CHECKING THE STEERSMAN.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 334, 22 October 1908, Page 9

CHECKING THE STEERSMAN.

A SUCCESSFUL INVENTION. Captain Hennah, of Government Buildings, fl i n Wellington, inventors of the Patent Courso Indicator and Recorder, returned from a trip to Sydney by the Manuka yesterday in company with their ingenious .instrument, which was given an exhaustive >triaU, Captain Honnah, .interviewed in his cabin, said that tho. trial given on the runs to and from Sydnoy only served to omphasiso his faith.in the- Recorder (which at _ that moment stood in the cabin looking quite proud of its .achievements).. Though' it looks quite the finished, article to the eye, with its polished caso and delicate clockwork machinery, Captain Hennah said it was not yet as perfect as it would be a littlo later on, though it could not act with greater fidelity than it had done, The compass used in connection with tho recording instruments consists of a Kelvin card swung in tho usual manner 011 gimbals in a heavy copper bowl, with adjustable electrical contacts, and can bo compensated m tho ordinary way by bar magnets. The recording apparatus, which mav be at any distanco from the oompass—preferably in tho captain's cabin—somewhat resembles a recording barometer, with a clock face showing the time of day, and a drum which revolves ■ once every 12 hours. The pencil, which moves laterally across the drum in a certain known timo, shows the deviation from the set courso. If tho vessel is steering -a straight courso a perfectly straight line is shown in tho centre of tho record sheot. Tho amount- of deviation is accurately recorded in minutes and seconds. The chief feature of the invention is an alarm which rings as soon as the deviation extends beyond any limit fixed. The deviation from tho set course may not have been continuous, for immediately a series of deviations aggregate the full extent of the deviation fixed by tho master the bell will ring. In order to counteract tho effect on the instrument of the vibration of the vessel a spccial quick-make and slow-break relay is employod to put tho local circuit on the ma-chine,-and it is this local circuit that does tho work. Tho compass is connected with tho instrumont by threo insulated wires—ono main wiro and a port and starboard wire. These can be enclosed in ordinary steel tubing, as in the caso of electrical lighting wires. The method of connecting the electrical apparatus with the compass is not detrimental in any way to the working of tho compass—it has no electrical or magnetic effect upon it. Captain Hennah states that ho kept a very close watch on the instrument the whole way across, and is perfectly satisfied with it. He was rather tired on Tuesday night, and though he meant to watch the' chart off and on ho was overcome with sleep. Early in tho morning tho Recorder's alarm bell rang out, and ho jumped out of tho bunk and scanned the chart, to find the pencil which marks the course hard over to one side. He rushed up on deck to see what was tho matter, and met with a very simple explanation. The steamer was approaching Capo Farewell, and the courso had been altered since tho machine had been set to ono that would clear the Spit in comfort. Captain Hennah retired to his bunk a happy man, glad with the knowledgo that there could be no looseness on the part of the steersman with such an appliance on board to tell tales. The Recorder has been provisionally patented all over tho world, and a syndicate is being formed to tako out proper patent rights in each country, and to placo the invention before tho maritime world.