ITEMS OF INTEREST November 30, 1912 Issue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

The United States geological survey has just issued the first sheet of the international map of the world, including Rhode Island and portions of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Nova Scotia. This world map, recently undertaken by agreement with the leading nations, is being prepared on a scale of nearly sixteen miles to the inch. The entire map is to consist of about fifteen hundred sheets, covering all the land areas. of the world, each sheet representing four degrees of latitude and six of longitude. It has long been the hope of geographers to have an international map scientifically constructed on a uniform scale, and the work is now well under way. Maps now available, printed on all sorts of scales, in geographies and atlases, where important areas are given the greatest space, lead to misconceptions as to the relative size of different countries.

In a highly important decision under the antitrust and patent laws, the supreme court of the United States sustains the contentions of the department of justice in what is commonly known as the "Bathtub Trust" case. The importance of the decision lies not merely in the fact that the combination is crushed, but in the fact that the decision in the Dick patent case some months ago is modified. The supreme court takes the position that the moropoly of a patentee does not include control of commerce in the unpatented product of the patented article. The court in the decision recognizes the value of the patented tool which is involved, but at the same time holds the patentee cannot fix the price of the unpatented article. The decision is regarded as a strong point won for the government in the United Shoe Machinery Company case and in the motion-picture case.

In the event of future Chinese disturbances the American legation at Peking would not be handicapped in dealing with situations by lack of communication with the Asiatic fleet as it was during the Boxer uprising. Communication from Peking with the outside world has now been assured through the establishment of a radio station at the American legation operated by marines. Successful communication has been established between the legation at Peking and the naval ships at Shanghai, a distance of about six hundred miles, as well as the ships at Cheefoo and Tsingtau. The establishment of the new station, which is the only well-equipped one in the Chinese capital, adds materially to the efficiency of the Asiatic fleet.

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