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Show Dangers of the Uncharted Seas Move Uncle Sam AMERICA is just now embarking upon a great career as a maritime nation. It is spending billions for ships and bidding for men to enter the merchant marine. One of the first duties of every maritime nation is to furnish mari- neis wiiii sucn data as will enauie 'hem to navigate the waters under its jurisdiction with the greatest possible safety. The obligation has not been discharged by the United States. Many lives and property worth millions mil-lions of dollars are lost annually because be-cause the task of charting the coastal waters of the United States and its possessions has never been completed. Now that the war is over, the finishing fin-ishing of this job is one of the most pressing necessities which the nation faces. Just before we entered the war the coast and geodetic survey celebrated cele-brated its one hundredth anniversary and .went through some other motions designed to attract the public "attention to itself and to the need for an extension ex-tension of its work. But with the declaration of war against Germany all this came to an end. Five out of the dozen or so small boats which the survey possesses were taken over by the navy for use as patrols, and more than half of the officers and men went with them, while those who remained were busy making special maps and surveys for the army and navy. Now that the war is over the coast and geodetic survey is going back to Its proper work with energy. |
