THE YEAR 1933 IN NORTHERN RHODESIA

Abstract

The general depression in world trade has affected the country to no small extent during the year in almost all branches of departmental activity. It has been particularly reflected in the Survey Department by a reduction in applications for land from new settlers, and in subdivisional surveys· carried out for private landholders. In all other branches, however, the Department has had more on its hands than its now limited staff could cope with, and there is the danger of work getting behindhand and being put aside for a future occasion whilst new projects are dealt with to supply immediate requirements.     

A FIFTY-YEARS RETROSPECT

Abstract

The Ordnance Survey and the War.—I shall not inflict upon the readers of this Review any very long account of the work of the Ordnance Survey during the Great War. At that time the work of the Survey suffered from one necessary disadvantage: all the young men on its establishment, whether in the R.E. Companies or on the Civil Staff, left for active service. As a slight compensation for this inevitable dislocation all money difficulties in the preparation of maps for war disappeared.     

A FIFTY-YEARS RETROSPECT

Abstract

On returning from Central Africa I was posted, for ordinary duty, to Edinburgh, and after a short time I found myself again on the Ordnance Survey. Late in 1899 the South African War broke out, and early in 1900 I was sent out to South Africa in command of a very small Field Survey Section. But before describing the limited activities of this Section it may be as well to give some idea of the attitude of the higher civil and financial authorities towards the proposition that it is desirable to be prepared with maps of possible theatres of war.     

A TRIANGULATION SYSTEM FOR NEWFOUNDLAND

Abstract

Following a request from the Commission of Government of Newfoundland, the Canadian Government has consented to an arrangement whereby the Geodetic Survey of the Department of the Interior will assist the Island Government in laying down two main nets of triangulation as the basis for the survey development of Newfoundland. The completion of the final practical details was reached in Ottawa recently, and the work, it is expected, will extend over a period of five years.     

THE YEAR 1935 IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This report covers the period of the first full year since the amalgamation of the Land and Survey Departments under one administration. The general scheme of amalgamation to which reference was made in the report of the Survey Department for 1934 has functioned satisfactorily and calls for no particular comment.     

THE YEAR 1937 IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The year 1937 showed no diminution in the demands on the Land and Survey Department from both Government and private sources. Although there was practically no increase in staff over that of the previous two years, the output by nearly every branch showed a considerable increase on that of 1936. In April the number of super-scale posts was increased to three by the creation of the post of Principal Assistant. Nine European and two African officers were recipients of the Coronation Medal.     

GEORGE EKEM FERGUSON: AN AFRICAN PIONEER

Abstract

THE present Survey Department of the Gold Coast came into being in the year 1901 on account of the mining boom which necessitated a large number of concessions being taken up by Companies. In the absence of an effective central organization most of these concessions, which were indifferently surveyed by private surveyors, resulted in much overlapping of boundaries, involving a considerable amount of litigation. The Department has justified its existence by producing maps of the Colony and its Dependencies, providing plans for townplanning and communication roads as well as by training Africans as surveyors. Before the institution of the Survey Department Government surveys, mainly cadastral, in the Colony were controlled by the Public Works Department.     

THE TRAINING OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS IN MALAYA

Abstract

The subject of the training of European surveyors has received a great deal of attention in the course of the last two Empire Conferences, but little or no mention has been made of the native surveyor, his education, work, and prospects. The subject is very important, however, and the account of the training of Africans for the N. Rhodesia Survey, which appeared in vol. iii, no. 21 of the Empire Survey Review, was read with considerable interest. It may not be out of place, therefore, to introduce this paper on the means adopted in Malaya to recruit and train an efficient staff of subordinates or “Technical Assistants” as they are termed locally.     

THE TRAINING OF AFRICANS FOR SURVEY IN NORTHERN RHODESIA

Abstract

Prior to the year 1931 there was no systematic training of Africans for land survey work in Northern Rhodesia, and those natives then in the employ of the Survey Department as assistants to the European surveyors in the field were no more than “capitaos”. Asurveyor, after his arrival in the colony, usually had to find his own native assistant, or chainman, and any native who appeared to have a commanding manner with his fellows, and who was clean and respectful, was eligible for the position. Preference in some cases was usually given to natives who had completed service in the native regiment or police, for their early training had taught them to obey orders, to conduct themselves well, and to control other natives.     

MacLeod,MI4, and the Directorate of Military Survey 1919–1943

Abstract

The organization lineage of the UK Defence Geographic and Imagery Intelligence Agency can be traced back to the seventeenth century. For much of this time the organization, bearing a succession of different titles, formed only a very small section of the armed forces, and, until the World War of 1914–1918, its main duties were the creation and maintenance of a map collection and the acquisition of geographical data of foreign countries. The survey and mapping innovations made during the war greatly enlarged the remit of what was now termed the Geographical Section General Staff (MI4). This paper outlines the work of MI4 in the inter-war years taking account of the principal personalities involved, and traces the controversial background to the creation in 1943 of the Directorate of Military Survey — the immediate predecessor of the DGIA.     

THE HYDROGRAPHIC YEAR 1930

Abstract

For some years past the work of the Hydrographic Service of H.M. Navy afloat has been carried out by eight of H.M. Surveying Vessels. These ships, of which four are employed abroad and four in home waters, work at sea for about eight months in the year and are refitted during the remaining four months, usually during the winter or bad-weather season. Whilst the ships are being refitted for further service the officers are employed in drawing the fair charts of the season's work and in preparing Sailing Directions and other work in connection with the Survey.     

THE YEARS 1935–6 AND 1936–7 IN THE GOLD COAST

Abstract

THE Gold Coast can now be said to have recovered from the slump which caused such disastrous consequences in 1931–2 and resulted in a heavy reduction in the establishment of the Survey Department. So far there has been no increase in staff, but more badly needed money for buying stores and increasing the labour staff has been available, and authority has now been given for an increase of 12 in the establishment of African Surveyors; this will result in the re-opening of the Survey School in 1937.     

SOUTHERN RHODESIAN MILITARY SURVEYORS IN THE WORLD WAR, 1939–1945

Abstract

The part played by Southern Rhodesian Military Surveyors in The World War, 1939–1945, would have been comparatively simple to chronicle had the “Home” and “Away” Southern Rhodesia Survey Units formed early in the War continued as separate entities until the end of hostilities. As the narrative will show, however, in order to make the best use of the personnel available they were grouped together with surveyors from other territories into composite units and, in addition, some were employed on purely General Staff duties. Accordingly the narrative is divided into chapters covering areas–cum–periods.     

THE YEAR 1936 IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The greatly improved economic situation was reflected in the increased activities of the Land and Survey Department in all its branches. The Registration of Titles Ordinance which came into force on the 1st July and the extension to Nigeria of the Empire Air Mail Service were the two most important events of the year.     

DEPARTMENTAL AIR PHOTOGRAPHY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The article which follows is an attempt to estimate the present position of Aerial Photography in the Survey Department of Nigeria after thirteen months experience of departmental working. The success of the project is now almost a certainty but it is evident that it could not have been undertaken at all without the presence of the H.Q. of a fairly large Airways Corporation in the Colony.     

THE UGANDA MAlLO SYSTEM

Abstract

The survey of “mailos” or native estates in the Kingdom of Buganda has taken a prominent place in the annual programme of the Survey Department of Uganda for over 30 years past. The survey, which has covered some 17,000 square miles and is now practically complete, has some unusual features, and although it has no claims to refinement or to great precision, a short account of its history and workings may be of general interest. The system of land settlement introduced by Sir Harry Johnston has already been described in the Empire Survey Review (“The Surveyor and the Politician”, by H. B. Thomas, vol. ii, p. 28).     

NEW ANEROID TABLES

Abstract

For a number of years topographers and air surveyors have regarded improved hypsometry as a desideratum. Of hypsometric instruments, the boiling-point thermometer and the barometer are practically the only two in use, and even the barometer is commonly represented solely by the aneroid. Since improvement of the lastnamed offered the best hope of success, a Service Committee was formed some three years ago to endeavour to secure at least some progress in both the construction and the use of the aneroid: it would seem that they should have no reason to be dissatisfied with their labours. The Committee was constituted of representatives of the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, the Geographical Section of the General Staff, the Meteorological Office of the Air Ministry, and of the National Physical Laboratory. It is obvious that not much material progress would have been made without the concurrence of the manufacturers; accordingly four of the leading makers of this kind of instrument took part in the later deliberations. The delivery of the requisite tables has taken much longer than was anticipated; on the other hand, one of the makers delivered instruments to the new specification with encouraging promptitude.     

SOME EFFECTS OF PULLEY ECCENTRICITY IN BASE MEASURING APPARATUS

Abstract

The comprehensive paper on the suspension of tapes by M. Hotine in the January, 1939, issue of the Empire Survey Review (v, 31, 2) did not contain any reference to this question, as was pointed out by A. J. Morley in a letter published on page 261 in the same volume (v, 34, 261). A brief analysis has been made by F. Yates of the theoretical effects of pulley eccentricity and misalignment (“Gold Coast Survey Department Records” VoL III, 1931, page 43) but I have not seen any further reference to the subject and have recently experienced the effects of such a defect in our own apparatus, so the followingnotes nlay be of interest. Before proceeding to details I will describe briefly those parts of the apparatus which are considered here and give a short summary of the whole paper.     

THE STATE OF NORTH BORNEO

Abstract

In 1924, when my application for a position in the Survey Department of North Borneo had been accepted, a surprisingly large number of my friends thought that my destination was somewhere in Africa or South or Central America. Of course everyone had heard of the “wild man of Borneo.” To be quite candid, my own knowledge was limited to the position of the island. As this. country seems to be so little known, a brief outline of its history and of the development of the Survey Department may be of interest.     

THE YEAR 1930 IN NORTHERN RHODESIA

Abstract

The year 1930 in Northern Rhodesia has been particularly busy for the Survey Department. This was chiefly due to the mining activity in the northern area and to the rapid development of new townships and the expansion of old, owing to the large influx of traders and business houses. The staff has been augmented; but, although the office accommodation has improved, we still find ourselves somewhat cramped at headquarters, especially when the local field staff returns there during the rains. A general review of the instruments and equipment has been made, resulting in the scrapping of old and obsolete material and its replacement by modern equipment. In this connection it is interesting to note the general adoption of the new Zeiss, Wild and Tavistock theodolites.