The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-02-14
Revival OF Seagoing Spirit
Arouses Widespread Inter-
est in the Subject.
SCHOOLS TEACH THE SCIENCE
Glasses In Navigation Being Conducted
by Recruiting Service Of United
States Shipping Board--12,ooo
New Officers Needed.

lCutuICc u tliC PiCothb Slut -
seagoing spirit throughout the coun'
try is the widespread popularity of the
study of navigation.
Reports reaching the United States
shipping board indicate lively interest
all over the country in the study of
this ancient science, which helped
make the nation great in its earliest
years of independence.
Classes In navigation, conducted by
the recruiting service of the board, to
train officers for the ships of the new
merchant marine, are being conducted
on both coasts and on the Great Lakes.
Candidates for admission come from
every section of the Union.
The cause of this nationwide inter
est in navigation is to be found in the
gigantic development of the country's
merchant marine. 1t Is anticipated
that not less than $4,000 new officers
will be required to handle the Ameri-
can cargo-carrying vessels now under
construction, and not less than $4,000
men will be wanted for the crews.
n IutINIhhL Lit houGy hho hio'S
advantages In studying navigation that
were not known to his seagoing ances-
tors. There was never a time when
the aids to navigation were so numer-
Gus as now, or so well developed.
While the manner in which a navi-
gator determines his ships position on
the vast face of the deep must always
be something of a mystery to the lands
man, Ii does not long remain so to the
earnest student of navigation. Some
of the students at shipping board
schools have been able, after three
weeks study, to determine by obser-
walton the position of a ship at sea
within three miles, which Is considered
a creditable performance. The best
navigators. on large ships, when able
to check up their observations by the
work Of more than n observer, some
times do no better.
Early Navigation.
In the early days of ocean naviga-
don the navigator never knew his POI
sition at sea within many leagues. 1t
was customary for ships on the voy-
age from Europe to America to sail
westerly until a landfall vas made,
then coast to their destination.
Columbus followed this method, for
want Of anything better.
Given sextant and chronometer, the
navigator today reduces the job of
finding his position to one of careful
figuring. Latitude is found by obser-
walton Of the height, or altitude, of the
sun at noon.
Longitude Is quite another thing, II
being the distance between two places
on the earth's surface. expressed In
degrees. It is based on the rotation
of the earth Oh Its axis every "a hours,
causing meridians Is degrees apart-a
meridian being a line between the
equator and the poles-to pass under
a certain fixed point In the heavens at
one-hour intervals.
For determining longitude all chro-
nometers used on American and Brit
ish ships r set on the time of the
meridian of Greenwich observatory,
near London. French ships figure
from the meridian Of Paris.
Knowing by his chronometer the
time at Greenwich, and by observation
of the SUI ut 8 a. m. or 4 p. m. his own
time, the mariner, by the aid of tables,
has only to find the difference In these
two times, to find his distance In de-
grees from Greenwich. This found,
the distance Is easily expressed in
miles. and marks his position on his
chart.
"Dead Reckoning"
Prior to the perfection Of the chro-
aometer, the common method of deter
mining longitude was by "dead reckon
ing" that f.. estimating a ships run
day by day. by means Of the log, a de-
vice for telling her speed by means of
the rate at which knots In a line, paid
out astern, with q wooden 'log" at the
end, slipped over the rail In a given
| number Of seconds. This was uncer-
tain, and bafiing winds and foul
weather made 1t entirely unreliable.
Many fatal shipwrecks resulted from
mistakes in estimating a ships position
by dead reckoning. England lost sew
eral of her best ships Of val In the
eighteenth century by their losing
their bearings and crashing upon a
rocky shore, One Of Its bravest adj
mirals, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, lost his
life In q wreck caused In this way.
The world owes much In navigation
to the Portuguese, as 1t was Prince
Henry the Navigator of that nation,
who collated all the ancient lore on
the subject, In the fifteenth century,
and pointed the way to better means
Of determining latitude than by the an
Client astrolabe and cross staff.
The sextant and chronometer were
both Of English origin, however, and
were brought cut within i've years of
each other, the sextant In 1871 and the
chronometer-an improved clock-in
1785. Modern navigation, such as so
many Americans are studying today.
may be said to date from the perfsc.
tten Of these two instruments.