Old Weather Forum

Each log writer is likely to have a peculiar writing style and spelling system. In the most exaggerated cases the spelling of one word may vary even in the entry for one day.
If you find oddities please do post them here to help other viewers working with this project.

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The log of the Calfornia 1894-1895 (KWM) has an easy script to read and is full of information. The challenges with this log will be knowing where the ship is, what page you are on and keeping the dates straight. The ship crosses the date line a few times but Mr. Joseph your log keeper does a lovely job of noting those days for you in detail. Since he doesn't often note hemisphere directions on his longitude (E,W) and latitude (N,S) readings when they do appear in the log, you will find those date line crossings handy when you are trying to determine where the ship is.

Here are a few samples of the tricky pieces:

Click here to see the full log page this example is taken from.



This is the first entry in the log. The voyage is listed as beginning 4th December 1894, the first log entry is for Thursday Dec 6th, and above that it is noted as the 3rd day of the voyage. Also note the top of the page - Top left has a 2, however this is page 3 of the digital logbook. Across the top he has listed the date by Day/Month/Year, 6-12-94. This format will change as the voyage progresses.

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Let's look at the change in date on the top of the page and the way Mr. Joseph writes 5.
Click here to see the full log page this example is taken from.



So in the example above you can see 18 in the top left, though you are on page 19 of the digital log. The date across the top of the page is now 1-6-95 which is Mo/Day/Year format. Also note the difference in his 5's and 3's. Throughout the log the body of his 5's will often look like a 3 but if you see the detached horizontal line behind it, you know it is a 5.

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Last example is a unique item in his time keeping. This ship is working on Civil time so entries begin at midnight. In the sample below, you'll see a 12 M and the following sentence you'll see 2 PM. His way of writing Noon is 12 M, likely for 12 Midday.

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Remember - Always type WHAT YOU SEE, just as they wrote it. If you are unsure of a word, you can post a question to this page and ask for help, or if just a letter you can insert ~ on your worksheet in place of a single letter.

Small section of side-ways writing:
June 11th 1895


'Wm F Joseph' Cannot determine the other words.