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Show CHARTING LAKES ' HAS TAKEN YEARS Government Has Spent Millions to Make Waterways Safe for Ships. PERIL OF JAGGED REEFS Herculean Fight Against Unseen Shoals That Menace Navigation Has Been Carried on Since 1841 New Method of Sounding. Detroit, Allch. Summer after summer sum-mer the fleet of the Luke Survey sails the broatl expanse of the flvo lakes and the score of bays und Inlets searching for danger spots that may claim their heavy toll lu human llfo tint vessel touuage. Probably no frequented wnterwnys In the world arc so hazardous as tho Qreat Lakes. At no tlmo Is n steamer on them more than a comparatively few hours from shore and periodically fierce storms arise, fully us violent as those experienced on tho ocean, which play with the steel ships, battering them helplessly about, threatening to engulf or sweep them ashore. Over $5,000,000 has been spent by the government since 1811 for tho prosecution of tho work of charting the lakes. Locked In heavy timber boxes, protected from lire In Immense vaults In the old post olllco building, Detroit, are over 1,800 Held charts, dating back to 1818, when a survey of Lake.Krle was mado by officers of tho Itrltlsli navy. With few exceptions the maps arc the result of the scientific scien-tific researches of United States engineers engi-neers and surveyors. Work of Generations. These maps represent the work of generations of men who havo tolled to make the Great Lakes safe. As a result of their Investigations lighthouses light-houses have sprung from barren rocks, and tho solemn ringing of bells on buoys carries their warnings to passing pass-ing navigators. Whllo tho work of charting tho lakes has been carried on since 1841 with only one break In tho task, which occurred In 18S0 and lasted until 1800, there Is still much to bo done to make the survey n thorough one. In fact It was only 12 years ago that what might bo called an unfailing system for testing the depths has been devised. Previous to that time the old method meth-od of dropping a weight of twelve pounds or so, trying to keep tho lino plumb, was employed. The system was far from Infallible. This lightweight testing method was employed until tho '00s. Then enmo the heavy 100-pound sounding bell. This heavy obstaclo wns dragged through the water, n mnchlne on board ship registering tho nnglo the metal was deflected from tho boat ns the ship steamed nlong. Tho bell's sheer weight mnde It nn excellent drng. Rut this system wns too crude nnd Imperfect. Twelve years ago Major Keller, United Stntes Engineer corps, In charge of the lake survey, devised a method whereby a piano wire from 1,000 to 5,000 feet In length, slung from two launches and weighted down, was used to search for shoal spots and other elevations of submarine land. Todny this Ingenious device Is In use on the lakes antl us a result of It many shoal and reef regions, hitherto unknown, have been listed. Increase In Commerce. During tho years of tho decade beginning be-ginning In 1830 the commerce of the Great Lakes had begun to assume considerable con-siderable proportions, nnd the Amerl-enn Amerl-enn government planned n canal at Saulte Ste. Marie to connect Lake Superior Su-perior nnd the lower lakes. The only charting, however, had been accomplished accom-plished by engineers connected with the Itrltlsli nnvy. In 1811 dipt. W. O. Williams, who was nt that time In chnrge of harbor Improvements In Ruffnlo harbor, was ordered to take charge of the surveying survey-ing of tho Great Lakes. Ry 1878 what wns assumed to be a thorough survey of the Inkes hnd been made and tho following two years wero spent In tho compiling of documents and tho perfection per-fection of charts then In existence antl circulation. The years that had been spent up to 1880 on mnklng tho geodetic or submarine sub-marine survey of tho lakes had wit nessed mnrvelous changes. The flow of population moved wcstwnrd like n tldnl wave and cities sprang seemingly seeming-ly out of the very earth. The five lakes were white with tho snlls of commerce. com-merce. Ry 1800 schooners were fast becoming becom-ing obsolete. The heavy dnfft steamer that displaced water to the depth of 20 feet luiil driven the light vessels of 11 nnd 12 feet draft from the Held. That a restirvey must bo made he-enme he-enme evident. Provisions hnd been mndo only for vessels of light displacement. displace-ment. Appropriations were mndo by congress to carry on the work ngaln In searching for a shoal nren ns much as $10,000 has been spent, The work of the'Lnke Suivey has for Its object tho preparation Ct ncctirato nnvlgators' chartR df tho lakrs nnd no pains are spared to make U10 maps complete. The work of searching for shoals Is long nnd tedious. To sweep a full square mile costs somewhere around $50. a"-- |