The New York herald., 1878-11-15
APPROACHES TO NEW YORK HARBOR.

CAPTAIN TRUDEIIRs PLAN FOR MAKING SANDY
HOOK LrGHrsHIP pY souNDINGs--cRrrIcIssIs
BY TRANSATLANTIC STEAMSHIP MASTER AND
RESPONSE OF THE CAPTAIN.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALp:--
A letter published in the New York Maritime Regis
ter of the lAth of August 1s7s and signed "A Trans
atlantic steamship Master" makes objections to the
plan proposed by Captain Trudelle for making
Sandy Hook Lghtship by soundngs and criticses it
chiefly for requiring too much mathematical pre-
csion to be compatible with the ordinary practice of
navigation. The following is the text Of the letter.
LETTRR or THE STEAMSHIP MASTER.
TO rHK EDITOR OF the Ssw YORK NARrilE RscIsrrR;I
psaE s,sssns g. read csPsin Traasss .hoagh'ni i
Of New Jersey and after csstnl study Of his plan
psriscs courtesy, that bis plan is open to er
sisms and objections His obssrvations on tho
The topossaphy. Of. tho. coast Of North Amerca
sa strong southwesterly set and that
the coast there always strong surface current
trading York its action and
captain rradells starts with The promises that all dead
ss s h. ss In &
read snd look BY the which be h"s kindly draM.
the excellent chart Of Long Island and tho approaches
r y s0 uss, " s ussf - states H.
renee Of thirty faho sGnnSngs But snpp?sn. that tue
for IT, win 30 guide sound by he states
ships their reskonng 50 much On looking AZ the
reckoning Would alsi % the sy f".hom Line What
many a M more and abss masters trade
weather after passng Sable Island. course should bs
&, sis~ssi and shells :saa With s,ass
Ss hs tas i Pay of rpndy ne reason
considerably, especially
while sbbng the latter setting .spdly hs dssrgss
soundgs steer west until you get thirty and forty
boldly yS1 sse ss sshs Shores
the eastward Of Fire Island the shore 4 steep also and
ery set s thus provided against making
being the nosthern shore you can without great dcay
wv" ~ CAUSE or pIsAsrsRs
The great trouble and cause OF disasters Is and has been
Of sail long after i y prudent 70 do So
Carving sail knowing You are getting asar hs n anS FAN
lowed to such mathomatica certainty gallant
mind reply made to By
W hs saa dslss c s the
~sr have worked It out three places of decmas"
nsis s;' nd s sI
re 'ps ss ssss cass sss
ing New York during thick weather deserves credit for
yaa yoa the Of
letter 'saarB TRAiSsArLANrrc STEAMSHIP MASTER
CAPTAIN rRuDELLE's COMMENTS
The steamship Master seems to me not to have
sufficiently reflected after reading the directions
wrote, or he would have probably acknowledged that
nothing is less mathematical than the required opera
tions. However. viii answer HIM
Fira-I do not say that all dead reckoning is more
or less faulty say and prove that if it is faulty
soundings will generally not give Information of the
fact to- navigators on direct track between Nan
tucket Shoals and Sandy Hook.
Sec0nd.-I never intended to claim the curves of
Gn 1a nd
lines the gronnd, but they sufficiently deter.
mined for the purpose No one of the required
eight to thirty. than twenty; less than twenty
more than ftesn,' &c. The first sounding searched
for is from twenty-eight to thirty fathoms between
40 deg. 10 min. and 40 deg 40 min. latitude. There
is room enough between these two atitudes, and
that is not think, mathematical precision"
Third-But, above ell. l say that any seaman who,
on board of any ship steamer sailing vessel. ia
any part Of the world is searching for any sounding
and waits cast his lead till dead reckoning places
him in the depth of water he is searching for is not
fit to command ship. But let the steamship master
recover himself should he, without sounding, leap
over the thirty iathoms curve. Without very sharp
lookout, merely BY a glimpse ut the paragraph,
especial cases OF the direction he will find the asked
for guide.
Fouytt.-The sounding upon the southern edge
of Stellwngen Shoals recommended by Maury) will
not reveal the errors which could take place between
the stellwsgen ground and Sandy Hook which errors
are the most dangerous.
FfM-The use of the method il not SO difficult nor
tcklish as the steamship Master supposes, since
.yirM.-There are not "too many courses to steer
There are but three-West, s. IS w. North.
,yereaA-The measurement Of distances does not at
all require the precision dreaded by the steamship
Master At the fathest the distances could be not al
all measured without compromising the final result
EighM.--"Kindly drawn signifies probably here
favorably with complaisance the advantage of the
method 1t is not who have drawn these headlands
it is the United States Coast Survey. and attest
that they actually exist for myself have than
struck them with the lead with the leave of the
steamship Master"
TRIAL PROPOSED.
But facts prove more than words. il the STEAM
ship Master desires to be convinced propose to him
the following trial IL will bring before him to Sandy
Hook Lightship steamer provided avth right com-
pass), OF which the management shall be given
to me between 40 deg. I'D min. and 40 deg 40 min.
latitude, In any longitude unknown to me. shall
nemain shut in cabin, without charts, books &C.,
till proclaim the steamer close enough to the Light
ship TO 1t plainly clear weather. that is two or
three miles at most. will have on board one or
two of my officers, in order to control courses and
soundings, and to get that my directions
will be well followed. All communications between
these officers and myself shall be done by writing,
nizance of them. in order that Ee may
be information about the posi-
ton of the steamer can reach me. The charges ior
letting the steamer for coal provisions Ac shall be
paid by the loser viz by ii I DO not get the
li2htship and by the steamship Master If succeed.
The betters shall deposit the money before hand, and
the winner will rctake HE stake.
This trial would probably last from twenty -four to
thirtysix hours and prove by its result il "mathe-
matical precision has something to do with the
method.
for the straight line like show mine for the line OF
beauty he has spoken of. L. TRUDEL.r.E.
OK BOARD OF THE FRANCE, pIER so, y. r., NEW YORK,
Nov. 8, 1878.
UNITED STATES BOARD OF TRADE.