Ripley County democrat. (Doniphan, Mo.) 1905-1920, 1918-03-08
TAKE UP STUDY
Of NAVIGATION
Revival of Seagolng Spirit
| Arpuses Widespread inter-
| est In the Subject.
SCHOOLS TEACH THE SCIENCE
cIa,sss In Navigation Being conduessd
~ Recruiting service OF United
states shlpplno soar6--f2ooo
- New ctfIesrs NssdsA

New cfiIeers Nssps@ II
. washington. One Of The interesting
features Of the present great revival in
seagoing spirit throughout the eoun
try is the widespread popularity Of sne
study Of navigation.
Reports reaching the Omitted states
shipping board indicate lively intepes.
ali over the country In the study OF
this ancient science. which ne.psu
make ,the nation great In its earliest
years of independence
Glasses in navigation, conducted py
the recruiting service Of the board. 70
train otficers for the ships Of the new
merchant marine, are being conducfea
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 me
gigantic development Of the countrys
merchant marine. II 10 anticipated
lthat not less than $4,000 new officers
1 VIII he required to handle the Ameri
ican cargo carrying vessels now undes
construction, and not less than So""
men viii be wanted for the crews.
| 4 merchant officer todey has maay
advantages in stndying navigation tnht
were not known to his seasoins ances'
tors. There was never 4 time when
] Ma aids TO navigation were 10 numer-
ous as now, or 90 wen developed.
while the manner in which a navi'
sator determines his ships position on
ne vast face Of the deep must always
be something Of a mystery to the lanas-
! man. Il does mot long reRain % 70 tne
, earnest student of navigation. Some
of the students at shipping board
J schoois have been able. after three
. weeks study, to determine BY ooser'
}. yation the position Of q ship at seq
within three miles, which ID considered
r cred,table performance. The bes'
i nayigators, on large ships, when ap't
10 check up their observations by tn'
work Of more than one observer, some
1 times do no better. .r4yH
III Early Navigation. 3F
III In the early days Of ocean navAsa
ton the navigator never knew his pc
sition at SEQ within many leagues.
was. customary FOR ships on the voy
| are from Europe to America to sal
westerly until landfsil was mad'
then coast to their destination.
Columbus followed this METHOD ~
want Of anything better. :.
Given sextant and chronometer. sn
navigator today reduces tho JOB
finding his position to one OF carer
figuring. Latitude Is found by obse
\ yation o, the height, or altitude. OF u
sun OF noon.
Longitude is quite another thing,
being the distance between two plac'
on the earth's surface, expressed
degrees. II 10 based on the rotate
y Of the earth on It's axis every "a houl
causing meridians Is degrees apart
aY meridian being line hatween =
equator and the poles--t1 PASS uno
,es certain fixed point in the hsayens
one-hour intervals.
FOR determining Longitude oil en-
uoneters used on American aud Br
ace In ships are act On the time q :
ed meridian Of Greenwich observato'
ith near London. French ships ngt
ade from the meridian Of Paria.
eed Knowing by his chropOmeter
lnr time at Greenwich, and by observat'
Of the sun at 8 Q. m. or Ar. q. his Q
sed time. the mariner, BY thA bid Of tnhl
rht has only to and the diflsFspee 70 th'
he. two times, to find his fistance ln
lon. rrees from Greenwich. This fou
= the distance Is easily expressed
ant miles. and marks has position On
ema chart. 4
col. sDesd HssksnIna.v
ater Prior 10 the perfection Of the q
nits. non,eter. the common method OF de
sFe- mining longitude was, ~ +dead reck
1its lna.~ TINT Is, estimating 2 ships
enk day By day, By means Of the log. Q
n Il Il vice for telling her speed BY meani
i tie rate at which knots 10 line, !
one out astern, with woodcp sos" at
END, clipped over the rail In q g
.l,s number Of seconds. This was un
dnc. tuin, ana battling winds ana
sor weather made It entirely unfeliaDl
4 "a Many fatal shipwrecks resulted
Il NOD mistakes In estimating ships posi-
esso s b. dead reckoning. England lost
- eral Of her best ships Of waF n
ao,,. eighteenth century By their 70
,ssd. their bearings and crashing upp
,oins rocky shore. One Of Its brasest
wart mirals, Sir Cloudesley Shovel lost
a I life in wreck caused 10 this way
- ro,,,. The world owes much In navigs
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