Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1897-07-03
STEERING BY A STAR.
Sailors Can Keep tho Course Better This
Way Than BIZ o Compass.

Sailors Can Keep the Course Better This
Way Than By Compass.
In St Nicholas there is an article on
Steering Without Compass" by Gustav
Kobbe. The author says:
That sailors prefer not to steer by COM
pass must have struck you as one curious
fact Here is another-a steersman can
keep his ship better on her course at night,
if 1t 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 tho helmsman the stars are like the
pillar of fire in Scripture. They are the
hands on tho dial of the night They
twinkle good evening" to poor Jack as
he sits up aloft or stands at the helm, and
wink "good morning. and "goodby'' to
him with daylight 1t is obvious that the
"to'' or "off" movement of a vessel can
be more quickly detected by small,
bright object like star dead ahead than
by the monotonous sweep of the horizon or
by peering into the compass 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 the pinnacle
lamps gave out and he was steering by
star, he occasionally struck match and
looked at the compass s.to see if the star
had moved any" He was a genuine 'ssea
cook, this ancient mariner, being steward
of tho vessel on which / was sailing and
he would bob up out of the cooks galley
amidships like seal bobbing up through
hole in the ice and proceed to spin yarns.
When the lookout sings out, Land ho!"
and has replied to the officers "Where
away" star over the rock or other dan
ger may be noted and brought down in
line with the point ON the compass and its
proper bearing obtained.
The stars, said a sea captain to me-
"move apparently from east to west, so
that when we find our first star will no
longer do we select another. This is the
case with all but the north or pole 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 detect errors of the
compass by it. "
The north star is, of course, as true as
or even truer than the most accurate com
pass. TO the 'other things that sailors
steer by the compass is, however, what
steam is to electricity. To produce an
electric light you require q dynamo To
may feel the wind on your moist brow or
hand, but the direction from which it
blows you can-except in case Of the regu-
lar trade winds or unless you are up in
sea lore-tell only from the compass. Then
by sailing close to the wind you can keep
on that course without looking at the COM
pass.
But the sailors naturally have large
accumulation of weather lore and in ad-
dition in the trades" there are, except in
case Of violent storms certain Irregularities
in the winds in certain parts of the ocean
and certain other recurring signs which
the helnsman can utilize, and which often
enable him to dispense with the compass
altogether. For instance, if in staading
south TO round the Horn, yea see Che
"Magelianio clouds" bright patches in
the milky way) directly above tho ship,
change your course for the strait Of Ma
gellan.