Land surveyor

“ Return of surveys to the general land office, &c. and also, a duly attested copy of the field notes and plat of surveys of the land by them conveyed to actual settlers as aforesaid. And the surveyor general, on receiving a satisfactory report of the quantity and situation of the lands to conveyed, shall cause the residue of the lands within the said tract to be surveyed in the same manner as the other public lands ”

“ Surveyors measure the land, you know. They measure people's gardens and house-lots and farms, and can tell just where to put the fences, and how much land belongs to you and how much to me, so that we need never quarrel about it.
To be a good surveyor you have to be very careful indeed, and make no mistakes; and George Washington was careful and always tried to do his best, so that his surveys were the finest that could be made.
When he was only sixteen, he went off into the great forest, where no one lived but the Indians, to measure some land for a friend of his. ”

“ It then becomes the task of the government surveyor to measure off the land belonging to the entire community and to give to each village in one piece, if possible, the equivalent of the many parcels belonging to it heretofore. The difficulties of such a task are apparent at first sight. The quality of soil may be anything from very good to very bad. ”

“ The Authority may by notice in writing require any authorized land surveyor who has undertaken a land boundary survey or any part of such survey to deliver to the Authority for his inspection within such time as may be specified in the notice the following documents or things used in connection with or produced from the survey as may be specified in the notice— (a) the report of calibration of survey instruments ”

“ By this report it appeared, that the land in question was a tract of eight thousand acres, being part of a large connexion of surveys containing together between fifty and one hundred thousand acres of land, divided into several distinct surveys, and so patented; the whole constituting one body of land, mostly owned by the same individuals, though patented in different names.
This body of land, the surveyor's report shows to be contained in a general diagram, having one straight line for its northern boundary, and another parallel thereto for its southern boundary. ”

“ The person seeking to do so must first make his selection—a matter not very easy of attainment, for persons holding land in a neighbourhood, instead of helping with information, almost invariably place every possible obstacle in the way of the newcomer. The selection made, the next step to be taken is to apply by letter to the Surveyor-General to have it measured. Shortly thereafter, that officer will reply and inform the writer that his application has been received and submitted to the District Surveyor for his report as to whether the land is fit for agriculture, etc., etc. ”

“ For these reasons the surveyors became the men needed by generals to guide the armies, by the great land-companies to point out right fields for speculation, by transportation companies and quartermasters and traders to designate the best paths to follow through the black forests. The tried, experienced surveyor was in an admirable position to secure a comfortable fortune for his labor. ”

“ It was made the duty of the surveyor to whom such application was made, by a responsible party, to survey the land designated, within three months thereafter, and within 60 days after the survey to certify and record a map and field notes of the survey, and return and file them in the general land office of the state. ”

“ The surveyor-general shall furnish each deputy surveyor with a copy of the plat of the townships and fractional parts of townships contained in his district, describing the subdivisions thereof, and the marks of the corners. Each deputy surveyor shall be entitled to receive from the purchaser of any tract of land, of which a line or lines shall have been run and marked by him, at the rate of three dollars for every mile thus surveyed and marked, before he shall deliver to him a copy of the plat of such tract, stating its contents. ”

“ In 1877, when the public lands in that vicinity were surveyed, an area embracing approximately 1,200 acres was, by the wrongful act or error of the surveyor, omitted from the survey and meandered as a lake, when in truth it was not such, but was agricultural land susceptible of cultivation. That area still remains unsurveyed and includes the tract in question. ”

“ A useful Land Surveyors Act was passed, requiring registration after approval of candidates by a board to be constituted under the Act, and prescribing a variety of other regulations for the purposes of securing the competence and protecting the interests of surveyors generally. ”

“ In the development of our country, the role of the surveyor has been of vital importance. In colonial days, surveyors were among the leaders in the community-statesmen, influential citizens, and shapers of cultural standards, including people such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It was the surveyor's work that determined the boundaries of land, the greatest economic asset in the colonies. ”

“ That where any large parcell of lands forfeited shall lye together, in which shall be contained some smaller parcell of land not forfeited, or excepted, or of lands barren and unprofitable, that in all such cases the surveyor, besides his admeasurement of the outline of the said forfeited land, shall exactly admeasure by his instrument as well all such parcells of lands by themselves as are excepted and not forfeited, as all that are barren and unprofitable.⁠5thly. ”

“ Those who have not the time for the necessary study and practice to make a plan for draining their land, will find it economical to employ an engineer for the purpose. In this era of railroad building, there is hardly a county in America which has not a practical surveyor, who may easily qualify himself, by a study of the principles and directions herein set forth, to lay out an economical plan for draining any ordinary agricultural land, to stake the lines, and to determine the grade of the drains, and the sizes of tile with which they should be furnished. ”

“ The survey was in fact made that same fall, and the company entered into possession of the land surveyed off to it, and erected buildings thereon, in the course of its improvements placing some fences along the division line between the two parts of the tract as surveyed by the county surveyor. This is the testimony of the president of the company in respect to the matter:
'Ans. There were six or seven dwelling houses-small cottage houses-a coal mine and oil factory, and all the necessary machinery and plant, and my own house, some twelve or fifteen acres inclosed in fence and cultivated. ”

“ Those acts also provide that when, in the opinion of the president, 'a departure from the ordinary method of surveying land on any river, lake, bayou or watercourse, would promote the public interest,' the land may be surveyed, and sold in tracts of 2 acres in width, fronting on any such water, and running back the depth of 40 acres. ”

“ A second work, on "Leveling and Higher Surveying," was left unfinished at the author's death, but was completed by the editor of the present volume, and published in 1870. These two works have now been revised and combined by Dr. Staley. The general divisions of the resulting treatise are land surveying, leveling, topography, triangular surveying, hydrographical surveying, and mining surveying. ”

“ In another mining camp, some twenty-three years ago, there was at first no surveyor. Men paced off the boundaries of their claims and went to work as fancy inclined them, and in the town which began to grow up houses were built at random regardless of any street-line and with no finnicking considerations of a building frontage. So a young fellow whose claim was unpromising sent out to civilisation for a set of instruments (he had never seen a transit or a level before) and began business as a surveyor. ”

“ Survey. Taking a sheet with him into the district represented on it, he was to examine the quality of the soil in lots of from fifty to thirty acres, or still smaller bits, to mark the bounds of each lot on the survey map, and to enter in his field book the value thereof, with all the special circumstances specially stated. The examination was to include digging to ascertain the depth of the soil and the nature of the subsoil. All land was to be valued at its agricultural worth, supposing it liberally set, leaving out the value of timber, turf, etc. ”

“ Where such rigid geodetic operations were instituted previous to the hydrographic survey of the coasts and waters, they furnish the hydrographic surveyor, not only with the correct outlines of the coast, but also with the precise position of the landmarks upon which he may base his work, or, in other words, a skeleton for the same. But, when such surveys are not existing, he is compelled to lay down the coast-line also, with its detail as far inland as there are landmarks auxiliary to navigation, thus performing the labors of the topographer as well as those of the hydrographer. ”

“ More than five thousand surveyors are employed and paid by the government. The commissioners in charge of the so-called new land arrangements number seven thousand.
Well laid-out tracts of land are not, however, an end in themselves. They are simply the requisite for scientific farming that will yield the largest returns. The peasants of Russia must be taught how to manage their soil to the best advantage. ”

“ From the feast of St. Luke to the octave p. 324of St. Martin he is to provide fresh chestnuts, to wit, on feasts of twelve lessons; and on dumpling days he is to find the oil and flour with which to make the dumplings.
“Item, as to the office of surveyor, it is ordered that the surveyor do pay the master builder and also the wages of the day labourers; the lord abbot is to find all the materials requisite for this purpose. Item, the surveyor is to make good any plank or post or nail, and he is to repair any hole in the roofs which can be repaired easily, and any beam or piece of boarding. ”

“ A call for a natural object, as a river, a known stream, a spring, or even a marked tree, shall control both course and distance. These decisions are founded on two considerations. Generally speaking, it is the particular intention of the purchaser to acquire the land lying on the stream called for, as being more valuable than other land; and, in every case where a natural object is mentioned, it designates the land surveyed had there been an actual survey, much more certainly than course and distance can designate it. ”

“ With a view to settling practical farmers with limited means on the rich and heavily-timbered lands in the southern portion of the State the Government have a large number of surveyors at work surveying the land into suitable sized blocks, ranging from 200 to 700 acres each. Main roads have been cleared to serve these areas, and a proposal to clear 10 acres on each block for the plough is now under consideration. Railways will be pushed through this country as rapidly as possible. ”

“ In the United States the earth beneath the surface is investigated by geological surveys, state and federal; the surface is surveyed chiefly by the Geological Survey and Land Office of the Interior Department, the Soil Bureau of the Agricultural Department and the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the Department of Commerce and Labor, with corresponding instrumentalities in some states ”

“ In the towns, it is rare that one-story houses are erected where the ground is of much value; and it will be a low average to take all the new houses as of two stories, that, is, fourth-rate houses, for which a fee of 2l. has been proposed to be paid. Before the building surveyor can proceed, the sewers’ surveyor must have seen that the drains are properly laid, and the builder have obtained a certificate from him to that effect. The labour of the budding surveyor, if properly performed, may require as much as an hour for the inspection of each new building. ”

“ He must be able to take care of himself and his horses in regions remote from settlement and supplies. He must be able to build trails, roads and cabins; he must be able to ride, pack, and drive and deal tactfully with all classes of people. He must know something about land surveying, estimating, and scaling timber; of logging, mining laws, and the live stock business. His duties include patrol to prevent fire and trespass; estimating, surveying, and marking timber; the supervision of cutting and similar work. ”

“ The surveying of the public lands may be thought by many to be light, easy work, but it is really hard and rough. The surveyors are subjected to much exposure, especially in the winter or rainy season. ”

“ The present system in nearly all our country towns consists in dividing up the roads into districts, and appointing a highway surveyor for each district, with a stated allowance of money to expend on repairs; and sometimes the tax-payer residing in the district has a right to work out his road tax. This surveyor is usually a farmer, who is very busy during planting-time in the spring, and during the haying and harvesting seasons; and consequently he works upon the roads between the planting and the haying seasons, or in the autumn after he has finished the fall work upon his farm. ”

“ Does any one have the right to ruin the land?
Co-operative soil surveys were carried on during the year in the various States with complete success. Every State now sees the need of reliable study and mapping of its soils, to serve as a basis for farm management, taxation, and real estate. At a recent meeting of the National Tax Association, held in Des Moines, Iowa, the relation of land surveys and taxation was discussed with considerable detail. It was the conclusion that land value maps should be prepared by soil surveys to serve as a physical basis of taxation. ”