PAGE TWO
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 1950
25,000 Maps Are In KU's Collection To Be Exhibited Tuesday In Lindley
By DALE W. FIELDS
Nazi war maps and a secret Russian war atlas have played important parts in the life of Dr. Thomas R. Smith, associate professor of geography. He was a member of a group that collected maps for the office of strategic service during the war. Part of Dr. Smith's work will be on display Tuesday in Lindley hall when some of the University's collection of 25,000 maps will be formally exhibited.
Dr. Smith was a visiting lecturer in geography at Harvard university, Cambridge, Mass, before coming to the University in the fall of 1946. Prior to that his achievements had included work with the state department and the O.S.S. In 1942 he started to work for the state department in Washington, D.C. The army called him in 1943 and he went to England. While in London he joined the O.S.S. and from then on he worked with maps. During the war he made maps from the data brought back from the front.
During the middle of 1945 Dr. Smith was with a crew that procured maps in Germany. Special plans were made to get maps that covered the Far East and Soviet Russia. It was here that he discovered the maps in a burned section of a mine. He also found a rare Russian allias in a Berlin office building.
The collections of war maps had to be gotten before the Russians would get to them. The Germans had hidden many of the collections in salt and potash mines where they would be free of U.S. and British bombs. One of these mines was two miles from the Russian border southeast of Hersfeld, Germany. Gold had been discovered in the mine just before Dr. Smith and the map crew arrived at the mine. There were large amounts of gold being removed under supervision of the U.S. Where this gold is now, Dr. Smith can only guess. He thinks that it may be used in rebuilding Germany or the occupied countries.
But the geographers weren't looking for gold. They wanted maps and they wanted them before the Russians got them. After the gold was finally removed, the guards were taken off. The map group went down the shaft 2,600 feet and began their search. The gold was gone, but they found other valuable items. The entire costume collection for the Berlin state opera was in the mine. The costumes were boxed and they remained that way as the geographers didn't bother with the costumes. They were after maps.
Fire had damaged the map collection. Some of the sheets were charred and burned. It is Dr. Smith's belief that the fire was set by displaced persons who were seeking revenge of their former Nazi masters. The map group finally took out thousands of maps that later became the property of the U.S. army map service.
One mine in Central Germany didn't just contain maps or costumes. Dr. Smith found it housed a plant for making jet aircraft engines and was used in assembling submarines. The mine was chiseled out of salt and little had been done to refinish the sides of the cave. It was 180 feet wide, 900 feet long, and 50 feet high. A rich haul was made in the mine in the form of a top secret Russian atlas of the U.S.S.R. Before the war there were only two of these atlases in the U.S. Not only did the map group find two atlases, but here they found many more maps and a complete boxed library.
Dr. Smith found another copy of the secret atlas in an abandoned map building in Berlin. In a move that was to prove a lucky one for the U.S., Dr. Smith was informed of the collection by a German citizen. He located the building with the citizen's help and there in a prominent building on the Wilhelmstrasse he found more than 1,000 pounds of maps. These were sent out by air. On the basement floor he discovered what looked like a big pile of discarded papers. On closer examination Dr. Smith saw there were boot marks across them
The Red soldiers wore boots and had probably tracked across the papers before leaving the building.
Dr. Smith stooped down and picked up one of the papers. He nearly dropped it again when he saw that it was a sheet from the Russian atlas. After searching through the pile of dirty papers, Dr. Smith finally pieced together enough of them to make a complete series. The eventual work found two-thirds of the atlas completed. The sheets were sent out by air courier to O.S.S. headquarters. Here copies of the atlas were checked to see if any alterations had been made by the Russians since the first printing.
Some of the O.S.S. maps have been declassified and are no longer secret because of security reasons. They contain innumerable subjects. Dr. Smith believes they will be very useful for study in many classes. For example, they contain information on the type of native boats used in some of the South Pacific islands and one of the sheets is on the sewage disposal in a German town. In addition are numerous maps dealing with agriculture, industry, and population of various foreign areas.
Dr. Smith believes classes should use maps to a greater extent than they are now doing. He thinks K.U. has a research and study tool in maps that can be of use to students in many courses of study. Zoologists could use the maps for plotting the habitats of animals. Some maps contain boundaries and population figures that would work well with history courses. The maps could be supplemented by slides and motion pictures or further readings about the separate places.
The backbone of the K.U. map collection is the maps distributed by the army map service. The University is a depository library for the A.M.S. As maps arrive, they are classified, cataloged, and placed in deep rectangular steel files in Lindley hall library. The A.M.S. distributes maps to libraries and also receives reports on existing maps of foreign areas. The maps cover some places with a fine tooth comb. An example of this is the Dutch island
of Java. There are more than 600 sheets on the one island. There are more than 1,500 sheets on the Japanese islands.
A variety of topics is found on the Japanese sheets. Some of them show land utilization including rice paddies. Others are topographic and show the general features of the land. Some are transport maps and still others are designed for strategic warfare and include railroads and power lines. One sheet comes in for a lot of attention. It shows the atomic bomb damage to Hiroshima. Studies of the city following the explosion revealed the damage to geographers who made the map.
Maps produced by other U.S. agencies during World War II are also included in the collection. Particularly valuable for a variety of uses are maps produced by the O.S.S.;—many which have been declassified and distributed to schools over the country.
Some detailed topographic maps of the U.S. are being received now. They total nearly 5,000 sheets. Nearly all of them are corrections of previous maps. The corrections have been made by air photos. In some cases a topographic map will have a photo map of the same area on the reverse side so that easy reference can be obtained.
More maps come in to be classified almost every day. Several countries are co-operating with the University in map exchange. Poland continues to send maps of her country even though she is Russia-dominated Practically the entire Soviet Union is covered and included in the map collection. The U.S.S.R. maps are issued by the A.M.S. and cover the boundaries of Russia from 1938 to 1943. They are used by students in the geography department and will be available to classes throughout the University for study.
The exhibition of the maps will be the culmination of more than two years of work for one student. He is Thomas B. Hannanman, assistant instructor in geography and a graduate student majoring in geography. He has helped classify, catalog, and file the maps as they come in.
Quakers Study Relations Between US And Russia
State lawmakers then fined lobbyists for the school a barrel of apples which were passed out on the floor of the legislative chamber.
So each year on the anniversary, faculty members traditionally are fined apples for the whole student body.
Polio Victim's Dad Needed Auto He Won
Call K.U. 251 With Your News.
The "existence of a widespread desire for peace" was one indication to the Quaker committee that improved relations between the United States and Russia is possible. Similarities in broad social purposes, despite differences; the probable persistence of both Soviet and Western social organizations and need for understanding; the absence of evidence that either the United States or Japan used to use military aggression to promote its foreign policy"; and the impossibility of gaining security in arms competition were other indications that improvement is possible.
United States policy on Germany and United States policy concerning
Pittsburg, Kan., March 27—(U.P.) An apple for the teacher was given the reverse twist today at Pittsburg State college. This was the school's annual apple day, celebrating establishment of the college by the Kansas legislature in 1903.
Possibilities of bettering the relations between the United States and Russia has been studied by an American Friends Service committee. Richard M. Wood told a group of faculty members March 24.
Mr. Wood explained that the report was based on eight considerations from which three groups of recommendations were drawn.
Jefferson County club, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Miller hall.
Wards P and Z, 7 tonight, 206
Fraser hall. ___
Y.W.C.A. Executives, 4 p.m. today,
Pine room, Union.
It's Apples For All At State College
Mr. Wood is editor of The Friend, a Quaker periodical. He spoke to University members of the American Federation of teachers.
MR. Wood explained that the Quaker proposals had been sent to the Russian embassy and the United Nations. He remarked that members of the American Friends Service committee had been withdrawn within the last year from Hungary and Poland and that there were no representatives in Russia. The Yugoslav delegate to the United Nations expressed interest in the Quaker proposals, Mr. Wood indicated.
"Some Quaker Proposals" regarding the United States and Russia were printed in the spring of 1949 in a pamphlet entitled "The United States and the Soviet Union—Some Quaker Proposals for Peace." A committee of 15 reportedly "drew upon Quaker experience from Finland to Communist China, and from Hungary and Germany to Mexico. Counsel was taken from experts on world affairs."
Mathematical colloquium, 5 p.m. today, 203 Strong hall, Prof. G. Baley Price, "On Some Inequalities for Determinants."
A "General Outline of the Quaker Report on American-Russian Relations" was given persons attending the meeting. Discussion followed.
YOUR EYES
"To get Germany out of the position as pawn between the United States and Russia" is necessary, Mr Wood said.
the United Nations made up the two remaining groups of recommendations.
Inter-Dorm council, 5 p.m. today,
Miller hall.
Herrin, Ill.—(U,P)—A new automobile was given away at the grand opening of a local garage and for once, nobody complained about the drawing.
717 Mass.
Closed Sundays
Pre-Nursing club, 4 p.m. Tuesday; Dining room, Fraser.
The winner was Louis Absher, who had been trying without success to find someone with a car who would drive his 3-year-old daughter, Judy, to East St. Louis for polio treatments.
"Always Ready To Serve"
Monday, March 27
GEMMELL'S
Home-made Pies, Cakes and other Pastries.
The girl spent several months in the hospital and has to make the 100-mile trip every two weeks for treatments.
The following are notified to appear before student court, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Green hall: Oliver F. Johnson, Jacob Roseman, James R. Ashley, James D. Waugh, Charles R. Coover, Richard A. Hunter, Wayne A. Bentley, William C. Busby, James O. Smith.
Official Bulletin
Alpha Phi Omega, 7 p.m. Tuesday,
East room, Memorial Union.
should be examined today. Call for appointment. Any lens or Prescription Duplicated. Phone 425 1025 Mass. Lawrence Optical Co.
Try Our Delicious
I. S.A. council will not meet this week.
Remember The Blossom Shop
I.S.A. elections, polls open 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Strong hall
and Memorial Union. Must present
I.S.A. membership card to vote.
Tau Beta Pi smoker, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Castle Tea room. Dr. John Ise, speaker.
The first student hospital, Spencer house, was established in 1908.
Mail subscription: $3 a semester, $4.50 a year, (in Lawrence add $1.00 a semester postage). Published in Lawrence, Kans., every afternoon during the University of Kansas campus. Resumes university holidays and examination periods. Entered as second class matter Sept. 17, 1910, at the Post Office at Lawrence, Kans., under act of March 3, 1879.
University Daily Kansan
Ph. 998
326 W. 9th
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