Warren sheaf., 1897-07-01
sTEERlNG BY a STAR.

s's~AA~AN
compass must have struck you as one
curious fact. Here is another: !. "A
steersman can keep his ship better On
her course at night, if it be clear, than
during the day. Look ahead, get star
and steady her head by it." So says the
"a. b. of the ocean!to the sailor who has
not yet won his degree. For to the
helmsman the stars are like the pillar
Of fire in Scripture. They are the hands
on the dial of. the light. They twinkle
good evening" to poor Jack as he sits
up aloft or standsat the helm, and wink,
good morning and "good-by" to him
with daylight: It's obvious that the
to- TO or "offf'' movement of vessel can.
be more quickly detected by small.
bright object like a star dead ahead
than by the monotonous sweep of the
horizon, or by peering into the com
pass box. The same ancient mariner
who told me about measuring the
length Of the off and in shore legs BY
the life Of candles told me that once,
when the oil IN Iiniaacle lamps gave
out and he was steering by a star, he.
occasionally struck n match and looked
at the compass TO see if the star had
moved any" He was genuine "sea-
cook, this ancient mariner, being stew
ard Of the vessel on which was sail,
ing; and he would bob up out Of the
cooks galley amidships like seal bob
bing up through a hole in the ice, and
proceed to spin yarns. s.s s*
When the lookout sings out: Land,
ho!" and has replied to the officers
Where away % a star over the rock or
other danger may be noted and brought
down in line with the point on the COM
pass and its proper bearing obtained.
'The stars" said a sea captain to
me, "move apparently from east to west,
80 that when we find our first star will
no longer do we select another. Thisi is
the case with all but the north or polar
star, which is in line with two certain
stars in the Great Bear or Dipper, and
the orbit is so small that it is good
guide for all night; and we can even de-,
tect errors Of the compass by it. 80 ~. E
The north star is OF course as true
as, or even truer than, the most accu-
rate compass. To the "other things
that sailors steer by, the compass is,,
however, what steam is to electricity.
To produce an electric light you require
a dynamo; to run the dynamo you need
steam. You may feel the wind on your
from which il blows you can except in
case Of the regular trade winds, or un-
less you are up in sea lore-ten only
from the compass. Then by sailing
close to the wind you canSkeep on that
course without looking at the COM
pass. But the sailors naturally have a
large accumulation of ather lore, and
in addition in the trades there are,
except in case of violent storms, certain
regularities in the winds in certain
parts of the ocean, and certain other re
curing signs, which the helmsman can
utilize, and which often enable himSto
dispense with the compass altogether.
For instance,si If in standing south to
round the Horn, you see the 81 gellan-
ic Clouds (bright patches in the Milky
sVay) directly above the ship, change
your coursefor the Straits 81 Magellan.
st. Nicholas. 3.
some ething or IN Adnaission.
OF course, II my aunts say that the.
/ baby looks like me, < said the blushing
young man. sY ..s SssEsse s.ssss
What does your wife say TO that q
asked the elder man.
Well, she admits that perhaps may
resemble the baby q little. - Indianap-.
oils journal. 5S} 4. ssssk sI5z s.
sE 81 Got On All Rfght. s, sS1
SheHow are you getting on with
your bicycle, Capt Yertt7
He e beginner )OI splendidly;s
getting on about every two minutes.