The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1910-03-02
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 Before the
Christian Era-The Claims OF Gioia.
the Pilot, and the Credit Due Him.
Much interest must forever attach to
the discovery of that valuable instru
ment the mariners compass. and yet
there are few subjects concerning
which less Is known. For period the
honor of the invention was ascribed to
Gioia, pilot, born at Pasitano. II
small village situated near Amalf
about the end Of the thirteenth cen
fury. His claims. however. have been
disputed.
Much learning and labor have beer
bestowed upon the subject Of the dis
covery. 1t has been maintained by owe
class that even the Phoenicians were
the inventors, by another that the
Greeks and Romans lad q knowledge
of 1t. Such notions, however. have
been completely refuted.
One passage. nevertheless. of Il re.
markable character occurs In the works
Of Cardinal de Witty. bishop Of Ptoie-
mails, In Syria. He went to Palestine
during the fourth crusade. about the
year 1904. He returned afterward to
Europe and subsequently, back to the
holy Land, where he wrote his work
entitled "Historia Orientalis." as near
" as can be determined. between the
years 1915 and 100 In chapter ~
Of that work he has this singular pas
sage:
1.-THE iron needle. after contact with
| the loadstone. constantly turns to the
! north star, which. at the axis Of the
! armament remaine smmOvable while
the others revolve, and hence 1t Is es-
sentially necessary to those navigat-
! ing on the ocean,
| These words are as explicit as they
are extraordinary. They state a fact
and announce a 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 original dis,
coverer.
1t is now settled beyond a doubt
[ that the Chinese were acquainted with
the compass long before the Europe,
ans. 1t Is certain that there are allu,
| sions to the magnetic needle In the
Evolutionary period of Chinese history.
about 1000 years before Christ. and a
still more credible account Of 1t is
found in the reign Of Chingwang Of the
Chow dynasty. before Christ TIA.
| All this, however, may be granted
without in the least impalring the just
claims Of Gioia to the gratitude Of man
/ kind. The truth appears to be that
the position of Gioia in relation to tbs
compass was precisely that Of Watt In
relation to the steam engips-the Gle
/ meht existed; he augmented It's utility
The compass used by the mariners
In the Mediterranean turing the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries was
q very uncertain and unsatisfactory
apparatus 1t consisted only of mag
netic needle floating in vase or basin
by means Of two straws on a bit OF
cork supporting 1t on the surface OF
the water.
The compass used by the Arabtans
IN the thirteenth century was an IL
strument Of exactly the same descrip-
| ton. Now, the Inconvenience and ia
efficiency of such an apparatus are OBJ
| vious. The agitation of the ocean and
| the tossing Of the vessel might render
| 1t useless in a moment
But Gioia placed the magnetized
| needle on a pivot. which permits 1t to
| turn to all sides with facility. After
| ward it was attached to card divided
into thirty-two points, called rose de
! vents. and then the box containing II
| was suspended in such a manner that.
| however the vessel might be tossed
| 1t would always remain horizontal
| Electrical Engineer.