THE RIGHT WAY TO USE A TELESCOPE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LX, Issue LX, 1 November 1910, Page 6

THE RIGHT WAY TO USE A TELESCOPE.

In order to thoroughly examine the details of a tract of country from a distance there is, of course, nothing like a good telescope. But to obtain the best results from such an appliance it requires to be employed in the proper way. And, curious as perhaps it may at first seem, for Scouts' use the telescope has no more faithful ally than the quarterstaff. . . Accustomed to sweeping with their glasses immense expanses of mountain and forest, in search of wild deer, the Highland gillies, or hunting guides, are the most expert telescope users that exist. The methods here referred to are theirs, save that the secondary item of apparatus is, in their case, an ordinary walking stick. Remember that steadiness of the telescope is everything in spying. A glass that can be retained practically as immovable as a rock will ferret out little details that an even slightlyswaying glass will miss. Very well, then. For spying from level ground, kneel on the right knee, and with your right hand hold your staff upright, set upon the ground nearly an arm's length in front of you. With three fingers of that hand holding the staff, the thumb and first finger will support the thick end of the telescope, held to your eye by your left hand. So a perfect "rest" is obtained. Spying down from, say, a lofty mountain j where to kneel would be exceedingly awkward. Our tactics would be different. Standing upright, place the lower end of your staff in position, so that it rests just within your waist belt. Grasp the staff at arm's length with your left hand. With that hand, at the same time, also support your telescope, the eyepiece -or which your right hand carries to your eye. The perpendicular line of your body, the telescope, and the staff thus form a kind of triangle that serves to keep the glass quite steady. Assisted by your staff, and making these very simple preparations, you will accomplish far more valuable spying work than is accomplished by anyone who; though also glass-equipped, simply "bosses about." ,