Manchester Democrat., 1909-11-17
MARINERS COMPASS,
Little Known of the Real Origin OF
the Instrument.
ITS USE BY THE CHINESE.

This Wonderful People Knew Of the
Magnetic Needle Long gefore tho
Christian Era-1'he Claims OF G;oia,
the Pilot. and tho Credit Due ti,n,.
Much interest must forever attach To
the discovery of that valuable i,isiru
ment the mariners compass. and yet
there are few subjects cungrrtimg
which less is known. For !; perinl lhe
honor uf The invention WAS .Scribed Ia
Giuia. IL pilot. born at l';lsitaiiu. IL
small village situated near .lmalti
abnut the end uf the thirteenth cen
tury. His claims. however. have been
disputed
Much learning nnd labor have been
bestowed upon the subject nt HE dis
covery. II lI,s l,ecn maintained Is one
class that even the phoriiiciamS were
the inventors. by another that the
Greeks and Romans had II knowledge
of 1t. Such i,utiuns h0wev.r. have
hren completely rrf'itrd.
One passage. nevertheless. of Il re-
m;irknhlr character occurs in tha wnrkS
of Cardinal d. Witty. hiS!,up II l%ole-
mais. In Syria. He Went To Palestine
during the fourth crusade about the
year l2nl. He returned aflcrward to
Europe and subsequently back lu the
Holy Land. wlier" lr wrote his work
entitled "IliStUriu Oripntalls. as ne:ir-
ly as can liz determined. between the
years l2lJ and 100 In chapter ~
of that work lie has this singular pas
sage:
The iron needle. after contact With
| the tombstone. constantly tarl,S 10 the
| north star. which. at the axis nf the
armament. remains imlnovable while
1he others revolve. and hence it is rs
Sentially necessary TO those n:vigat-
ing on the oce,tn."
These words are as explicit us they
are extraordinary. They state Il fact
and announce IL use. The thing. there
fore. which essentially constitutes the
compass must have been known long
before the birth of Gioia. In addition
to this fact. there is another equally
| fatal to his claim as the 0riginal dis
coverer.
1t is now settled beyond IL doubt
that tho Chinese We're acquainted with
the compass long before the Europe
ans. 1t is certain that there are ,lli,-
sions to the magnetic needle in the
traditionary period of Chinese history.
about 1000 years before Christ. and II
still more credible account of 1t is
found In the reign of,Chingwnng of he
Chow dynasty. before Christ lll4.
All this. however. may he granted
without in the least impairing the just
claims of Gioia to the gratitude of ninl,-
kind The truth appears to he that
the position of Gioia in relation to ,ls
compass was precisely that of Wait in
relation to the steam engine-tlle r!p-
ment existed: he augmented its utility.
The compass used by the mariners
in the Mediterranean during the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries was
a very uncertain and unsatisfactory
apparatus. 1t consisted only of a mag
netic needle floating in Il vase or basin
by means of two straws on II bit of
cork supporting 1t on the surface of
the water.
The compass used by the Arabians
in the thirteenth century was an in.
strument Of exactly the same descrip-
ton. Now. the Inconvenience and In
efficiency Of such an apparatus are OBJ
vious. The agitation Of the ocean and
the tossing uf the vessel might render
1t useless In II moment.
II But t;ioin placed the magnetizes
needle on Il pivot. which permits IT 10
turn to all sides with facility. After.
ward 1t was attached To II card divided
into ihirty-two points. called rose d,
vents. and then the box containing !,
was suspended in such manner hat
however ihe vessel might be tossed
t 1t wnnld always remain hnrizontal.-
Electrical Engineer.