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September, 1922 Cannot Libel U. S. Ships Vessels operated under the managing agency agreement No. 4 for account of the shipping board, may not be libeled for violation of the customs revenue laws, according to a ruling by the cus- toms bureau at Washington. Under the terms of the managing agency agreement, any penalty to which a vessel is liable when collected from the operator, ulti- mately would be paid by the owner, in this instance, the shipping board. The statement says then it would be futile for one department of the government to collect from another department, and, therefore, a vessel liable for violation of the customs revenue laws shall not be refused clearance papers, nor any action taken toward enforcement of the liability. This does not, however, apply to vessels operated under bareboat charters, and does not relieve masters or others from personal liability. MARINE REVIEW star readings and pole star readings, and if he has any time for sleep it does not show on the log.” Centuries on centuries have gone by since the Phoenicians sailed the seas in their frail boats with only the stars and, sunto guidethem. The Carthaginians, Romans, Athenians, Norsemen, Venetians piloted the trackless waters with no charts, no compass, no. sextant to aid them, naught except the signs in the heavens. It was not until a thousand years ago that charts began to be used. Then followed slowly the mercator projection, the compass, the rude ‘“‘cross-staff,’ used by Columbus, the cumbersome astrolabe and finally the chronometer. So. the art of navigation was developed step by step. One of the great strides in this slow process was the application of arithmeti- cal solutions in the early part of the seventeenth century. As far away as 1620, trigonometry was studied and used. 371 in many cases where five figures are needed, Crelle’s multiplication table be used instead of logarithms and where three only are necessary a 20-inch slide rule be used. His theory is that eventu- ally calculus will be the accépted meth- od of handling the mathematical prob- lems of navigation both in teaching’ and in practice. “One who wishes to master naviga- tion,” says the author, “should really do so by. means of calculus. Indeed, naviga- tion can hardly be completely mastered any other way and calculus has, in ad- dition to this, the advantage, like the proper way of doing anything has, of being decidedly the easiest way. When calculus is used the only table needed is one of natural trigonometrical func- tions.» This and the 25-cent Ameri- can Nautical Almanac for the year are all that is absolutely necessary, though Crelle’s tables and a 20-inch slide rule are advisable to save time and mistakes.” FIG. 5—TWO OF THE BOILERS WERE SOLD WHICH MEANT CUTTING RIVETS AND SEPARATING PARTS SO THAT THEY Urges New Method for Use of Navigators To the Editor of MARINE REVIEW: It seems incongruous to the landlubber that a sailor should study calculus in order to master navigation, but a new book on the subject of “The Mathe- matics of Navigation” tells us that in time calculus will be the accepted meth- od of handling the problems of this science both in teaching and in practice. The author of the volume, Edward J. Willis, Richmond, Va., declares in his preface his wish to modify some -of the deck officer’s labors. Nearly all. books on navigation, he says chapters showing that “the navigator is on deck by dawn, spends his day, without eat- ing, in a maze of observations, entries, have calculations, precalculations, corrections and chart work; takes morning, noon, afternoon, sunset and moon_ readings, COULD BE LOADED ON FREIGHT CARS Mr. Willis says: “Many who navigate ships are poor mathematicians and though they may be fine men, good sailors and efficient officers they are so in_ spite of their poor mathematics, not because of it. Navigation is a mathematical sub- ject and should be so taught. No one can understand navigation unless he knows some mathematics, arithmetic, ge- ometry, algebra, analytical geometry and plane trigonometry. The author does not consider spherical geometry and_ trigo- nometry necessary and thinks they should be avoided, as will be seen, but it is absolutely necessary that the general astronomical situation be properly com- prehended.” Briefly, the author advocates the abandonment of spherical geometry and trigonometry in the theory, instruction and practice of navigation and advocates the use of plane trigonometry and cal- culus in their place. He also advises that Mr. Willis’s book has attracted much attention in Europe as well as in this country and has already been translated into German. Among the foreign au- thorities who have commented favorably upon it are Capt. H. H. Holland, in- structor in the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, Prof. W. H. Young of the University College of Wales; Prof. Percy A. Hilhouse of the University of Glasgow; Prof. G. Darmois of the Faculty of Sciences at Nancy; Prof. S. Pincherle of the University of Bologna; Prof. Dr. Th. Vahlen of the University of Griefswald; Prof. Joseph Krauss of Lubeck; Director Doring of the sea school at Altona, Germany, and Friedrich Bolle, of the marine school at Lubeck, Germany, as well as other eminent men in Holland, Sweden, China and Spain and other countries. (Signed) Lewis Wood Washington, D. -C.