Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1912-01-06
OLD snip CLOCKS.
Crude Devices Mariners Used In
Reckoning Time.
sANDeLAsS MOST POPULAR.

/ To ascertain the time when al sen is
now a matter of the utmost simplicity.
+ Bur such was not the case 10 the old
sailing days. and In order to acquire
even the vaguest idea Of longitude and
+ time the seaman had recourse 10 curl
Gus devices
Crude ~ these devices appear com
pared with present day instruments,
they save the mariner from chaos and
/ destruction. and even II he could not
name the hour with any degree Of GER
iainty he at least knew the day OF the
week.
Eclipses OF the moon and the posi-
/ lions OF the stars afforded little guide
TO the skipper. who was. nevertheless.
greatly handicapped by his lack of as
/ Economical knowledge aud the inferior
quality OF his spyglass Moreover.
ecllpses could not bc arranged tor ey.
cry night In the week. aud there were
dark nights when the stars could not
be seen. so various devices had TO be
pressed into service.
The most popular form OF old sea
clock was the sandglass Many OF
these glasses were timed to run TWEEN.
/ ty-four hours and prior to the ship
/ leaving land the glass was set exactly
at noon II it were carefully watched
and turned as soon rs the sand ran
down the skipper could reckon the
/ days with fair accuracy
I Side by side with the large glass were
+ placed half hour and minute glasses.
+ The man at the helm carefully watch.
ed this old sea clock and announced
the time ut regular intervals by strlk
I ing q bell. II was customary 10 esti-
I mate the duration Of any incident by
so many glasses. "To fog the glass"
was an operation very congenial to
lazy seamen. II consisted In turning
the glass before all the sand had run
down so that the watch was appre-
/ ciably shortened
| When the twenty four hour glass
was employed little Juggling was In.
dulged in for the purpose OF finding
I the longitude The difference between
the twenty hour glass and the
time by the sun was estimated and
this difference was held to represent
the longitude east or west. according
rs the suns time might be before or
after the time returned by the glass
Taking the snn" was weird and
wonderful operation Clumsy quad.
rants were utilized. and toward mid
day the captain appeared on deck TO
perform his solemn duty After much
4 scrcwing OF eyes and waggling OF the
| quadrant the captain would bawl ont
! 10 the mate. Make Il - bellsr the
number varying according to personal
idiosyncrasies
4 demand for more satisfactory
/ device for estimating time at sen was
/ responsible for experiments being
made with pendulum clocks. though
/ with little success The interest %
inventors was aroused when the Eng
4 llsh government Ia iTl4 offered $40,
/ 600 TO any one inycnfing q method Of
reckoning longitude to within de-
+ gree or sixty miles: fl5.000 II within
forty miles and 10000 If within thirty
/ miles
4 John Harrison. an obscure Yorkshire
carpenter. who had achieved q local
reputation by repairing and cleaning
/ clocks. came forward with chronom
/ eter which ut once attracted attention
/ Through The influence Of Dr HALEY he
I was enabled 70 mike voyage IN
4 government vessel to Lisbon. where he
! succeeded In determining the longitude
+ TO within / degree 80 minutes
/ For this achievement he was grant
I cd $500 10 enable him 10 proceed with