John E. Coffman, age 10, of Denison, Texas, for his question;

Where is the Mason‑Dixon Line?

Nowadays, nobody disputes the boundaries between our states. This was not always so. In the past, many of the state boundaries have been argued to and fro. For a hundred years, Pennsylvania and Maryland argued about a strip of land 40 miles wide. Both states claimed it.

This argument went on for a hundred years, In 1760, the two states agreed to settle the dispute along a certain line to be surveyed. This surveying job was very complicated indeed. The first group of men to try it crept along and finally gave up, The job was finished in 1'7167 by two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. The line was carried 30 miles northwest of Maryland when they were stopped by Indian raids,

Until the War Between the States, the Mason‑Dixon line was merely the state line between Pennsylvania arid Maryland. Then it was extended as a division between the opposing Northern and Southern States. The line now follows the Ohio River and westward along Latitude 30 degrees, The Mason‑Dixonline is not usually marked on maps. But you can trace it. The first part is the state line between Pennsylvania arid Maryland. Here, in some places, the old stones of the surveyors still stand. West of this state line, you can continue the Mason‑Dixon line parallel to and just north of Latitude30 degrees,