same fidelity and ability by which you have attained your high professional and personal character. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brevet Major W. H. EMORY, JNO. M. CLAYTON. Topographical Engineers, San Diego, California. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you the enclosed duplicate of a communication to the Hon. John B. Weller, and to request that, in accordance with the terms of the same, you will at once receive and take care of all the books, papers, and other property, which he is therein directed to turn over to you. I am, very respectfully, your Major W. H. EMORY, obedient servant, T. EWING, Secretary. San Diego, California. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: The direction of the commission for running and marking the boundary line between the United States and Mexico having been transferred to this department, I have to inform you, in case, on the receipt of this, Colonel Fremont shall not have entered upon duty as your successor, that your services are no longer required in said commission; and to request that you will immediately turn over to Major W. H. Emory all the books, papers, and other property in your possession belonging to the United States and pertaining to the boundary service; for which you will take receipt in duplicate, the one to be forwarded to this department, and the other to be preserved by yourself. You were advised by the Secretary of State, under date of the 26th of June last, that, on account of your instructions to render to the Fifth Auditor quarterly accounts of your expenditures, with the necessary vouchers, payment of your drafts was suspended. As this barrier to payment still exists, I desire to call your attention to the importance of an early adjustment of your accounts. I have the honor to be, &c., Hon. JOHN B. WELLER, T. EWING. San Diego, California. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: Your communication of the 15th, addressed to the Secretary of State, has been transmitted to this department for answer. You were advised by the Secretary of State, under date of July 20, 1849, that the payment of the drafts of John B. Weller, United States commissioner, had been suspended; and I need only to remark that the reasons which induced the suspension, and which were set forth to you, still exist in full force. As to your application for pay on account of your salary as a subaltern in the commission, I have to state that it should be made to the commissioner, he being charged with the disbursement of the appropriation made by Congress for the boundary service. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, C. S. WELLER, Esq., Present. T. EWING. No. 3. Correspondence from the United States and Mexican boundary com mission. WASHINGTON, January 3, 1848. SIR: I think it proper that you should be informed that a very considerable portion of the most valuable instruments used on the northeastern boundary survey, and now in possession of Major J. D. Graham, do not belong to the Department of State; and that it is exceedingly probable that, under arrangements in progress, they will be needed by the Topographical Bureau for other surveys; and I think it will not be practicable for the State Department, without inconvenience to other branches of the public service, to obtain the use of them. The instruments that do belong to the Sate Department are insufficient in number, and many of them not adapted to the nature of the service to which they are to be applied-the survey of the boundary line between the United States and Mexico. Army order No. 65 assigns me to the command of the party to be detailed from the army to run that boundary. Under that order, I had the honor to report to you in person, the day following the date of that order. I then stated my impression that immediate steps should be taken to see that proper instruments were procured for the survey. A more exact knowledge subsequently derived from Major Graham of the numbers and condition of the instruments which he designs to turn over to the department, makes it my duty to inform you that, unless immediate steps are taken, it is probable the instruments cannot be had, in order to enable the commission to meet agreeably to the terms of the treaty. I beg leave respectfully to suggest, as I am already assigned to duty under your orders, that such of the instruments as may belong to the State Departinent may be immediately turned over to me, that I may proceed to put them in condition for service; to make such alterations in them as may be required to meet the peculiarities of the service, and to prepare the information by which you will be enabled to supply the deficiencies when the appropriation for running and marking the boundary becomes available. This recommendation, if adopted, need involve no immediate expenditure. The propriety of this work being confided to the officer who is to use the instruments, I am sure need not be dwelt upon. He will be held responsible for the results, and should, therefore, be allowed the selection, within reasonable limits, of the means by which he is to attain them. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, W. H. EMORY, Hon. JAMES BUCHANAN, Brevet Major U. S. Army. ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 10, 1849. SIR: On the receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, asking for the loan of the zenith telescope belonging to this department, that had been for some time in the hands of Major Graham, of the topographical engineers, I referred it to the superintendent of the Military Academy, requesting him "to report forthwith whether the instrument can be spared from the course of instruction in the department of philosophy, Major Graham having notified that it is ready, with the other instrument loaned to him, to be returned if wanted at the academy." 6. The superintendent, in his reply just received, says, after consulting with the Professor of Philosophy, that the particular instrument referred to by Major Emory would be very useful in the department of philosophy." This being the case, and knowing the instrument was sent, in the first instance, to the academy, at the request of Professor Bartlett, for use in practical instruction in astronomy, I am under the necessity of declining the proposed loan. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major W. H. EMORY, JOS. G. TOTTEN, Brevet Brigadier General U. S. Army U. S. Army, Washington. WASHINGTON, January 11, 1849. DEAR SIR: As far as I have been able to ascertain, the two instruments mentioned in the enclosed letter of General Totten were purchased for the use of the Ohio and Michigan boundary, in 1835, but the appropriation having been expended under the War Dapartment, the instruments may be considered as belonging to that department. They are both of great value, and one of them, the zenith telescope, was used by me on the Northeastern boundary. It will appear, by the letter of General Totten, they are now both required in the department to which they belong. I have the honor to be, with great regard, your obedient servant, W. H. EMORY. NEW YORK, February 4, 1849. SIR: In compliance with instructions of the Department of State, Jannary 19, 1849, I have the honor to report, that I have received from Major J. D. Graham such instruments as were deemed "necessary for correctly running and marking the boundary line" between the United States and Mexico. Two invoices-one dated New York, January 29, 1849, the other dated Boston, February 1,1849-exhibit the character and condition of these instruments, and are herewith enclosed. I have been compelled to adopt, in a great measure, Major Graham's report of the condition of the instruments, as it would take more time than I am allowed, to set up each instrument and examine it in detail. The character of the higher class of astronomical instruments, such as the Troughton & Semmes telescope, the transit, and the altitude and azimuth instrument, though admirably adapted for service on the northeastern boundary, intersected, as that boundary was at many points, by the great thoroughfares of travel, are, in consequence of their size, unsuited for general use on the Mexican boundary, and can only be used at or near points accessible by sea-San Diego and the mouth of the Del Norte. At these points, however, they can be profitably used. The repacking such of the instruments as required it, and were of convenient size to carry into the interior on the backs of animals, was completed yesterday; many of these could have been rendered still more portable by placing the different parts of the same instrument in different boxes; but this is a nice operation, involving the skill of the best instrument makers, and would take one or two months to complete; it has, therefore, not been attempted. The region in which we operate being destitute of trees of sufficient size to afford stands for the instruments, I have ordered castings to be made for portable stands. I have also ordered the observing tents put in condition for service. Both the castings and the fixtures for the tents will be completed in the course of the week. I now proceed, in further pursuance of your instructions, to "report what other instruments" are deemed necessary for the survey, together with their probable cost, and where they may be obtained the most speedily and upon the best terms. * Mr. Bond has one by Park & Frodsham, No. 648, of tried excellence. (Equa)torial stand, price estimated at $100. (f) an arrangement could be made by which the use could be obtained of the transit and the zenith telescope mentioned in my letter of the 10th January, the two corresponding instruments estimated for in the above. (list,) (resp)ectively at 400 and 700 dollars, would not (be needed.) These instruments are now at the store of Messrs. E. & G. W. Blunt, New York, awaiting transportation to West Point. The object of sending these instruments there being for the purposes of instruction, as stated in General Totten's letter enclosed in mine of the 11th, I would propose, if no other means could be adopted, to place these instruments at the disposal of the State Department, (where they have been for many years,) to exchange for them the large and valuable altitude and azimuth instrument by Troughton & Semmes. This is one of the best instruments of the kind in the country, and combines all the parts of both the other instruments; but, unfortunately, it is too large for use on the Mexican boundary. The instrument referred to is the first named on the invoice herewith sent. A letter received from the Hon. John B. Weller, commissioner, &c., requests that all the instruments intended to go overland may be sent to New Orleans before the 23d. NOTE.-Parts within parentheses defaced in the original. |