NO. 12 FIELD ENGINEERS BULLETIN U. S. COAST & GEODETIC SURVEY DECEMBER 1938 U. S. COAST AMD GEODETIC SURVEY FIELD ENGINEERS BULLETIN NUMBER 12 DECEMBER 1938 INDEX Opinions, recommendations or statements made in any article, extract or review in this Bulletin do not necessarily represent offi­ cial policy. U. S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY FIELD ENGINEERS BULLETIN NUMBER 12 DECEMBER 1938 INDEX Page Leo Otis Colbert Frontispiece Message From The New Director 1 The Time Capsule C. L. Garner 2 A New Type of Nautical Chart C. K. Green 7 Adequate and Inadequate Surveys-100 Miles Offshore 9 The Geographic Datums of the Coast and Geodetic Survey A. L. Shalowitz 10 A Review of Progress Gilbert T. Rude 32 Training of Maritime Commission Cadet Officers 35 The New and Old EXPLORER 37 The Motor Vessel "E. LESTER JONES" 41 Construction Contract - 1880 43 The Resurvey of Taku Inlet George E. Morris, Jr. (From The Alaska Sportsman) 44 Fault Noises Studied as Possible Earthquake Warnings Wm. D. Patterson (From Engineering News-Record) 47 Ten Rules for the Surveyor (Courtesy Carl Zeiss, Inc.) 52 The Fifteenth International Geographic Congress, Amsterdam, 1938 Paul A. Smith 53 Triangulation in Narrow Inlets Riley J. Sipe 68 Taut-Wire Sun-Azimuth Traverses Frank S. Borden 71 Discussion: G. C. Mattison 76 G. L. Anderson 78 Glenn W. Moore 79 The New England Hurricane 81 Calibration of Taut-Wire Apparatus Leroy P. Raynor 84 Page Speed Plotting on Radio Acoustic Ranging Herman Odessey 86 W. F. Malnate 88 Tides, Magnetics, and Racing 88 The United States Coast Pilots Anthony J. Marbois 90 Speaking of Weather 94 Light-Star Sights Frederick B. T. Siems 95 Harnessing Earth's Forces with PWA Funds Otis W. Swainson 111 Plane Table on Truck (From Engineering News-Record) 113 Fathometer Dial Speed Regulation F. H. Hardy 114 The Nine-Lens Air Camera in Use B. G. Jones 120 A Test Radial Plot of Nine-Lens Photographs L. C. Lande 126 A Trailer for a 16-foot Skiff L. W. Swanson 129 Special Drag Work Extract from Descriptive Report 6129ab, Raymond P. Eyman 131 The Skiff Wire Drag G. C. Jones 133 An Unusual Hydrographic Party R. F. A. Studds 135 Echo Sounding in Harbour Hydrography (From The Dock and Harbour Authority) 136 The First Thousand Years of Finding New York Thomas M. Price, Jr. 142 The Wreck of the PATTERSON 177 A Study of Refraction on the Boulder Dam Survey E. B. Latham 181 Primary Tide Stations 190 Sign Language Numerals (From Engineering News-Record) 192 Correcting Closure Error (From Engineering News-Record) 193 Page Sono-Radio Buoys in 1938 George M. Marchand and Almon M. Vincent 194 Extract from 1938 Season's Report of E. W. Eickelberg 199 Extract from 1938 Season's Report of R. P. Eyman 200 Glacier Bay Extract from 1938 Seaspn's Report of H. Arnold Karo 202 Recoveries by Old Maps and New Photographs Thomas M. Price, Jr. 208 Electromagnetic Hydrophones, or "Magnetophones" Herbert Grove Dorsey 209 Whitewash Signals L. W. Swanson 220 Ventilation of Motorboats 222 Operation of Motorboats 222 Use of Life Lines at Sea 223 (Extracts from Bulletins of Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation) Astronomical Determinations in Central America R. W. Woodworth 224 Air Photographs in Hydrographic Surveying George M. Marchand 231 Consol Oil for Rust Prevention Leroy P. Raynor 232 Topography in Glacier Bay Extract from 1938 Season's Report of H. Arnold Karo 233 Flags used by U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey face 234 Proposed Assignment of Officers for Field Season, 1939 235 Statistics and Distribution of Field Parties 237 Field Memoranda, 1938 241 1 MESSAGE FROM THE NEW DIRECTOR To the Field Engineers: From its inception at the beginning of the nineteenth century the Coast and Geodetic Survey has functioned on the broad scientif­ ic foundation proposed by Ferdinand R. Hassler. Now, in the middle portion of the twentieth century, we are continuing the concepts of those field engineers who have preceded our service generation. The Survey has furnished practical details required by two great professions: the modern nautical chart for the navigator of all coastal waters of this country; and, the control of geographic positions fixed by geodetic methods, for the surveyor. It has made available to the scientist basic information for research in geophysics by a broad program of accurate field observations and comprehensive office analyses. As Director of the Survey, in this first opportunity to ad­ dress a message to the Association of Field Engineers, I wish to give expression to a feeling of just pride in the personnel who have made possible these accomplishments. From the individual this has required faithful service and willing acceptance of arduous as­ signments. It has meant duty under difficult conditions --often under the strain of inadequate facilities. Of necessity, our functions have expanded as we have gained knowledge and experience through improvements on time-honored methods as well as by the application of new discoveries in differ­ ent branches of science. It is only natural that we should desire to maintain the standards set by our professional predecessors by broadening our experience and knowledge, not only as individuals, but also as a group. Only by so doing may we have a more complete understanding of the variety of needs of commerce and science, and a fuller appreciation of the ways in which the results of our own work can supply these requirements. Constantly we see new oppor­ tunities for valuable service to meet ever-changing conditions. To do so involves both personnel and equipment. We require more adequate facilities, and special efforts will be devoted toward this end. It is our hope that the prompt acqui­ sition of additional equipment will be accomplished and that it will be possible to improve certain unfavorable conditions in the personnel situation. I wish to assure the Association of Field Engineers of my active personal interest in these matters and of my confidence in your wholehearted cooperation in any effort made to­ ward the advancement of the effective work of the Survey. L. O. Colbert, Director. 2 THE TIME CAPSULE C. L. Garner, Hydrographic and Geodetic Engineer Chief, Division of Geodesy U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey To those who are reading about the Time Capsule for the first time a brief description of it and its contents may be of interest. The capsule is torpedo-shaped, 7-1/2 feet long and 8-3/8 inches in diameter. The outer shell consists of seven cast segments of Cupaloy (copper 99.4 per cent, chromium 0.5 per cent, silver 0.1 per cent) which is tem­ perable to the hardness of mild steel and has corrosion resistance and electrical charasteristics similar to those of pure copper. The segments are screwed together hard and sealed with asphalt, the nearly invisible joints peened out and the outer surface burnished. The inner crypt, 6-1/2 inches in diameter and 6-1/2 feet long, is lined with an envelope of Pyrex glass, set in a water-repellent petroleum base wax. Into this crypt,which was evacuated, washed, and filled with humid nitrogen, was placed the record of present day civilization. This record includes about 35 articles in present day use, such as a can opener, tooth brush,safe­ ty pin, pipe, lipstick and even a woman's hat. About 75 samples of common materials such as silk, copper, asbestos, leather, etc., were included as well as United States money and samples of seeds sealed in glass tubes. Books, speeches, excerpts from encyclopedias, etc., describing in logical order the arts, sciences, techniques, sources of information and industries of our time, and including Coast and Geodetic Survey manuals were reduced to three and one half small reels of microfilm and placed, together with a microscope, in the crypt. More than 22,000 pages of text or the equivalent of 100 ordina­ ry books were reproduced on this microfilm. Instructions were included for making large reading machines such as those used in modern libraries. Particular care was taken to protect the capsule from vandalism. It was buried 50 feet deep in swampy soil with elevation about 20 feet above sea level. Surveys extend­ ing over the past 40 years were examined to insure that the site was in relatively unchangeable area. Recovery of 3 the capsule will involve an expensive and difficult engi­ neering operation, costing many times its possible intrin­ sic value. Archeologists, 5,000 years hence, will appreciate this effort to preserve, a record of 20th century civili­ zation and the Bureau is glad to have cooperated in locat­ ing the capsule so that the site can be readily recovered, (Editor) Early in August 1938, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufac­ turing Company requested the cooperation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the location of the time capsule, then in preparation for deposit 50 feet deep in the earth at the Westinghouse Building on the 1939 World's Fair Grounds in New York City. Accompanied by ap­ propriate ceremonies, the capsule was deposited at noon, Eastern Standard Time, September 23, 1938, and was attended by a large group representing many branches of science, and particularly those persons who took some part in the adventure. Briefly, the purpose of the adventure from an advertising standpoint was to stimulate interest in those sciences involved in the preservation of selected records of our present civilization for the examination of posterity in the year 6938. Those sponsoring the capsule realized that to be successful, the preparation of all the materials involved in its manufacture as well as its contents must of necessity be investigated very thoroughly from the standpoint of archeology, metallurgy, chemis­ try, etc., in order that the expected life of all materials used would be at least 5000 years.