The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-04-04
FIRST YACHT OF
kind IN WORLD
The Carnegie a Wooden Sailing
Vessel
HAD A LONG CRUISE
Returns to Docks mt Boston-Object of
the Voyage Was TO Correct Some
of the Errors of the
Compass
HAD A LONG CRUISE
From the Boston Herald.

From the Boston Herald.
The non-mag ghetto yacht Carnegie, the
first ship of her kind in the worlds his
tory, has completed her maiden cruise.
She set sail on August u, 1909, from this
port. an after making an SO0O-mile trip
in the shape of an irregular circle through
! the North Atlantic ocean. she is again
tied up at her Brooklyn wharf
The object of the Carnesie's recent
cruise and of her future cruise. is to col
| lect data relative to the three magnetic
Observation-Disclosures dip and intensity.
The compass is not the unfailing, truth
| full little friend of the mariner, the ex-
| plorer and the burrowing miner that
many people give it the credit of being.
1t very rarely stands true to the pole,
or, in other words, points due north The
compass has a pole of its own-the mag
netic pole-which is some 1900 miles dis
tant from the North Pole and it is tickle
even in Its allegiance to this self-chosen
pole.
In the United States along a narrow belt
running approximately in the direction of
Columbus, o., and Columbia, s. C., the
north end of the compass at present
points either exactly due north or very
nearly so. To the east and northeast of
this belt the north end of the compass
stands west of north by an ever increas-
ing amount the greater the distance from
the belt West of the belt the compass
points to the east of true north.
How the Compass Varies
Were one to pass over the United States
from one extreme corner to another say
from Maine to Washington, it would,
therefore, be found that the compass di-
rection varied from 20 degrees west to "A
degrees east of north. And If a similar
journey of inquiry had been made in the
year 1900 the compass direction would
have been shown to vary for the same
region from IA degrees west to 10 degrees
east Thus the compass not only points
differently at different points on the earth
at any one time but at the same point it
changes by as much as degrees In
century. In some parts of the earth the
change in a century may be 10 degrees
and even more. This change in the
earths magnetism is known as the sec
ular variation"
Some of the greatest scientific minds
have been engaged at time or an
other during the past three centuries In
the effort to unrave this perplexing mys-
terry of the earths carrying magnetic
value. The various governments or the
world, realizing the importance of the
work, have co-operated in gathering mag
netic data. But the first effort to make
complete magnetic survey of the world
was begun six years ago by the Carnegie
Institute of Washington.
The Non-Magnetic Yacht
AS a result of these efforts the nom
magnetic yacht Carnegie was constructed.
She is primarily a wooden sailing YES
sci. brigantine rig, carrying nearly 1900
square feet of plain sail. her principal di-
mensions being az follows: Length over
all 1856 feet inches; length on load
water line, 12S feet 4 inches; beam, mold
ed. SO feet; depth of hold u feet inches;
mean draught. II feet inches; displace-
ment with all stores and equipment
aboard 56S tons, and registered tonnage.
| 246
| The idea of the making the Carnegie
| non-magnetic has been consistently fol-
| lowed throughout The white oak which
| so largely enters into her construction
was grown. cut and sawed within IL miles
| of the shipyard where the vessel was
! built She is fastened together by locust
| tree nails, copper and Tobin bronze bolts.
and composition spikes. Her rigging Is
of special made Russian hemp. The four
anchors weighing in all nearly $500
pounds are all bronze, with no clanking
iron chains, but three 11-inch cables each
of 12O fathoms in length. Even the aux
iliary propulsion, weighing about ten tons
have been almost exclusively built OF
non-magnetic metals-bronze, brass, cop
per and non-magnetic manganese steel.
The crank shaft Is of manganese brass,
hammer forged; the flywheel Is of brass
and lead; the propeller with two feath-
ering blades of bronze, and the producer
is made almost entirely of copper. The
galley cooking ranges are of special de-
sign and constructed of bronze and cop
per. The cutlery-knives. forks, spoons,
etc, are of Mexican silver, and the sail
| ors' sheath knives of the non-magnetic
manganese steel. Every bit of metal was
subjected to rigid test before it was al
lowed to go into the vessel.
Course Across Steam Routes
The Carnegie left ST. Johns under
bare poles. using her auxiliary power
When we'll out to sea her square sails
were set and the auxiliary power was
| shut down. The sea, as Is proverbial In
| October passages, was generally rough.
Her course was laid across the steam
routes, so that magnetic data might be
collected where 1t is most needed
The trip of 1900 knots to Falmouth,
England. was made in II days. and ay-
| erage of 161 knots daily. Two days after
the completion of necessary observational
work ashore at Falmouth. England
summary of the magnetic results obtained
on the Carnegie from Long Island Sound
| to Falmouth (September 1-October 49,
embracing the three elements. were sent
to the chief photographic offices issuing
magnetic charts and important errors
were pointed out. The data given In the
| table apply pretty closely to the tracks
followed by the Transatlantic liners be-
tween New York and England. Along
the portion from New York to point be-
yond Sable Island the corrections OF each
chart are positive, amounting in the max
imum to ~ degrees; they then change
signs, with eastwardly progression. reach
ing a negative value of nearly ] degree.
In other words, for the tracks pursued
by the Atlantic liners from England to
a point off Sable Island the present mag
netic charts in general show too large
westerly declination, whereas on the re-
mainder Of the route to New York the
charts give too small westerly declina-
ton.
Errors Throw Vessels Far on
1t can be seen what the effect of these
systematic errors of the charts would
be on the course of a vessel sailing from
/ England to New York II, during the en-
! tire passage. no sun or stars were visi-
BILE as sometimes occurs. so that the
course of the vessel would have to be
shaped entirely by the compass and the
log At the end of the 1000 miles OF the
great circle route the vessel. off Sable
Island. would be about 30 miles too fai
\ north of her regular track, and If the sci
4 of the current we're in the same direction
4 the vessel would easily be exposed te
4 shipwreck From Sable Island to New
4 York the effect of the chart errors being
4 reversed in sign to what they were BEFORE
4 would be In the opposite direction-I e.
| q l. art 0tff n