FAMILIAR SCENES FROM A NEW ANGLE
(FIGS. 1, 3, AND 4)
Pictures of well-known buildings are of wide appeal. In so far as they
create an interest in the activities for which the buildings stand they
are distinctly educative. Such widely known buildings as the National
Capitol and the Library of Congress are used repeatedly for
illustration. They are as welcome as the sight of a familiar face. Any
unusual circumstance connected with them is seized upon as an excuse for
republishing pictures of them. Views of them from a new angle are always
in demand. Not only do air photographs offer a welcome novelty, but they
have the added advantage of lifting the subject out of the clutter of
surrounding buildings and making it really the central figure of the
picture. It would be difficult to get a more impressive view of the
National Capitol than that of Figure 1 or a more attractive glimpse of
the Naval Academy at Annapolis than that of Figure 4. The objects of
chief interest occupy the center of view without distracting
obstructions. In the former, the imposing structure of the Capitol
building appears in a pleasing setting of minor details. The proximity
of the Senate Office Building and the Library of Congress is at once
apparent, and the radiating systems of the avenues of approach.
Strangers may have wondered as to the nature of the environs of the
Capitol. The tree-lined streets and the apartment houses seen in the
picture answer the question. In the view of the Naval Academy the
buildings occupy the center of the scene, with the beautiful dome of the
memorial to John Paul Jones, the first great American naval fighter,
prominently in view. Spa Creek in the foreground, a part of the capital
city of Maryland at the left, and the Severn River, with its low wooded
banks, stretching away
[Illustration: FIG. 3--West Point, N. Y., and the Hudson River. An air
view of the United States Military Academy and the gorge of the Hudson.
The picture shows the commanding view of the river to be had from the
point of land 180 feet above the river on which the Military Academy is
located and shows the wisdom of the choice of this spot as one of the
chain of redoubts by which the river was fortified during the
Revolution.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4--The Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Oblique view
from an airplane from a position over Eastport in a general
northwesterly direction. The water in the foreground is Spa Creek. The
Severn River, spanned by the county bridge and the Baltimore and
Annapolis Railroad bridge, stretches away to the left. The buildings in
the middle of the picture are those of the Naval Academy. The domed
mausoleum built in honor of John Paul Jones, which serves as his final
resting place, appears at the left. Still farther to the left lies
Maryland’s capital city. Of interest is a comparison of the low-lying
and stream-cut banks of the drowned valley now occupied by the Severn
River with the mountains through which the Hudson River has cut its
gorge at West Point (see Fig. 3).]
in the distance, spanned by the county bridge and the Baltimore and
Annapolis Railroad bridge, form an interesting setting and show, without
detracting from the importance of the academy itself, its advantageous
location with regard to the city and the water approaches.