Antique Gunter\'s Surveyors Rare 1/2 Chain 33\' - Victorian - Brass/Steel For Sale

Antique Gunter\'s Surveyors Rare 1/2 Chain 33\' - Victorian - Brass/Steel
This chain has a heavy brass handle at each end and another single brass tab again carrying the makers name Keuffel & Esser Co. New York and N.S. certification for Canada .
A Gunter’s chain (named after its inventor Edmund Gunter 1581-1626) is 66 feet long and is divided into 100 links, each 7.92 inches long. The length of a chain is the total length from outside to outside of the handles. At every tenth link is attached a distinctive tag or tally of brass of the patterns shown in the figure. As each tag represents its distance from both ends of the chain, either handle can be regarded as the zero, so that a little care is necessary to avoid misreading. In taking readings between tags, one must count the number of links from the previous tag, estimating fractions of a unit if necessary. The use of the chain for surveying was largely discontinued during the first half of the 20th century. However although the chain was ideal for measuring over rough arable and grassland, there was a problem that, after considerable use the links in the chain became extended making it necessary to check and correct its length against a standard regularly.