NEW MAPS FOR OLD.
[To THE EDITOR 07 THE " SPECTATOR."] SIE,—The recent correspondence in your columns would seem to show that certain of your correspondents and your own contributor have a grievance against the Ordnance Survey Department. We venture to think that the grounds for their grievance are slender. Whether it would be expedient or not for the Department to advertise we cannot say, but we should like to indicate one or two points in your• article and the subsequent letters that are misleading. In the first place, it is only fair to the Department to say that the difficulty of obtaining the Ordnance Survey maps is no greater than that of obtaining anything else : the Department will supply any of their publications to any applicant, or they will supply a list of their agents who keep a stock of local maps and the keys and other information required for the ordering of all their publications. The difficulty that your contributor supposes attaches to the ordering of a map remote from a sheet he happens to possess is imaginary. If a map is wanted, on any scale showing the country within any radius of any given place, any agent appointed by the Department will be happy to supply it on receipt of that information. The numbers of the sheets are a convenience, but they are not a necessity. We fail to appreciate the query : " How should there be a difference between folded maps and flat ones ? " There is no difference in the area covered. All the maps published by the Depart- ment may be had flat. The quarter-, half-, and one-inch series may also be had folded for• the pocket, and for an additional sixpence folded and mounted on linen. It is urged in your article that to each map a miniature key,ump of England and Wales should be added. We would point out that this is only possible on those of a, small scale. There are three hundred and sixty sheets for England and Wales on the one-inch scale, and to print a key-map on every sheet would even in this case be a considerable item. To be legible the key would have to be at least a foot long. On the twenty- live-inch "Parish Map "—and judging from the proximity of the suggestion to the mention of this map we gather this is what your contributor means—it would be an utter impossibility. There are over four thousand sheets to Yorkshire alone. Any one who expects to find at any agent's all the publications of the Department has clearly no idea, of their number and variety. There are two hundred and ninety-nine sheets on one scale alone required to cover the city of Birmingham. On the other hand, if any purchaser is content to order any sheet, it may be had by return of post. We have had a considerable experience of the way the Department conduct their business, and we have always found their promptness, accuracy, and thoroughness perfect. In conclusion, if any reader of yours has any difficulty in obtain- ing information respecting the publications of the Department, we shall be pleased to send it post-free, together with a list of the appointed agents.—We are, Sir, &c.,
87 New Street, Birmingham.
CORNISH BROTHERS.
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