The Compass does not Point North.

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2098, 28 April 1898, Page 2

The Compass does not Point North .

The constancy of the magnetic compass to the North Pole is one of those numerous beliefs which have not the least foundation in fact. At every different place on the globe it points, in a different direction, and only one or two of them due north. Moreover it is always changing. At present’ for instance, in London, the compass points t© a place about I7deg. west of north. Seventy-six years ago ifc was still farther away, being then 24£ deg., or a quarter of the way, round to west. In the year 158 ft it pointed 11 deg. east. Then it began to move north till 1659, when it pointed due north But it remained thus only for a moment, passing roundto its greatest deflection westward in 160 years. Again it turned, in 182 ft, and it ie still moving nearer north. It won’t reach that point for nearly a century and a half, and so it will go on. backwards and forwards for ever. It is a case of natural perpetual motion,, in fact. The result to the mariner is great danger at times. At frequent intervals the Admiralty issues' charts showing the precise direction of the needle. But ship captains often use old charts and, for the sake of saving a few shillings, lose their valuable ships.