, and determined the positions of about 1200 stations to be used in the delineation of about 1600 miles of shore line. Prof. A. D. Bache (q.v.) became superintendent in 1843. He extended the triangulation along the South Atlantic Coast and among the Florida Keys, instituted regular and systematic observations of the tides and the Gulf Stream, and investigated magnetic forces and directions.

The Civil War practically stopped the survey, although many of its officers were assigned to service on Federal war vessels, where their knowledge of the coast waters proved of great service in the various naval operations which were conducted by the Northern fleets. In 1867 Professor Bache died and was succeeded by Prof. Benjamin Pierce, of Harvard University, who served until February 17, 1874. Since then the successive heads of the Survey have been: Carlile Patterson, who served until his death in 1881; Prof. Julius E. Hilgard, who resigned in 1885; Frank M. Thorn, who resigned in 1889; Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, who resigned in 1894 to become president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Gen. W. W. Duffield, who resigned in 1898; Prof. Henry S. Pritchett, who resigned in 1900 to become president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and O. H. Tittman, who was appointed superintendent in 1901.

The original and the principal purpose of the organization is a survey of the coasts of the United States primarily for the benefit of commerce. It is charged with the duty of publishing all results of such a survey that may be useful to the public. There has been added to its original duty, by legislation, that of determining the magnetic elements, exact elevations, and geographical positions of the interior. In 1878 the name of the organization was changed by Congress from Coast Survey to Coast and Geodetic Survey, in recognition of the extension of its functions to include triangulations in the

interior.

In 1823, 1824, and 1825 efforts were made by the Navy Department to establish a hydrographic corps, but public sentiment favored a return to the ideas of Jefferson. Bills were in- The Coast and Geodetic Survey is a bureau of troduced in Congress in 1828 and in 1831, and the Department of Commerce and Labor, and the one was finally passed, on July 10, 1832, carry- head of the bureau, known as the superintendent, ing into effect the original law of 1807. On reports to the Secretary of the Department. The August 9 of the same year Mr. Hassler was again superintendent is charged with full responsibility appointed superintendent. Field work was re- in every respect for all the work of the bureau.

He is aided in such of his duties as cannot be delegated to officers of lower rank by an assistant superintendent, who acts as superintendent in his absence. Eight officers or groups of officers report directly to the superintendent and assistant superintendent, viz.: (1) The assistant in charge of the office; (2) the inspector of hydrography and topography; (3) the inspector of geodetic work; (4) the inspector of magnetic work; (5) the disbursing officer; (6) the editor; (7) the chiefs of field parties; (8) the heads of sub-offices. The first four of these officers have a general supervision over all the operations of the Survey both in the field and office, each acting as an advisory officer to the superintendent in regard to specified portions of the work. The functions of the fifth and sixth officers are stated fully further on. The officers in groups seven and eight have direct charge of all operations in the field. Each field party is a temporary organization which is created for a specific operation by an order of the superintendent, which makes one of the officers of the field force the chief of party, and, if necessary, assigns to him as subordinates one or more other officers from the same force. The party is disbanded when the work assigned to it has been completed. If the party is for duty on land the remainder of the organization of the party, the hiring of recorders, laborers, drivers, etc., is left entirely to the chief of party. If the party is for duty on a vessel, the assignment of an officer of the field force to command the vessel carries with it, necessarily, the command of the whole force on board the vessel, including watch and deck officers as well as crew. There is a field force of 46 assistants, 29 aids, 8 magnetic observers, 4 nautical experts, 6 tide observers, 32 watch officers, engineers, surgeons, deck officers, etc., and 300 enlisted men, together with others found necessary to secure effective work, while the office force, consisting of 145, was divided as follows: Disbursing agent, chiefs of division, clerks, computers, draftsmen, engravers, instrument makers, printers, etc. Field officers are subject to office duty between seasons. The survey has a fleet of 11 steamers, 4 schooners, and small craft. There are three sub-offices at Seattle, Wash., San Francisco, Cal., and Manila, P. I. At the latter place the survey is being prosecuted with energy, 10 per cent. of the coast line of the Islands having already been surveyed.

The inspector of hydrography and topography, reporting directly to the superintendent, has a general supervision over the classes of field work indicated in his title, places before the superintendent plans for such work, makes the necessary inspection in the field to insure that the superintendent's orders are carried out economically and effectively, and is especially charged with the supervision of all matters relating to the ships and their personnel. The Coast Pilot, a publication giving full description of the coast from the mariner's point of view, sailing directions, warnings as to dangers to navigation, and other information of special value to navigators, is prepared under his direction. The inspector of geodetic work, reporting to the superintendent, is charged with the duty of preparing plans for the field operations of triangulation, astronomical determinations and precise leveling, and of making inspections of parties in the field, and of records and correspondence received at the of

fice from field parties, with a view of insuring that the field operations are in accordance with the superintendent's orders, are of the desired degree of accuracy, and are efficient and economical. The inspector of magnetic work, reporting to the superintendent, is charged with similar duties in regard to the magnetic work of the Survey. The assistant in charge of the office, reporting to the superintendent, has charge of the office at Washington, is responsible for the safety and arrangement of archives and property, and receives all money paid to the Survey for charts and other publications. As the official head of the office, the chiefs of the following divisions of the office force report to him: Computing division, magnetic division, tidal division, drawing and engraving division, chart division, library and archives division, and instrument division. Each of these divisions, under the direction of the assistant in charge of the office, prepares replies for the superintendent's signature to such parts of the correspondence as fall within its particular field, and also furnishes such information and equipment to field parties as it is within their power to furnish. In the computing division, all computations in connection with triangulation, astronomical determinations, and precise leveling are made, appropriate regis ters of results are kept, and the results prepared for publication as rapidly as possible. The magnetic division and the tidal division deal similarly with the computations and publication of magnetic and tidal results, respectively.

The drawing and engraving division is divided into five sections: (1) the photographing section, engaged in reducing, enlarging, and reproducing drawings for various purposes; (2) the drawing section, engaged in making from the original topographical and hydrographical field sheets, the office drawings, which are the original from which charts are produced, either by engraving on copper or by photolithography; (3) the engraving section, engaged in copper-plate engraving; (4) the electrotype section, engaged in producing, from the original engraved copper plates by electrotype process, the copper plates actually used in printing the charts; (5) the printing section, engaged in printing charts from the copper plates (the lithograph printing is done by contract outside of the organization). The chart division is divided into two sections. The hydrographic section is engaged in completing unfinished hydrographic sheets sent in from the field, corrections of charts especially with reference to aid to navigation (lights, buoys, etc.), preparation of Monthly Notices to Mariners in regard to this matter, and the inspection of charts in their various stages of preparation. The chart section is engaged in applying such hand corrections to charts at the last opportu nity before issuing, as have become necessary on account of such changes, principally in the aids to navigation, as have taken place after the chart was printed; and with the clerical work connected with the issue and sale of charts. The library and archives division has charge of the library of the Survey and the archives in which all hydrographic and topographic sheets and all the original records and computations are stored.

The instrument division has charge of all the instruments and general property. Many of the best of the new instruments for the Survey are made in this division and it is continually en

gaged in the repairing and remodeling necessary to keep the instrumental outfit at a high standard of efficiency. The accounting division, at the head of which is the disbursing officer, is not a division of the office in the sense of reporting to the assistant in charge of the office. This disbursing officer makes all disbursements on account of the Survey, with the approval of the superintendent, renders a quarterly account of all such disbursements to the auditor for the Department of Commerce and Labor for auditing by him, renders a statement of expenditures and balances to the superintendent whenever required to do so, suspends returns for correction or disallows all items of expenditure irregular in form or in contravention of law or regulations, and refers to the comptroller of the Department, for decision, all apparently excessive or unnecessary charges. The editor, reporting to the superintendent, compiles the administrative part of the annual report and acts as editor in connection with all other publications of the Survey except the charts.

COAST ARTILLERY, or FORTRESS ARTILLERY. Under this head are included the heavier guns and mortars, which are used for the armament of permanent works, usually on the seacoast, and which are mounted on carriages not intended for transporting the guns, but only as supports from which they are to be fired. These carriages are designed so that the guns may be pointed in any direction at various angles of elevation and depression. They are classified as barbette, casemate, and flank defense, according to their use, and into front pintle (the pintle being the pivot or bearing containing the axis of rotation) and centre pintle according to the manner of traversing. Barbette carriages are intended to be fired over an open parapet, and are of two forms-fixed and disappearing. Disappearing carriages are hidden behind the parapet except when firing. They are of two classes-disappearing carriages proper and the gun-lift carriages. Casemate carriages are those mounted in a covered emplacement and fired through an embrasure (q.v.).

The modern seacoast cannon in the United States service are the 8, 10, and 12-inch breechloading rifles and the 12-inch breech-loading mortar. In addition there is a 12 cm. (4.7 inch) rapid-fire gun, using a projectile weighing 45 pounds propelled by smokeless powder. The 8inch rifle weighs 32,480 pounds and fires a 300-pound projectile with a charge of 125 pounds of powder. The 10-inch rifle weighs 67,200 pounds and fires a 575-pound projectile with 250 pounds of powder. The 12-inch rifle weighs 128,719 pounds and fires a 1000-pound projectile with 487 pounds of powder. These guns are mounted on barbette carriages. The barbette carriages are non-disappearing and disappearing. The 12-inch breech-loading rifled mortar weighs 29,000 pounds and fires a 1000-pound projectile with 105 pounds of powder. The illustration shows in detail a typical gun and mortar for coast defense as used in the United States service. Other illustrations, including one of a United States disappearing gun, will be found in the article ORDNANCE.

The 16-inch breech-loading rifle of the United States system is one of the largest guns ever constructed. The Italian 17.7-inch, the French 16.5-inch, and the Armstrong 16.25-inch guns,

do not compare in point of energy and range with the recent American gun. With smokeless powder the gun requires a charge of 640 pounds (of the old black powder 1176 pounds would be needed) and fires a projectile 5 feet 4 inches long, weighing 2400 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 2300 feet per second, developing a muzzle energy of 88,000 foot-tons, which gives a penetration of 42.3 inches of steel at the muzzle. These figures will be considerably increased when a suitable slow-burning powder is used, but even now the gun shows an enormous superiority to any of the large guns mentioned above. The Italian gun, for instance, with a projectile weighing 2000 pounds and a muzzle velocity of 1700 foot-seconds (feet per second), develops only 40,000 foot-tons muzzle energy, not half that of the American gun. The French gun projectile weighs 1700 pounds, and with 1700 foot-seconds muzzle velocity, develops a maximum muzzle energy of only 36,000 foot-tons, while the English gun projectile of 1800 pounds, with a muzzle velocity of 2100 foot-seconds, gives a muzzle energy of 51,000 foot-tons. It is seen, therefore, that the maximum energy of the Italian gun is 45 per cent., that of the French gun 41 per cent., and that of the English gun 65 per cent. that of the United States gun. The maximum range of this enormous gun is 20.978 miles, the projectile reaching a height of 30,516 feet in this flight. The total length of the gun is 49 feet 2.9 inches; its weight about 130 tons.

England uses both breech and muzzle-loading cannon in her coast defense. Her largest guns are the four 100-ton guns at Malta and Gibraltar. Probably the most powerful gun in the English system is the wire-wound 12-inch breechloading rifle, Mark IX., which is 46 feet 4.5 inches long, weighs 50 tons, and fires an 850-pound projectile, with a muzzle velocity of 2850 footseconds. The coast artillery guns are the rifled muzzle-loading 64-pounders, 80-pounders, 7, 9, 10, 10.4, 11, 12, 12.5, 16, and 17.72 inch guns. The breech-loading, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9.2, 10, 13.5 inch and 32-pounder smooth bore. In all, England has 920 guns of various types mounted in her seacoast forts.

Coast defense in France is intrusted to 96 batteries, each including 4 officers, 129 men, and 4 horses, four of which are at the different

rendezvous for the fleet. The guns actually mounted along the coast are of about 12 types, varying from a 58-ton, 34-cm. (13.8 inches) gun, firing a projectile of 924 pounds with a 440pound charge of powder, giving a muzzle velocity of 2450 foot-seconds, to the 8-ton, 19-cm. (7.48) gun, firing a projectile weighing 165 pounds, with a 35-pound charge of powder, and giving a muzzle velocity of 1410 foot-seconds.

Italy's fortress artillery has various arms, from 45-cm. guns (18.1-inch) weighing 101 tons and firing a 2200-pound projectile, formerly supposed to be the most powerful gun in the world, down to Nordenfeldts and double-barreled mitrailleuses. In Belgium there are two brigades of fortress artillery having 58 active and 12 other batteries. The fortress artillery in Russia has a variety of guns, which include the following: 4.2-inch steel guns, 6-inch, 8-inch, 14-inch, 11-inch, 10-inch, the 10-barreled Gatling, and the 8-barreled Maxim automatic machine gun.

A description of the various guns and mortars

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