Lewis and Clark used the only compass available in the day, the Tate’s compass. The problem with them was that every so many of them had reverse polarity and north was really south and south was really north. This is where the saying, “He who has a Tate’s is lost” comes from.
Bill Steele > On Jul 23, 2019, at 11:22 AM, Geary Schindel <gschin...@edwardsaquifer.org> > wrote: > > Well, you may have gotten Douglas “Wrong way” Corrigan’s compass. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Corrigan > > He is the guy that filed a flight plan to fly from New York City to Long > Beach, California in 1938 but flew to Ireland instead. > > I think that massive objects affect gravitational fields but maybe there is a > magnetic component I’m not aware of. Then again, it may be that you have a > bird brain and the load stone in your head caused the compass to flip > polarity. > > It may remain a mystery. I suspect it will end up in Ripley’s Believe it or > not.” > > Geary > > > > From: Texascavers <texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com> On Behalf Of > bmorgan...@aol.com > Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2019 10:47 AM > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Brunton Stories: > > Geary: > > Here you have proof that overrides your cranial density hypothesis. My head > was directly above the compasses so they all should have been spinning wildly. > > <image001.jpg> > > Insofar as the vortex is concerned, my previous neighbor was convinced that > she had brought back a “healing vortex” from Sedona which now resides next > door and explains both my remarkable ability to recover from injuries and the > astronomical price for which she sold the swamp in question. > > Sleaze > > From: Texascavers <texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com> On Behalf Of Geary > Schindel > Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2019 11:23 AM > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Brunton Stories: > > I have not heard of a compass changing polarity before. Interesting but guess > it is possible to remagnetize the magnet on the compass needle. Then again, > maybe you were near a vortex like the one’s near Sedona. I understand they > can do all kinds of strange things such as teleport you back in time, > increase your chances of being probed by aliens (the interstellar kind), cure > you of Herpes, etc. > > I have seen clinometers get deflected by some who’s heads are approaching > Black Hole density. LOL. > > Actually, I sent a clinometer back to General Supply because it laid in a > cave stream for about a year and got really funky. They put in a new > clinometer instrument. When I checked it using a fixed incline plane, it gave > me two different readings – for example +25 degrees and – 37 degrees. > > I called General Supply and they denied that was possible and that they had a > very expensive machine so it had to be right. Sorry, but it was my problem. > That’s when I told him that maybe the guy that calibrated the instrument had > a head that was as dense as a black hole and it was distorting the > gravitational field in the building. So, I called up the Suunto rep in the US > and he said to send it to Forestry Supply and they would fix it and Suunto > would pay for it. Before those of you that know me jump to conclusions, I > know it wasn’t my head causing the distortion as the instrument worked find > when it came back from Forestry Supply. > > I do remember the Suunto rep mumbling something about General Supply and that > my assumptions on head density were probably correct. > > Geary > > > > > > From: Texascavers <texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com> On Behalf Of > bmorgan...@aol.com > Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2019 9:45 AM > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Brunton Stories: > > Everywhere I go I carry a small cheap pocket compass. Oftentimes I even > remove the plate so all I have to carry is a little round plastic disc not > much bigger than a silver dollar. Cheap? Yes, but all compasses work which is > why you can pay $5 and get one that is “guaranteed” to work. > > So imaging my puzzlefaction when I was in a thick patch of woods on an > overcast day and checked my compass bearing. Somehow it seemed all wrong, how > did I get on the other side of the swamp? So I checked again, and again. Then > the sun came out and it was setting in the east! Back at the hacienda I set > the compass on my dining room table to discover that my home had rotated 180 > degrees. This wasn’t like the “zona de silencio” in Chihuahua where my > compass was about 30 degrees off, it was exactly backwards! I threw it away > and got a new one (a different brand I think). > > The new one worked for about two weeks, then it too suddenly reversed itself. > This so mystified me that I got out my various other compasses and lined them > up . All pointed in the right direction except for the new one which was > exactly backwards. I even took photographs. > > I carefully reviewed my activities over the last several months, but had been > nowhere near any powerful magnets such as an MRI. My Swiss army knife is > mildly magnetic but I carry it in the other pocket. It is worthy of note that > I live in a world with very few electromagnetic devices of any kind, my very > own zona de silencio. I don’t even have cell phone service despite living > near a major city. > > I searched on line for an explanation but none could be found. One leading > compass manufacturer stated that on rare occasions there could be > “anomalies”, but other than that zip nada. > > At present my compass works perfectly. Would one of y’all Texican rocket > scientists please offer me an explanation of this mystery??? > > Sleazel > > > > From: Texascavers <texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com> On Behalf Of Logan > Sent: Monday, July 22, 2019 11:30 PM > To: texascavers@texascavers.com; Dwight Deal <dirt...@comcast.net>; SWR > Cavers <swrcav...@googlegroups.com>; texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Brunton Stories: > > Dwight's story (see below) about paying $5 for a supposedly "defective" > Brunton with east and west reversed reminds me of a similar story regarding > metric hand tapes. Like cavers, archeologists were the other group I > belonged to who started using the metric system for documenting sites. Good > quality metric hand tapes that could withstand the rigors of field work were > hard to find. > > Doug Boyd (PhD), a well-known archeologist from the Texas Panhandle (Tulia) > would stop at every small-town hardware store (on the square of course) on > the slim hope they might have some. In Snyder TX, at the far back of the > store, he actually found a dozen or more still in the original box, with a > hand-written price of something like "$2 each". > > He carried the box up to the old owner at the antique cash register and asked > "Are these really only $2 each?" The old man said "Yep" so Doug said he > would buy the whole box. The old feller looked at him closely and said in a > genuine West Texas drawl "Well Sonny, I've got to be honest with ya' , them > tapes ain't riot." > > Doug, having been raised in Tulia (unlike Dwight) felt obligated to try to > explain the metric system to the owner, who just said something like "$2 > each, take em or leave em". Doug got years of use out of those tapes--best > deal he ever found. > > Logan > > On 7/22/2019 4:27 PM, Dwight Deal wrote: > I was a geology student in 1956 and starting to survey caves in New York and > West Virginia. I stumbled on a used Brunton in a pawn shop in Manhattan. New > ones did indeed sell for around $100 at that time. This one was a reasonable > bargain but still, I thought, on the high-side for a pawn shop item. (I don't > remember exactly but in the $35-40 range) It was, however, in really good > (I'd call it "like new") condition. > I had my wallet out and was about to consummate the deal . > Then I told the guy: > “Wait. This is defective!” > “What!” > “Yes, look at this, they have east and west reversed!” > I think I paid him $5.00 for it. Also came with a nice, new-looking leather > case. > DirtDoc > > (If you have never used a Brunton, you may not understand why this is so > humorous. That's the way they are built so they read correctly when you look > down at the compass needle. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it.) > This has been a major tool of mine for 63 years. I still have this and it > has been used both for surface geology and in many, many, miles of cave, a > lot of it virgin (including Jewel Cave). Used it on the surface a few months > ago to locate some survey corners in Big Bend. There was no GPS information > available. > One of the best bargains I ever made. Buyer Beware! > CC > > > > _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | > http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers > > ***This is an external email - beware links & attachments from unknown > senders*** > ***This is an external email - beware links & attachments from unknown > senders*** > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
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