Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-07-01
WITCH WAY IS NORTH,
"'"erent Methods Of Fighting Person,
Who Get Turned Around,

|
inherent Methods of Fighting Person,
Who Get Turned Around,
Nothing is better known than that
some people have a keen sense Of d.
rection, while others do not. and vet
every one is apt to get turned arou1d;
sometimes, losing the correct iudo-
ment of direction. When sncR sn
error Is made, the person who has be-
come turned around" is under the
necessity, Of being set right. The
French have special term for this.
one who establishes his direction IL
SAID to sorienter, which means liter
any 70 east ones self; and the sense of
direction is called "orientation y a
word which the English language has
| borrowed.
The tendency of the English speak
ing people, however, is to use the
north as the starting point of direc-
ton, rather than the east A neonla
whose ancestors have lived chiefly In
land, like the Romans and the French
thlnk naturally of the rising Of the
sun as giving the central point of d.
| rection.
A sea faring race, on the contrary
looks to the North Star as the one
fixed, Interchangeable point, sure TO
GUIDE ship accurately. So a person
OF the Anglo-Saxon race is almost sure
toask, when turned around, Which
way is northF'
When one has found the North
Star, or seen the sun rise or SET. after
being turned around" is he really
set right in his own sense of the direc-
tion2
One may easily make a mistake
especially in city or within a house
and even become turned clear
around, making north seem south.
and east, west. When he is corrected
Is 1t within his power to make the di-
rectlons seem right7
There is great difference between
individuals in this respect. Some are
instantly conscious Of the points Of
the compass wherever they may be-;
they may err, but they cannot avoid
the sense for moment that one way
Is north and another south.
Others seldom give the directions in
strange place a thought until they
are Informed, and such persons find Il
hard TO understand the case of others
who, though living for years in a
place where they have once been
turned around, can never make the
point seem right" and are often
much distressed by the fact.
There Is reason to believe that the
people who find it hard to escape from
an error Of this sort are really the ones
who have the keenest natural sense of
direction They are acutely conscious
of direction, and when they have
made mistake, find the impression
SO deep that it cannot be shaken off.
Such persons errors are apt to be
few, and to be made in towns and the
interiors of houses. In the open fields
and woods they seldom err, while the
person who easily adapts himself to
the information of Others is likely, in
the woods, to move about in a circle,
and become lost.
The savage has a better sense of di-
rection that the civilized man, because
he has had more occasion to cultivate
it. The civilized man, ;" says Emer-
son, has a Greenwich nautical al
manac, and SO, being sure of the in
formation when he wants it. the man
in the street does not know a star in
the sky"
But it is a mistake to suppose that
the Indian is never turned around. !"
In cities he often is, and sometimes
even in the woods. 1t is his confidence
in himself which has led many persons
to suppose that the Indian never erls
in his direction. The story of the lost
Indian who said, Indian no lost; wig
wan lost, may well have been true,
for even the savage, though he trusts
his own judgment, may lose his sense
of direction.
But the Chinese, although the first
people to use the artificial means OF
fixing the direetion-the compass
the most part have the gift of judging
the direction instinctively. They never
say, turn to the right. turn to the
left, " in showing the way, but always
turn to the north, or to the south,
and so on. Their sense of direction
probably does not, however, come
from a particular gift, but from the
practice, very common with them, of
studying the heavens.-Youth's Com
paniOn