 Section 1 of the National Geographic Magazine, Volume 7, March 1896. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Avahi in March 2016. The so-called Jeanette Relics by Professor William H. Dahl. Much interest has been excited by the recent rumor that news had been received from Nansen via Siberia. In discussing the rumor, I mentioned that the supposed relics of the Jeanette, found of Juliane Harp in Greenland, were in all probability in no way connected with the Jeanette expedition, but were due to a boyish prank of some of the members of the Greeley Relief Expedition of 1884. In attempting to formulate his expressions of an interview with me during which the subject was discussed and which were not revised by me, the reporter unfortunately fell into some inaccuracies, not unnatural in a person unfamiliar with the technicalities of Arctic exploration, but for which the telegrams to the press made me responsible. It seems desirable therefore to lay before those interested in such matters the statement of the facts bearing on the two questions involved, namely, were the relics really derived from the Jeanette expedition and, if not, were they the result of a mystification as above suggested? The first is of course the only one of importance to geographers, for if the relics were spurious it matters but little whence they were derived. The facts are now in order. The Jeanette sank June 11, 1881, in the Arctic Sea about 180 miles northwest from the new Siberian islands. Two, the Greeley Relief Expedition of 1884 reached the coast of Greenland in May. The bear met the packhies near Godhaven about May 13, the Thetis and Loch Gary, May 22, the Alert on June 5. The latter left Godhaven June 9 and reached Upanivik June 13. Three, on June 18 some Eskimo found on the surface of an ice flow of Juliane Harp in southwest Greenland, some articles which were turned over to the Danish officer in charge of that settlement, Herr Leitzen, who sent them to a friend in Copenhagen. These comprised, among other things, some broken biscuit boxes, a pair of oil-skinned trousers, said to have been marked Louis Noros, the name of one of the Jeanette survivors who was a member of the Greeley Relief Expedition of 1884, and a number of written papers, especially a list of the boats of the Jeanette and a list of provisions signed by Delong, the commander of the Jeanette expedition, and stated to be entirely in his or a single handwriting. Four, the Greeley Relief Expedition left Greenland from Godhaven July 9 without touching at Juliane Harp. Five, in the latter part of the winter of 1884 through 1885, a Danish correspondent wrote to Dr. Emil Bessels, formerly of the Polaris expedition, and a well-known Arctic expert at Washington, stating that news of these various relics had been received in Copenhagen and requesting his opinion as to their authenticity. The substance of this letter was communicated to me by Dr. Bessels, who was much interested in the find, as, if genuine, it obviously furnished important data toward the knowledge of the drift in the Polar regions. The presence in Washington during 1885 of many members of the Relief Expedition in connection with the various investigations which followed their return enabled Dr. Bessels to interview many of the seamen as well as their officers and to accumulate a large mass of notes from his examination of them. On one or two occasions I was invited to be present when some of these men called on Dr. Bessels. The well-known tendency of articles on the surface of ice under the influence of the sun to sink through it to the level of the water, even such trifles as birds' feathers or dead leaves being rapidly engulfed as I have often personally noticed, led to doubts as to the possibility of the articles mentioned having remained on the surface of the ice for three years during a drift of 3,000 miles exposed to the elements. The possibility of the preservation of written papers under such conditions seemed almost incredible. The close approximation of the dates of the presence of the Relief Expedition on the West Greenland coast and that of the finding of the relics was also suspicious. The testimony of the seamen interviewed was, in brief, to the effect that the presence of Jeanette survivors on the Relief Expedition had suggested to someone the possibility of producing a sensation in the fleet which for some time followed the foremost vessels, that in a spirit of boyish levity this hoax was conceived and carried out with no intention of serious deception or thought of the possible consequences. No names were mentioned and the evidence was to the effect that a general impression prevailed among the men that some such prank had been played other than that any particular man questioned was personally cognizant of the act. Dr. Bessels gathered an amount of evidence tending to support this hypothesis which he showed me and which covered 40 or 50 pages of fool's cap. This record was afterward burned with his library and other papers in a fire which destroyed his residence at Glendale DC. In consequence, Dr. Bessels communicated to his European correspondence his belief that the relics were fictitious and the result of a hoax. I stated to Dr. Rink and others who inquired of me the same conclusions. In 1888 Dr. Nansen made his celebrated journey across Greenland and presumably heard of the relics there. Before his return Dr. Bessels died in Germany where he had taken up his residence. Up to this time either the doubts which had been thrown on the authenticity of the relics or some other reason had prevented them from exciting much interest and the owner seems to have resisted any attempt to verify their authenticity by sending photographs or originals of the papers to America when requested. The papers and other objects were placed in a box in a garret and after the death of the owner were burned as worthless with the acquiescence of the widow. As Herr Leitzen had published an account of them Geografie Titzgrift 8 1885-88 pages 49-51 and the finder and possessor alike acted in perfect good faith throughout it is probable that after Dr. Bessels opinion was communicated to him the owner attached no great value to the objects otherwise his wife would hardly have been ignorant of it. When Dr. Nansen endeavored to examine these objects with a view of determining their authenticity they were no longer in existence. One of his friends whose name has slipped my memory and whose letter is temporarily inaccessible wrote to me on Nansen's behalf as he explained asking my opinion which was sent sometime before the starting of Nansen's latest expedition. Baron Norden-Skjöld was also informed sometime before Nansen sailed so that there is no doubt that Nansen was cognizant of the fact that the authenticity of the relics was seriously questioned. He had previously admitted as much in his paper above cited but did not on that account relax his faith in them. Conclusions It is evident that the proof that the relics were the result of a hoax is not complete and in the nature of things unless the party is actually concerned shall admit it is never likely to be completed. Each person will form his own opinion from the data submitted. I have spent some ten years of my life at sea nearly half of the time in command of a United States surveying vessel and I am quite aware of the nature of sailor men and sailor's evidence. Dr. Bessels was for years my intimate and valued friend and associate and in all our intercourse nothing ever occurred to lead me to doubt his earnest endeavour to get at the truth of this matter. My own conclusions are first that the relics were not authentic and second that they were probably due to a hoax as stated above. In support of the first conclusion beside the data given the probability that the long himself would be writing out receipts for stores is very small. There has been since 1848 an average of two or three ships a year lost in the ice north of Bering Strait and in the vicinity of the point where the Jeanette entered the pack. Not a single relic of all the enormous fleet of over one hundred wrecks has ever been identified on the Greenland coast where wood has always been of the greatest value. Driftwood from northern rivers is cast up on the Greenland coast more or less every year but there is no evidence that it comes from points east of Nova Sembla. It is not impossible that some of it does but it cannot be proved. Some twenty-odd years ago a throwing stick of the pattern used at Port Clarence near Bering Strait came ashore on the coast of Greenland near Gottharp and was presented to the museum at Christiania by Dr. Rink. When one remembers how the crews of whale ships collect curios which they carry to all parts of the world and which are often thrown away or lost in the most unexpected places the certainty that this stick drifted from Port Clarence a distance of not less than 4,000 miles is evidently not to be taken for granted. I have received from Lagons on the west side of the peninsula of Lower California formerly frequented by whalers marine shells unquestionably of North European origin Bukinum undatum especially which is not known in the Pacific at all and I have also received Indo-Pacific species as well as coconut shells collected by John Murdoch from the shores of the Arctic Ocean north of Bering Strait. That a drift of the Jeanette was due to the prevalent winds is beyond question as already shown by Melville and as may be worked out by anybody from the data. That if continued it would have passed across the pole as argued by Nansen is a pure assumption though a very enticing one. Certainly no one interested in Arctic work but must most heartily wish that that courageous explorer may succeed in proving his hypothesis and return in safety to claim the laurels his success would earn. In regard to the second point that of the origin of the so-called relics if regarded as fictitious I have already stated my conclusion that the story of the hoax seems sufficient to account for them. To be perfectly impartial however one must admit that the currents about southwest Greenland are such that objects set adrift on the ice from any great distance to the northward of Juliana hub would usually be set over to the westward rather than inshore although this general rule is subject to exceptions due to strong westerly winds. This fact alone I suspect was sufficient to satisfy Nansen whose hypothesis was already framed but it must be remembered that the Greenland current does not around Cape Farewell with equal strength at all seasons of the year that the advent of the relief expedition was exceptionally early when influx into Baffins Bay had not begun and that along such a coast as that of Greenland eddies and reverse currents cannot fail to occur. While not without weight I cannot assign to Nansen's objection sufficient weight to overcome the other indications which for me at least lead to the conclusion that the so-called Jeanette relics have not been shown to have any certain connection with the Jeanette expedition. Furthermore there is no certainty that the Alaskan throwing stick was brought to the coast of Greenland by oceanic currents and even if it was the time occupied in the transit and the route are alike absolutely unknown so that speculations as to a drift across the region of the pole receive from this incident no positive confirmation. Admiral Sir E. Inglefield the distinguished Arctic traveler at the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society called to discuss Nansen's plans told of finding a fresh stick of Siberian pine with the bark still upon it and which seemed to have been only a few months in the water on the west shore of Wellington Channel which enters Baffins Bay from the west. If such a tree could be carried eastward in a few months from Siberia to a point accessible by ships from Baffins Bay why is it not more probable that this throwing stick lost near Port Clarence was carried north and east by the well-known north-easterly shore current past Point Barrow and so on to Baffins Bay and the Greenland coast. At this meeting such Arctic authorities as Admiral Sir George Nares, Captain Wharton, Hydrographer R.N., Ex-Hydrographer Sir George Richards, R.N. and Sir Joseph Hooker united in the opinion that nothing was known about the direction or existence of sea currents in the region Nansen hoped to traverse and that all opinions in regard to them must be purely speculative. The doubtful character of the so-called Dranet Relics was also distinctly pointed out. It cannot be said therefore that Nansen pursued his plans in ignorance of the doubtful elements of his hypothesis but rather that his courage, energy and audacity was such that he was willing to risk everything to put his speculations to a final test. Nansen's Polar Expedition by General A. W. Greeley, Chief Signal Officer, United States Army The continuing interest of the unsolved polar mystery has been strikingly illustrated by the eagerness with which the press of the world has caught at every word that seems to indicate the success and safety of the brave Norwegian in his dangerous drift voyage toward the North Pole. Dr. Freetie of Nansen, born in 1861, became famous by crossing first of all man the inland ice of Greenland in 1888 from Omivik, 64°45 minutes north on the east coast to Kangersunek Fjord, 50 miles south of Gotab. Later he conceived a novel and dangerous plan for polar work. Ignoring the accepted rules of ice navigation of avoiding besetment and following the protected lee of land masses, he decided to put his ship into the ice to the north of the New Siberian Islands when he believed that he would be carried by ocean currents across the pole to the Spitzbergen Sea. His steamer from 125 feet long with an oak hull 30 inches thick and sheathed with green heart was built so as to rise under ice pressure as he claimed. The crew of twelve were provisioned for five years though he expected by a drift of a little over two miles per day to reach the Atlantic in two years. No explorer of experience endorsed the plan but with undaunted courage Nansen sailed June 24th, 1893 and entering the Sea of Kara was lost into the east of Nova Zambla in September 1893. He visited neither the time or peninsula nor the New Siberian Islands as events have since shown. February 13th, 1896 a dispatch from Irkutsk on the authority of Koncharov an agent of Nansen stated that the explorer having reached land masses at the north pole was now returning. Two days later a dispatch from Archangel confirmed the first report in general terms only from the beginning no credit was given to these dispatches by any American Arctic explorer or student. Melville, Schützer, Dahl and the writer were strangers in disbelief but the story was credited by scores of persons both in Europe and this country who did not find it peculiar that the story from the center of Asia was confirmed from the north of Europe nor were surprised that such news came from the Siberian Ocean in midwinter. Through the Norwegian press Nansen's relatives announced their disbelief in this rumour. As to the drift relics found on the west coast of Greenland which were relied on by Nansen as practical proof that his theory of a drift voyage was correct it may be said that Melville the man best qualified to speak about the G-net denied at the time their genuineness and endeavored without a veil to have them brought to this country. The writer publicly called Nansen's attention to this question which for the first time seems to have created doubts in his mind Nansen made efforts to find the relics for verification but they had disappeared in total. While Nansen's journey is exceedingly dangerous it would not be astonishing if he was able to return from his ship if it was lost south of 81 degrees north to the Asiatic coast but if he really approached the north port as is possible before his vessel was destroyed it is safe to say that he will pay for an unequal latitude with his life and carry the secret of his well-earned success to his grave. The numerous errors lately set forth in the press indicate the need of accurate data relative to latitudes attained the tendency to unfairly present data in the interests of individuals or nations is of constant occurrence and it is not surprising that the general public should be unfamiliar with all the facts. This is especially true in Arctic matters as is shown by the North Polar Chart in the Times Atlas 1895 so much loaded for its fullness and accuracy. On this chart the highest north of the German Swedish and English Paris 1827 expeditions is so described in full by texts and latitudes In the case of Beaumont the English explorer his latitude is given as 82 degrees 54 minutes north which is 33 miles too far north and his record is spread on the map above that of Lockwood while the last named explorer who actually made the highest north ever attained has not even his latitude entered. In this remarkable case of Suppressio Veri an American explorer loses his nationality his latitude and his hard-earned record all other nationalities having their data entered in full. Under these conditions it seems to be rendering a geographical service to reproduce here a table extracted from a handbook of Arctic discovery written by myself. Records of the highest north made since 1587 in the eastern and western hemispheres by land and by sea. Note this table is reproduced by permission of Robert's brothers publishers. End of note. Eastern Hemisphere Commander William Barrens Date July 14th 1594 North latitude 77 degrees 20 minutes Longitude 62 degrees east Locality near Cape Nassau, Nova Zemla Commander Reep and Heimskirk Barrens third voyage Date June 19th 1596 North latitude 79 degrees 49 minutes Longitude 12 degrees east Locality north Spitzbergen Commander Henry Hudson Date July 13th 1607 North latitude 80 degrees 23 minutes Longitude 10 degrees east Locality Spitzbergen C Commander JC Phipps Date July 27th 1773 North latitude 80 degrees 48 minutes Longitude 20 degrees east Locality Spitzbergen C Commander Williams Cosby Date May 24th 1806 North latitude 81 degrees 30 minutes Longitude 19 degrees east Locality Spitzbergen C Commander W. E. Parry Date July 23rd 1827 North latitude 82 degrees 45 minutes Longitude 20 degrees east Locality Spitzbergen C Commander Nordenskjord & Otter Date September 19th 1868 North latitude 81 degrees 42 minutes Longitude 18 degrees east Locality Spitzbergen C Highest by ship Commander Weybergten-Feyer Date April 12th 1874 North latitude 82 degrees 5 minutes Longitude 60 degrees east Locality Franz Joseph Land By-Payer Highest Land Western Hemisphere Commander John Davis Date June 13th 1587 North latitude 72 degrees 12 minutes Longitude 56 degrees west Locality West Greenland Commander Henry Hudson Date June 20th 1607 North latitude 73 degrees Longitude 20 degrees west Locality Of East Greenland Commander William Buffin Date July 4th 1616 North latitude 77 degrees 45 minutes Longitude 72 degrees west Locality Smith Sound Commander E.A. Inglefield Date August 27th 1852 North latitude 78 degrees 21 minutes Longitude 74 degrees west Locality Smith Sound Commander E.K. Kane Date June 24th 1854 North latitude 80 degrees 10 minutes Longitude 67 degrees west Locality Cape Constitution Greenland by Morton Commander C.F. Hall Date August 30th 1870 North latitude 82 degrees 11 minutes Longitude 61 degrees west Locality Frozen Sea Commander C.F. Hall Date June 30th 1871 North latitude 82 degrees 7 minutes Longitude 59 degrees west Locality Greenland by Sergeant Mayer Signal Corps U.S. Army Commander G.S. Nairs Date September 25th 1875 North latitude 82 degrees 48 minutes Longitude 65 degrees west Locality Greenland by Aldrich Commander G.S. Nairs Date May 12th 1876 North latitude 83 degrees 20 minutes Longitude 65 degrees west Locality Frozen Sea by A.H. Markham Commander A.W. Greeley Date May 13th 1882 North latitude 83 degrees 24 minutes Longitude 41 degrees west Locality Newland, North of Greenland by Lockwood and Brainard Doubtless the name of some whaler should follow that of buffing in the above list, but the inexactitude of most high latitudes reported by whalers is well known. Possibly the reported northing of Lombard 78.5 degrees north in 1670 on the east Greenland coast may have exceeded Engelfild's exact latitude of 78 degrees 21 minutes. Sweden holds the ship's record in the old world but Paris beat it by boats. It will be noted that England held the honors of the furthest north through Hudson 1607 Phipps 1773 Paris 1827 and Nairs by Aldrich 1875 and by Markham 1876 This record unbroken for 275 years passed to the United States through the efforts of the international polar expedition under Lieutenant Greeley which by Lockwood and Brainard reached 83 degrees 24 minutes the most northerly point whether on sea or land ever attained by man which Nansen or Jackson may possibly excel. Among other high latitudes attained but not pertinent to this table are the following Hayes about 80 degrees 10 minutes in 1861 Jackson 81 degrees 20 minutes in 1895 Peary 81 degrees 37 minutes in 1891 and 1895 Bourmont 82 degrees 21 minutes in 1876 Pavey with Greeley 82 degrees 54 minutes in 1882 and Aldrich 83 degrees 7 minutes in 1876 and of section 2 Section 3 of the National Geographic magazine Volume 7, March 1896 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Marianne Spiegel The Submarine Cables of the World by Gustav Hurley The English gift professor afterwards sir Charles Whitstone the credit of being the originator of Submarine Cables that gentleman having laid before the House of Commons in 1840 a scheme for the laying of a telegraph cable across the channel between Dover and Calais but his plans did not seem to have been fully matured In the United States in 1842 Professor S. F. B. Morse experimented with a submarine cable between Castle Garden and Governor's Island, New York Harbor and a year later in detailing the results of his experiments with an electromagnetic telegraph in a letter to the then Secretary of the Treasury J. C. Spencer he said The practical interference from this law is that a telegraphic communication on the electromagnetic plan may with certainty be established across the Atlantic startling as this may seem now I am confident that the time will come when this project will be realized It was not however until 1850 that the first submarine cable in the open sea was laid This was the cable across the channel between Dover and Calais It was made of copper wire covered with Gouda Percha to half an inch in diameter The shore ends of the wire being doubly covered with cotton overlaid with a coating of India rubber and the hole enclosed in a thick lead pipe This cable did not work successfully on account of defective insulation and had to be abandoned Another authority states that telegraphic communication was maintained for a few hours when it was suddenly interrupted the cause being, as was afterwards discovered The cutting of the cable by a French fisherman who, it is said, exhibited a piece of it to the astonished people of the neighboring town as a rare specimen of seaweed with its center filled with gold Be that as it may to guard against such casualties the new cable laid in the following year, 1851 between Dover and Calais was made much stronger consisting of a wire insulated with Gouda Percha and forming a core to a wire rope as a protector This cable was an entire success and as a consequence the establishment of a number of short submarine cables in Europe and America followed shortly afterward In 1854, Mr. Cyrus W. Field whose memory will ever be dear to the hearts of Americans took up, in company with American and English capitalists the project to connect Europe and America by a submarine cable and on August 7, 1857 the laying of the first Atlantic cable was begun by the U.S. frigate Niagara which sailed from Valencia, Ireland in the direction of Hearts Continent, Newfoundland When about 400 miles had been laid the cable broke and the steamer returned In the following year, 1858 the attempt was renewed HMS Agamemnon with one portion of the cable and the U.S. frigate Niagara with the other portion meeting in mid-ocean in about latitude 52 degrees 2 minutes north longitude 53 degrees 18 minutes west to splice the cable there and then to lay it one ship sailing eastward and the other westward In this attempt the cable broke and the steamers returned to port but a sufficient length of the cable being left another attempt was made later in the year and the laying was successfully accomplished over the whole distance America and Europe were united by telegraphic communication on August 5 and congratulatory messages were exchanged between the two continents This is what the Queen of England telegraphed to the President of the United States The Queen desires to congratulate the President upon the successful completion of this great international work in which the Queen has taken the deepest interest The Queen is convinced that the President will join with her in fervently hoping that the electric cable which now connects Great Britain with the United States will prove an additional link between the two nations whose friendship is founded upon their common interest and reciprocal esteem The Queen has much pleasure in communicating with the President and renewing to him her wishes for the prosperity of the United States To this President Buchanan replied as follows The President cordially reciprocates the congratulations of her Majesty the Queen on the success of the great international enterprise accomplished by the science, skill and indomitable energy of the two countries It is a triumph more glorious because far more useful to mankind than was ever won by Conqueror on the field of battle May the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, proved to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations and an instrument destined by divine Providence to diffuse religion civilization, liberty and law throughout the world In this view will not all nations spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall be forever neutral and that its communication shall be held sacred in passing to their places of destination even in the midst of hostilities But alas the joy over the greatest triumph of the age was destined to be of short duration in less than a month the cable refused to work owing to some fault the nature of which could not be definitely ascertained It was at last abandoned in despair to lay another one was made until 1864 when the Atlantic telegraph company made, with the telegraph construction and maintenance company a contract for a new cable between Valencia and Hart's content and chartered the steamship Great Eastern to lay it This cable was 2,273 nautical miles long and its weight was 300 pounds per mile Its laying down commenced on July 23rd 1865 in the Cyrus W. Field being on board the ship but on August 2nd, after about 1400 knots had been played out the cable parted and the broken end disappeared from view The Great Eastern remained near the scene of the accident until August 11th when she gave up the attempt to recover the cable and returned to Europe Thus another hope another aspiration was buried and we may well imagine the feelings of those who had put their faith The story of this attempt and of the successful recovery of the lost cable a year later by means of Grappinals from a depth of over 2000 fathoms forms one of the most interesting chapters in the history of submarine telegraphy But after all the disheartening failures which had attended the laying of the first three Atlantic cables the indomitable pluck and energy of Mr. Field and his associates were to be finally rewarded with success A new cable was ordered On July 13th, 1866 The Great Eastern again started from Valencia and without further serious mishap finished the laying over the whole distance on July 27th when the cable was spliced to the shore's end at Hart's content Moreover on September 1st following the Great Eastern recovered the lost cable of the previous year spliced it to the cable on board and completed the laying of it towards Hart's content thus establishing a duplicate line ever since that time we have had uninterrupted telegraph communication with Europe and this 1866 cable thus became the pioneer of the long distance deep sea cables immense progress has since been made in the establishment of submarine telegraph lines a fleet of between 35 and 40 steamers specially constructed and equipped for cable service spraying into existence and the present total length of the submarine cables of the world is in round numbers 160,000 nautical miles or enough to gird the earth 7.5 times at the equator at an average cost of 1200 dollars per mile the entire system represents an outlay of 192 million dollars of the total mileage about 1 eighth is under the control of various national governments the Hydrographic Office issued in 1892 a book on submarine cables prepared by Mr.G.W little hails as a part of the report of that office on the survey made by the US ships Albatross and Thetis for an ocean cable route between San Francisco and Honolulu it contains a large amount of interesting information including valuable statistical data among which is a complete list of the submarine cables of the world in detail the tables being much too voluminous for publication in these pages most of the more important cables have been compiled from them the reader being referred to the original report for information concerning the shorter cables and for more complete data generally cables over 400 nautical miles long operated by governments France Marsetta Algiers 3 cables 488, 496 and 500 Tenerife to St. Louis Senegal 865 Cape St. James to Thuan Hoi 530 British India Memorne to JASC 531 JASC to Bouchoir 2 cables 519 and 500 cables over 400 nautical miles long owned by private companies also total length of cables operated by each company Direct Spanish Telegraph Company Total 708 Kenick Cove Cornwall to Los Arendes near Bilbao 487 Halifax and Bermuda Cable Company Halifax, Nova Scotia to Hamilton Bermuda 850 Spanish National Submarine Telegraph Company Total 2159 Cadiz to Santa Cruz De Tenerife 864 Tahita Tenerife to St. Louis Senegal 435 West African Telegraph Company Total 3015 Cotun to St. Thomas 468 St. Thomas to Lonada 760 Great Northern Telegraph Company Europe and Asia Total 6932 Newbighan, England to Aridale, Norway 424 Newbighan to Marstrand Sweden 510 Newbighan to Hertzschad's, Denmark 420 Amoe to Gustav, China 590 Gutsiaf to Nagasaki, Japan 427 Gutsiaf to Nagasaki 416 Nagasaki to Vladivostok, Russia 2 cables 753 766 Eastern Telegraph Company Total 27453 Port Carnot Lands End, England to Lisbon, Portugal 2 cables 850 and 802 Fortherno to Vigo, Spain 622 Gibraltar to Malta, 2 cables 1118 and 1126 Marseille, France to Bona, Algeria, 2 cables 447 and 463 Thriesta, Austria to Corrine, 593 Malta to Alexandria Egypt, 2 cables 928 and 911 Suez, Egypt to Suikim, Sondan, 3 cables 936, 811 and 811 Suez to Aden 794 Suez to Parham, Ireland 1331 Suikim to Parham, Ireland 597 Suikim to Aden, 2 cables 794 each Aden to Bombay, 3 cables 1850 1859 1885 Eastern and South African Telegraph Company Total 6,796 Increased since 1892 to 8,841 Aden to Zanzibar, 1,909 Zanzibar to Mozambique 2 cables 644 and 685 Mozambique to Larenco Marquet, Delagoa Bay 970 Cape Town to Port Nolith 433 Port Nolith to Mozamedes 1,652 Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company Total 17,342 Madras to Penance, 2 cables 1462 1389 Rangoa to Penance 864 Singapore to Saigon Cochin, China 628 Haifeng, Tonkina to Hong Kong, 470 Phu Chan to Hong Kong 472 Saigon to Hong Kong, 990 Saigon to Thamun An 516 Hong Kong to Cape Beloneo Island of Luxoa, 529 Singapore to Batavia, Java, 541 Singapore to Banjoo Wangi, Java, 921 Banjoo Wangi to Port Darwin, Australia 2 cables, 1,143 and 1,124 Banjoo Wangi to Roebuck Bay, Australia 892 Sydney to Nelson, New Zealand 2 cables, 1,284 and 1,322 Hong Kong to Phu Chan 472 Phu Chan to Shanghai, 449 Anglo-American Telegraph Company Total 10,400 Increased to 12,290 since 1892 Valentia, Ireland 2 Hearts Content, Newfoundland 3 cables 1,850 1,881 and 1,890 Minoa, France to Sampierre, 2,718 Sampierre to Duxbury, Massachusetts, 809 Direct United States Cable Company, Total 3,099 Belon's Kellogg's Bay, Ireland 2 Halifax, 2,564 Halifax to Rye Beach, New Hampshire, 535 Champagne-François to Telegraph de Paris, New York Total 3,496 Brest to Sampierre 2,282 Sampierre to Cape Cod, Massachusetts 826 Western Union Telegraph Company Total 7,743 Penzane's, England to Kenzo, Nova Scotia 2 cables, 2,531 and 2,576 Kenzo to New York, 2 cables total 6,938 The commercial cable company Total 6,938 since increased to 9,075 Harve to Waterville, Ireland 510 Waterville to Kenzo, 3 cables 2,138 2,350 and 2,388 Kenzo to New York 841 Kenzo to Rockport, Massachusetts 519 Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company 369 Lisbon to Madeira, 2 cables 627 and 631 Madeira to St. Vincent Cape Verde, Ireland, 2 cables 1,168 and 1,200 St. Vincent to Pernambuco, Brazil, 2 cables 1,862 and 1,872 African Direct Telegraph Company Total 2,746 Santiago to Broadhurst 471 Broadhurst to Sierra Leone 463 Sierra Leone to Acre, 1,020 Cuba Submarine Telegraph Company Total 1,590 CMVA goes to Santiago, Cuba 3 cables 400, 420 and 420 West India and Panama Telegraph Company Total 4,577 Kingston, Jamaica 2 Cologne, Panama, Isthmus 630 Holland Bay to San Juan, Puerto Rico 683 Holland Bay to Ponce, Puerto Rico 647 St. Croix to Port of Spain, Trinidad 541 Société Française du Telegraphs Su Marus Total 3,754 St. St. Croix to 4,544 Porto Plateau Santo Domingo to Fort de France, Martinique 787 Fort de France to Marble Dutch Guinea, 777 Cayenne to Vinsu, Brazil 662 Santo Domingo to Caracho 453 Western and Brazilian Telegraph Company Total 3,964 Since increase to 6,144 Marenham to Sierra, Brazil 406 Sierra to Pernambuco, 476 Bajai to Rio de Janeiro 837 Mexican Telegraph Company Total 1,523 Galveston, Texas to Tampico, Mexico 400 Galveston to Coatzarolcos, Mexico 822 Central and South American Telegraph Company Total 7,496 Salina Cruz, Mexico to L'imbertad Salvador 431 San Juan de Sur to Panama 721 Bonaventure to St. Elena Ecuador, 486 Piata to Calleo Lima, Peru 553 Calleo Lima to Equacue, Chile 747 Equacue to Valparaiso, Chile 877 West Coast of America Telegraph Company Total 1,699 Since increase to 1,964 Calleo Lima to Molando, Peru 510 Note on compilation of chart This chart, see front's piece, was compiled in the U.S. Hydrographic Office from the latest information and is a facsimile of H.O. Chart No. 1530 just issued by that office. The 12 cables across the North Atlantic Ocean were plotted from their terminal points on the American continent to Meridian 40 degrees west from positions furnished by the respective cable companies with the exception of 3, the Western Union of 1881 and 1882 and the McKay Bennett of 1894 for which positions were furnished all the way across. From the European terminal points to Meridian 40 degrees west the cables with the exceptions just mentioned were plotted from information deposited in the Office of Naval Intelligence. A map furnished by the Western Union Telegraph Company was used for the plotting of the principal connecting landlines in the United States. The cables and landlines of Japan were taken chiefly from the outline map of Japan showing the principal post-telegraph and railway routes published by the Japanese Department of Communications in 1888 and which accompanies a concise dictionary of the principal roads and chief towns and villages of Japan by W.N. Whitney M.D. formerly interpreter of the U.S. Legation at Tokyo. The other cables and landlines of the world were taken chiefly from the Cart de Communications Telegraphy du Régime extra-europeen de Résis du Pré de Document Officiale pour la Bureau Internationale d'Administration Telegraphique Bern 1888. The Coaling, Docking and Repairing stations of the world and their different grades of facilities were compiled mainly from a publication of the Office of Naval Intelligence entitled Coaling, Docking and Repairing Facilities of the Ports of the World 1892 and Corrections thereto up to December 1895 and from the British Doc book of 1894 and of Section 3 Section 4 of the National Geographic Magazine Volume 7 March 1896 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Mary Ann Peter Cooper and Submarine Telegraphy in presenting to its readers a chart of the Submarine Telegraph Cables of the World the National Geographic Magazine was unwilling that this graphic representation of intercontinental communication should be unaccompanied by some reference to one of its earliest and most effective pioneers the late Peter Cooper it is well to recall to the rising generation its indebtedness to Mr. Cooper for his eminent services initiation of the now elaborate network between the widely separated continents of the earth with considerable reluctance and only after repeated urging one of the actors in this great work the Honorable Abram S. Hewitt has outlined in a letter all too brief the part played by Mr. Cooper the letter is as follows the story of the Atlantic cable has been so fully and so well told by the Reverend Henry M. Field in his history published in 1892 by Messers Srebner and Sons of this city that only the briefest outline is necessary to call public attention to the origin of an enterprise which at the time of its inception was regarded with incredulity and whose prosecution and final success have all the elements of a romance. My first knowledge of the enterprise was in 1854 when Mr. Cyrus W. Field invited Mr. Peter Cooper and other gentlemen to listen to the propositions of Frederick N. Gisborne who had come to New York for the purpose of interesting capital in constructing a line of telegraph across Newfoundland so as to get the news at Cape Race from the European steamers and transmit it thence overland to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and thence by fast steamers to the Cape of Brenton whence landlines had been constructed connecting with our American system. In that interview no suggestion was made for a cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence because it was doubtful at that time whether submarine communication of such length could be established and maintained. The amount of money required was not very considerable and the gentlemen appealed to being all men of large views came to the conclusion that they would contribute to the amount. Not so much as a commercial speculation as from consideration of the advantage of early news in business transactions affecting the two continents. The Newfoundland Company was organized with Mr. Cooper as its president and Mr. Field as its active manager. The other gentlemen concerned in the undertaking were Moses Tyler, Marshall O. Roberts, Chandler W. White and at a later period Wilson G. Hunt. David Dudley Field also took an interest and was legal advisor of the company. Arrangements were made for the construction of the landline without delay and later when the experience of the European submarine cables established the practicability of longer lines it was decided to lay the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence a distance of about 80 miles. The first attempt to lay this cable was a failure owing to the imperfect arrangements for transporting the cable across the Gulf and the occurrence of a storm which caused the severance of the cable when the vessel engaged in laying it was midway between the two termini. It was determined however to renew the attempt and in the following year a cable was successfully laid and the original plan of the company for intercepting news at Cape Race was carried into effect. As a matter of course the enterprise was not a commercial success but its advantages were so apparent that the parties in interest concluded that the time had come to make the attempt to continue the cable from Newfoundland to the coast of Ireland. The idea was a daring one but the highest electrical authorities concurred in opinion that it was feasible. Mr. Field proceeded to England to organize a company in which he succeeded and which resulted in the attempt to lay the cable in 1857 made by the Agamennanam on the British side and by the Niagara on the American side. I need not rehearse the story of the successive failures but the first one occurred in 1857 during the panic of that year which spread wide ruin throughout the country. Among others Mr. Field was compelled to succumb and it seemed probable that any further attempt to construct and lay the cable would be abandoned. It was at this juncture that the strong common sense and unshaken faith of Peter Cooper came into play. When the financial storm had abated he urged Mr. Field to undertake the resuscitation of the enterprise and he offered to advance and actually did advance the money required for Mr. Field's expenditures until such time as the success of the cable might be demonstrated and assured. Some of the other gentlemen declined to participate in these advances and hence the burden upon Mr. Cooper was very onerous and gave great concern to his family. Nevertheless, Mr. Field soon recovered his confidence and with indomitable courage and in defagitable industry he finally succeeded in accomplishing the difficult undertaking with which his name and fame are justly identified. So far as Mr. Cooper and his family were concerned they did what they could to secure the success of the enterprise and I think it may be justly asserted that without Mr. Cooper's assistance and absolute faith in the final success of the undertaking its realization would have been postponed for many years. In the end he was fully indemnified and perhaps amply rewarded for his investment but without detracting in the slightest from the credit which is justly accorded to Mr. Field I think I am justified in making at your request this brief statement in order to show that without the unflinching courage and cooperation of Mr. Cooper Mr. Field would hardly have been in a position to achieve the triumph which he finally secured and for which his memory is entitled to the veneration of succeeding generations. End of section 4 Section 5 of the National Geographic Magazine Volume 7 March 1896 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Phil Schemf The Russo-American Telegraph Project of 1864-67 by Professor William H. Dahl The possibility of constructing a line of telegraph overland through Siberia and Northwestern America had doubtless occurred to many but the first person to endeavor to give practical effect to the conception appears to have been Mr. Perry M. Collins of California who in 1856 and for some years subsequently was United States consular agent at Nicolayevsk on the Amur River in eastern Siberia. By dint of constant activity and perseverance Mr. Collins succeeded in obtaining the concessions necessary to the construction of the line of telegraph with all needful accessories from the Amur to the British Columbian line through eastern Siberia and the Russian-American colonies and also through the British territories in America. The annual mishaps in the course of the attempts to lay a workable cable across the Atlantic had led many telegraphers to believe that the plan was impracticable though they had no doubt of their ability to construct and keep in working order shorter lines such as that proposed across Bering Strait. The propositions of Mr. Collins were laid before the directors of the Western Union telegraph company March 16, 1864 They accepted by a unanimous vote the transfer of his rights and interests and on March 18th completed an organization for the carrying out of the project. An expedition to explore the proposed route under Colonel Charles S. Boakley formerly of the United States Military Telegraph Corps was immediately organized. Colonel Boakley reached the Pacific Coast in January 1865 The exploration of the British Columbian line was directed by Edmund Conway that of the Russian American by Robert Kennecott and that of Eastern Siberia by Sergio Sabasa The United States detailed Captain C. M. Scammon of the Revenue Marine Service and two other officers to the fleet fitted out by the company and the Russian Government lent the aid of the Corvette of Zodnik. The first visit was paid to the Russian authorities at Sitka in March 1865 In July, parties were on the way to Siberia, Alaska and the Bering Strait Explorations during this and the following season demonstrated the practicability of the route selected and saw a small amount of line constructed every endeavor being made to carry out the project. In 1867, the Atlantic Cable at last proved itself a working success. On the other hand, the experience gained by the expeditions sent out in connection with the Russo-American project showed that the maintenance of the projected line would be so expensive as to make it impossible for it to compete with the Atlantic Cable commercially. Consequently, the company decided to withdraw from the enterprise and in the autumn of 1867, the parties returned to California. The route chosen was up the valley of the Fraser River in British Columbia and down the Yukon to the Nalato Band, then to cross country to Port Clarence, where a cable was to connect with the Siberian lines. The latter would leave the Chukchi Peninsula, cross the neck of the Peninsula of Kamchatka and skirt the shores of the Okotsk Sea, joining the Russian lines at Nikolaevsk. It is stated that a large part of the 14 millions of dollars represented by the stock was actually expended in the work. At all events, a large amount of money was spent and the only returns were those public benefits implied by an increase of geographical and other scientific knowledge and the training of a number of explorers and investigators. End of section 5 Section 6 of the National Geographic Magazine Volume 7, March 1896. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Betty B Survey and Subdivision of Indian Territory by Henry Gannett, Chief Topographer, United States Geological Survey. The condition of things in Indian Territory is anomalous. The territory is an area of some 31,000 square miles divided among what are called the Five Civilized Tribes. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles. The reservation of each tribe being owned by the tribe. Such a thing as private ownership of the land is unknown. Each individual entitled to do so is however permitted to take up and occupy any land which is not already occupied but in so doing he does not acquire title. The population of the territory consists of some 50,000 Indians a few whites who have married Indian women and have thus acquired membership in the tribe of the Cherokees and Emoluments. A few thousand Negroes mostly the descendants of slaves and a large number variously estimated at from 100,000 to 200,000 of whites who are living in the territory on sufferance some legally upon the payment of a small tax others without the shadow of right or authority. These latter are known as interlopers who might be expected under this condition of affairs the whites who have married Indian women being much shrewder and more experienced than the Indians have acquired by the right of occupation nearly all the landed property which is worth having in the territory. They own, if it can be called owning, all the best farming and grazing land all the timber land which is of immediate value all the town sites and all the mineral land which is worth having and by leasing this property to whites they are rapidly acquiring great wealth. Although in many respects quite advanced in the arts of civilization the governments established by these Indians are weak and insufficient so far as the control of the Indians themselves is concerned they may have ample power but at present they are called on to cope with and control a large body of whites outnumbering themselves at least three to one and compose largely of the rough lawless frontier element. Indeed we are not the tribal governments reinforced by the power of the United States courts the territory would long ago have been in a state of anarchy this situation of affairs instead of improving with time is rapidly becoming worse in as much as the number of interlopers in the territory is constantly and rapidly increasing the remedy for this threatening aspect of affairs is plainly the substitution of a territorial government by all inhabitants for the present tribal governments of the Indian minority the allotment of land to the Indians and the consequent establishment of land titles in the necessity of the solution Congress has for the past two years been endeavoring to treat with the tribes to accept their lands in severalty in pursuance of this object two different commissions have been appointed each of which has spent several months in the territory endeavoring to obtain a hearing from the tribes but thus far without the slightest result the tribes have declined absolutely to treat with them upon this subject during the progress of these attempts at negotiation Congress has taken another step in the same direction in March 1895 an appropriation of $200,000 was made by Congress for commencing the survey and subdivision of the lands of the territory being the necessary preliminary step toward allotment this work was placed by the director of the interior in the hands of the director of the geological survey instead of being let out on contract as has been done in all cases of subdivision here to four the Chickasaw Nation was accepted as it was subdivided in 1873 the work was commenced in April under the following plan the Indian baseline which forms the baseline of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma was adopted for carrying the work into the other nations the second guide meridian east of the principal meridian of the Chickasaw Nation was run northward and southward as a principal meridian for the other nations thus while the general system of surveys conforms to that in the Chickasaw Nation and in Oklahoma the work has been so planned as to make it independent which may have accumulated in the earlier work two parties have been engaged continuously since April last in running standard lines guide meridians and correction lines by which the countries divided into blocks 24 miles on a side the township exteriors were run by distinct parties two parties being at first organized for this work which were subsequently carried on to four the subdivision of townships into sections was carried on by still a third set of parties eight of which were organized and placed in the field during the month of May and the number was subsequently increased to 16 thus the entire work of subdividing the land is carried on by three distinct sets of parties the work of each checking a system of triangulation has been carried over the area subdivided and the stations in this triangulation have been connected with section and township corners this is done not only for the purpose of checking and correcting errors but also to form reference points for the recovery of missing corners the triangulation points being marked in a very permanent manner the triangulation rests upon a baseline measured on the track of the Missouri Kansas and Texas railway near Savannah and the astronomical position of this place was determined as the initial position the subdivision parties by which is to be understood the parties engaged in running the section lines are grouped four of them being in charge of an experience surveyor connected with the permanent core of the United States geological survey who supervises the work closely and attends to the executive management of the outfit and who moreover, commonly with the aid of an assistant maps the topography of the area subdivided this latter duty is rendered light by the fact that the surveyor in running the lines locates the points of crossing of every stream road or other natural or artificial feature which he encounters in the course of his line thus at intervals of a mile or less all the features are located and little remains for the topographer to do except to sketch these features between these points of location the progress made in this survey up to the end of January of the present year is set forth in a report which has been made to the secretary of the interior it appears from this that in the primary triangulation forty nine stations have been selected signals built upon them and angles measured from them by means of these stations an area of about ten thousand square miles or about five twelfths of the area of the territory excluding the Chickasaw nation has been controlled in the subdivision work eleven thousand seven hundred seventy miles had been run out of an estimated amount of forty seven thousand miles to complete the territory or about one fourth of the entire work of the above mileage nine hundred seventy miles are standard lines that is standard parallels and correction lines one thousand seven hundred ninety miles are exterior lines of townships eight thousand seven hundred seventy miles are section lines and the remaining two hundred forty miles are the meander lines of streams the work thus far done completes the subdivision of one hundred twenty eight full townships and twenty six fractional townships it is included mainly in the western part of the Choctaw nation embraces all of the seminal country and some of the creek country while standard lines have been run into the Cherokee nation the progress is represented upon the sketch map accompanying this paper the mapping of topography has followed closely after the work of subdivision and up to the date given above an area of four thousand two hundred square miles had been thus mapped end of section six section seven of the national geographic magazine volume seven march eighteen ninety six this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Betty B Free Bergs in the United States note by James H. Blodgett late special agent of census in charge of education three bridges across the Potomac River connect the district of Columbia with the state of Virginia the upper one known as the chain bridge just below the little falls the head of tide water is too far from dense population to be frequented by foot passengers three miles below the chain bridge is the aqueduct bridge practically the head of navigation since only small pleasure boats and scows to bring stone from the quarries go above along the Virginia shore above the aqueduct bridge are various resort houses more or less permanent ostensibly for legitimate relaxation and pleasure but viewed with suspicion by the authorities on both sides of the river justified by results of occasional raids by officials at the Virginia end of the same bridge is a straggling group of houses known as Roslyn a favorite place for those who want to go beyond the police restraints of the District of Columbia and particularly for those interested in the gambling device known as policy a sort of lottery especially attractive to the colored people between the aqueduct bridge and the long bridge two miles or more farther down at the upper extreme of dense habitation the ground on the Virginia side is brushy with but few houses and is a rambling place for various kinds of boys and men who find the path of the abandoned canal a convenient footway the highlands contain the government reservation comprising Fort Meyer and the Arlington National Cemetery close to the Virginia end of the historic long bridge are a few houses known as Jackson city freedom from rigid police control has made this a convenient place for gambling in various forms close by known as alexander's island is maintained irregularly a race course three miles farther is another race course known as saint asif note this article written for the national geographic magazine is less technical and as less of legal citation and quotation of authorities than a paper bearing the same title read before the anthropological society of washington november 5th 1895 the latter valuable for purposes of reference and verification will be printed by the American historical association and note a good part of the racing in sight of the capital has been that known as outlaw racing that is with horses or with jockeys not in good standing with the regular racing associations just below saint asaf is the city of alexandria which is popularly regarded as a part of alexandria county to share whatever of good or bad repute attaches to it at the census of 1790 all this vicinity was part of fairfax county except that alexandria already had a separate court and was exempt from county taxes for the organization of the district of columbia virginia ceded to the general government the jurisdiction note over a track bounded by the line extending 10 miles northwest from the mouth of hunting creek a line northeast from the terminus of the first and the river containing an area said to be 32 square miles in 1801 congress erected the area ceded by virginia into a county to be called alexandria county but expressly retaining for alexandria all existing chartered rights in 1846 the united states receded the track to virginia which has continued to be generally known as alexandria county though the policy of separation of city and county suspended for half a century has been renewed the combined population of city and county in 1890 was 18,597 of which 14,339 persons were in the city of alexandria which is not a part of alexandria county although its name, its vicinity its recent affinity with the county and the presence of the county buildings note 10 with most persons to make the residents municipally responsible for the unlawful conduct nearby many persons while rejoicing in the measure of success attained do not see why the energetic governor of virginia sent officers to break up disreputable practices in the county they do not appreciate the weakness of the real alexandria county when the gambling elements of the neighboring cities flow out upon it it has but a little over 4000 population 1890 of whom after deducting 164 on the military reservation over one half 2123 are of negro descent and not yet of much proprietary responsibility alexandria is but an example cities of virginia from the earliest days james city better known as jamestown and now extinct was established as the chief city in 1639 williamsburg was set apart as a city to be used for no other purpose whatever and defined as the capital in 1699 and again in 1705 in advance of population note 1 the ownership remained in the existing proprietors certain authors erroneously state that the title or possession was transferred note 2 a bill is pending for erection of county buildings outside of the city end of notes there was a general plan to put in each county a similar town for commercial purposes especially for warehousing and marketing tobacco norfolk chartered as a borough in 1737 has lost that name but its relations to the county are today like those of the original charter gradually defined strengthened and confirmed in points of dispute in favor of the municipality at first the norfolk county buildings were in norfolk and a special clause in the charter reserved proprietary rights in them to the county later legislation authorized their sale and the erection of county buildings outside of norfolk the buildings are now in portsmouth in 1776 many boroughs which have been given separate representation in the assembly were cut off by a law which prescribed that no borough with the population less for seven successive years than half that of any county should be separately represented in the same year the delegate in mary college specified in its charter was cut off in the state law for apportionment of members of congress 1892 the following names of cities are given separate from names of counties first district fredericksburg second norfolk portsmouth and williamsburg third richman and manchester fourth petersburg fifth danville and the town of north danville linsburg radford and ronoke seventh charlottesville and winchester eighth alexandria ninth bristol 10th stanton to these are to be added in the 10th district chartered on the day of the approval of the apportionment bill and newport news for which the bill was signed January 18th 1896 the conditions for the town of north danville are in transition it has been a town independent of pitsylvania county but judicially dependent on danville the name has recently been changed to neopolis and just too late for insertion here it will be determined by popular vote whether it shall be consolidated with danville note in early days there was a disposition in certain other colonies to establish cities independent of counties in new jersey and in maryland such early independencies as survived came under county control in pennsylvania the claims of germantown to independence of the taxation of philadelphia county were overruled by the governor in virginia from the incorporation of james city 1639 it has been the steady policy to have the cities independent of the counties note by popular vote on february 20th neopolis is to become a part of danville on july 1st 1896 and note it confuses some students to find an occasional participation of urban residents and rural residents in local affairs but on examination of charters it will be found that this extends only to subjects expressly named in any instance if one will examine the scheme of government for the city and county of saint louis missouri 1876 he will find that all power of county officers was abrogated the same act restored their power for the rural portion now saint louis county leaving the city to be provided with a separate government in the same act the situation in virginia may be clear if the legislature is deemed to have abolished all county under consideration and then to have restored by name such items of power as circumstances demanded the present cities of virginia have the following characteristics the code defines a city as a town having over 5000 inhabitants and a hustings court and defines a town as an incorporated town having less than 5000 population the cities have distinct courts their citizens do not pay county taxes on city property they do not serve on county juries deeds and other papers affecting city property are recorded by city officers and not by county officers generally residents of cities do not participate in county elections exceptionally they may hold county offices exceptionally they may vote for county officers generally city police courts have jurisdiction one mile beyond corporate limits exceptionally there is a limited concurrent jurisdiction of city and county courts as over waters adjacent to the cities of norfolk and portsmouth and to norfolk county generally the county and the city have each a set of public buildings within respective borders exceptionally authority is given to a county for buildings in a city as when at the chartering of the city of manchester chesterfield county was authorized to continue to use its public buildings therein till other arrangements could be made this authority sometimes embraces arrangement for joint occupancy as when norfolk county was authorized to arrange with the city of portsmouth for the location and construction of a jail generally a county officer may not serve ritz in a city note the venerable city of williamsburg has a smaller population but its site is expressly set apart for a city and note exceptionally he can serve ritz in the city on residents of his county as witnesses may be summoned for cambell county in the city of lynchburg except for individually specified purposes county and city are as distinct as two counties the city of newport news virginia was organized january 20 1896 under a charter naming officers to serve till july the charter contains the following paragraph 115 the city of newport news its real and personal property and other subjects of taxation and its inhabitants shall be exempt from all assessments and levies in the way of taxes imposed by the authorities of warwick county for any purpose whatever except upon property owned in the said county by the inhabitants of said city from and after the first day of january 1896 nor shall said inhabitants be liable to serve upon juries or work upon roads in said county except in such cases as are provided for by the laws of the state this extract states an exemption of residents in cities from county taxes and from duty on county juries prevalent in the state the present facts regarding the cities of virginia are little known beyond the state the congressional directories conspicuous as a public document out of the state that shows the city separately the civil service commission has found it necessary to recognize the certificate of an officer of a city court of record for baltimore saint louis and the cities of virginia where a certificate from a county court was contemplated a list of cities in virginia paying no county taxes occurs in the report of the tenth census 1880 volume 7 page 117 ordinarily in this country a city is part of a county it is said a part that a dense population may establish new values and impose new taxes to meet special demands for public welfare it continues to pay county taxes the difficulty of harmonious action by sparse and dense populations upon subjects common to them has led to exceptional separation of cities from counties baltimore maryland by successive steps culminating in 1823 and saint louis missouri through popular vote in 1876 these two instances are explained in the johns hopkins university studies in historical and political science local institutions of maryland in volume 3 and city government of saint louis in volume 5 the latter being most minute and constituting a monograph in itself and yet the existence of cities independent of county control and of county taxes is denied in certain histories and works on civil government used in high schools colleges and universities in many states the administration of the public schools is largely through municipalities charged with that work and superimposed upon areas occupied by other municipalities charged with other interests there is a very general tendency to charter school districts independent of the town in the north of the county at the south in some states this method of enabling a community to do what the larger unit of which it has been part is not ready to do bids fair to increase this form of legislation is more common in the west and south than in the northeast the forms which these educational municipalities assume are numerous and the complications produced are often intricate the complications are probably most intricate in those states formed of the public domain which have township organization a modified form of the town government of new england it will be most convenient to limit illustration to the organizations which possess taxing powers disregarding subdivisions made simply for details of administration of a larger unit of voting precinct as a division of a county without taxing power national state and county taxes bear upon property owners throughout the country with the exception of county taxes in st. lewis, baltimore and cities of virginia as already explained the national taxes are so largely collected on goods in bulk before their distribution that most consumers either do not recognize them or persuade themselves that somebody else pays them below the county tax come the multitudes of variations the congressional township of the land survey six miles square in its simplest organization became a school township a plan encouraged by the grant to the state of a section or of two sections or square miles in a township for school purposes this school corporation is often subdivided into districts each with its taxing power there are instances of superimposed incorporation of the town as a high school district with taxing power turning from school administration we find the same area made a civil township with care of roads the poor and other subjects within this township may grow up a compact body of population to be chartered as a village a town or a city according to circumstances with taxing power for police and other purposes in some instances like springfield illinois these units will assume the charge of schools in others like aurora illinois the city does not administer the schools which remain under the districts into which the school township was divided a citizen may therefore find himself under three sets of taxes for schools the township and the district for common schools and the high school township for its specialty he may have in addition the civil township tax and the corporation tax when the school district is given a charter making it independent of its town the succession of taxes is modified a volume would hardly suffice to instance all the variations and combinations of duties of the tax payer in different states or even in different parts of the same state growing out of the separately chartered taxing powers and their limited independencies the cities of washington dc which has practically absorbed washington county and become identified with the district of columbia philadelphia pennsylvania new york brooklyn january 1st 1896 new york new orleans louisiana co extensive with philadelphia new york and kings counties and orleans parish respectively but continuing to exercise some functions of counties and san francisco california identical with san francisco county represents simply a growth by which cities have filled county boundaries and not an independence of counties end of section 7 section 8 of the national geographic magazine volume 7 march 1896 this is a libre vox recording all libre vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librevox.org recording by betty b geographic literature obituary miscellania the receipt at a somewhat late hour of two important articles published in this number of the magazine has necessitated the holding over until april of the entire department of geographic literature obituary general john gibbon a distinguished officer and gallant soldier died in baltimore on february 6th graduating at the united states military academy in 1847 he rose to be a brigadier general in the regular army and a major general of volunteers alike against the seminoles in florida and the nes pares and sue in the north west in the mexican war and in the war for the union he served with conspicuous gallantry winning distinction whether he was in command of a regiment a brigade a division or an army corps the most desperate battles of the army of the patomic found him at the front and he was severely wounded both at fredericksburg and gettysburg as a man general gibbon was greatly respected and the national geographic society deplores in his death the loss of a valuable member who in the course of 45 years of active service had gained a practical knowledge of the geography of the united states such as few men have the opportunity of acquiring miscellania no one unacquainted with professor w.h. doll's earlier work as an explorer would imagine from the reading of his modest article on pages 110 and 111 that he himself born important and honorable part in one of the expeditions which he refers to all however except the younger generation this fact is well known as is the further fact that professor dolls continued explorations and researches in alaska and the north pacific ocean for the long period of 30 years have led to his recognition as one of the best informed men of the time on all matters relating to that most interesting and increasingly important section of the globe after the abandonment of the overland telegraph project in 1867 mister doll remained for some time in russian america witnessing its transformation into alaska as the result of its purchase by the united states on his return he published numerous articles of great scientific value and in 1870 appeared his well known alaska and its resources as an assistant in the u.s. coast survey from 1871 to 1874 he devoted himself largely to alaskan studies making repeated visits to the far north and publishing from time to time the results of his investigations concerning it in 1884 he joined the u.s. geological survey of which he has since remained a professor. he is also closely identified with the smithsonian institution of which he is an honorary curator the proposal to establish a permanent directorship in chief of scientific bureaus and investigations in the department of agriculture to give coordination and continuity to the many sided scientific work of the department and to complete the good work of the president secretary in protecting the scientific force from the onslaught of the political spoilsman has excited great interest in the scientific world and called forth a very notable expression of favorable opinion from a large number of eminent scientists and scientific educators within a brief period in fact since february 18 president gillman johns hopkins president dwight and the scientific faculty of yale president sherman of cornell president low of columbia president adams of wisconsin president frances a walker of the boston institute of technology dr. shaler dean of the lorence scientific school at harvard dr. john s billings of new york the joint commission of the scientific societies of washington and the presidents and other officers of various state universities and colleges have given the proposal the very strongest endorsement while the recommendation is scarcely likely to be favorably acted upon at the present session of congress it is to obviously a step in the direction of a more effective and at the same time more economical administration to manifestly in the interest of good government in general for its adoption to be long delayed a preliminary announcement of the mexican census of 1895 gives a total population of twelve million five hundred forty two thousand fifty seven as against nine million nine hundred eight thousand eleven at the census of eighteen seventy nine and eleven million thirty two thousand nine hundred twenty four as officially estimated in eighteen eighty nine the population of the principal cities is said to be as follows city of mexico three hundred thirty nine thousand nine hundred thirty five Puebla ninety one thousand nine hundred seventeen Guadalajara eighty three thousand eight hundred seventy San Luis Potosi ninety nine thousand six hundred seventy six Monterey fifty six thousand eight hundred thirty five Merida fifty six thousand seven hundred two Pachuca fifty two thousand one hundred eighty eight Durango forty two thousand one hundred sixty six and Zacatecas forty thousand twenty six end of section eight end of the national demographic magazine volume seven march eighteen ninety six