MDMD: Meaningless line

[Paul Mackin]

----- Original Message -----
From: "r j palcho" <ralpal at voicenet.com>
To: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: MDMD: Meaningless line


> At 09:11 AM 9/11/01 +1000, jbor wrote:
> >I'm guessing that the original purpose of the Line, which escapes me at
> >present though perhaps it will be made clear later on in the text (was it
> >essentially a cartological exercise?),
>
> The survey was requested by the Calverts of Maryland and the Penns of Pa.
> in orde to resolve a 80 year (prox)  dispute over a conflict in the
> original charters amounting to some 4000 sq.miles of territory--not
> much,but it was an item back then when a sq.mile was a sq.mile. Problem
was
> the descrepancy between the 40th
> latitude and the 12 mile circle from New Castle,Del. some 13 to 15 miles
of
> latitude.
>    It was "meaningless" only in regard to the conflict between the two
> provinces being nullified 10 years later with the war of Independence.
>
>    There was also the problem of taxes for the residents of this 13 to 15
> mile space--whose pocket did they go in? or did they just not pay th


Also for residents all along the rest of the boundary (stretching West)
between the two jurisdictions knowing which they were in.

        P.