In defense of the ancient plumb bob; Second District primary taking shape

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

This will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who's read my columns over the current and previous millennia, but my children are more knowledgable than their father. I'll concede this. As far as general intelligence goes, well, that's debatable. We all know different things. 

With that said, today's Word of the Day is groma.  

I was happily ignorant of the word until my son – who is a schoolteacher – said to me (paraphrasing): "You used to be a surveyor, do you know what this is?"

Colin had drawn a rudimentary picture of a groma.

Instinctively, I understood what the groma's purpose was, but I can't recall my dad, who was a registered surveyor, ever talking about a groma. (Without a doubt, Darke County Engineer Jim Surber would know all about a groma. He is a Renaissance man. I am not.)

On my early days as the low man on a surveying crew, I always wanted to carry two things: a machete and a plumb bob. I was duly informed that neither was necessary in order for me to stand with a range pole to give a backsight to the transit man. (Apologies to any former transit women out there.)

As I aged and progressed in the family business, my dad finally promoted me – not out of any newfound qualifications on my part, but out of necessity. I remember we had a rough survey in southern Ohio that required a lot of brush cutting on a very hot summer day. My dad handed me a sharp machete and said, "I'll keep you on line, start cutting."

Staying on line (two words) on a survey crew in the 1970s meant something quite different from staying online in the 2000s. Getting the machete that day was akin to the old phrase "be careful what you wish for." Cutting that line was hard work, but I had asked for it.

It was about this same time that I moved up to the chain gang, while still backpedaling to do the backsights. Thus, I carried a plumb bob in a leather sheath fastened to my belt. I was 12 years old, and felt like I belonged on the crew.

The plumb bob is a brass weight with a pointed steel tip on the bottom, suspended from a nylon string. It is (or was, in ancient times) used as a vertical direction as a reference line – or plumb line. It has been used since at least the time of ancient Egypt to ensure that constructions are plumb or vertical. For many years, it was also used in surveying to establish the nadir (opposite of zenith) with respect to gravity of a point in space. 

We used plumb bobs with transits and steel measuring tapes (chains) to set either over a fixed point in the surveying process. Long before EDMs (electronic distance measurements) and other modern conveniences, we had the ancient plumb bob.

As to the groma, this was the principal surveying instrument of the Roman agrimensores, the land surveyors. The instrument itself was simple in design, crossed arms resting on a bracket and attached to a vertical staff. The four arms each had a cord with a hanging plumb bob. It was designed to survey straight lines and right angles. You can see one from the University of Pennsylvania at: http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/romansurveying.html.

According to the university site, "We are fortunate to have the tombstone of a Roman surveyor with a sculpted relief, which depicts certain attributes of his profession. It is the tombstone of Lucius Aebutius Faustus, of the first century B.C. and is in the Museo Civico at Ivrea in Northern Italy. The stone relief has a Latin inscription which is translated as follows: 'Lucius Aebutius Faustus, freedman of Lucius Aebutius, of the tribe of Claudia, surveyor, sevir, erected this monument while still alive for himself and his wife Aria Aucta freedwoman of Quintus Arrius, and their children, and the freedwoman Zepyra.'"

The earliest known use of surveying practices was around 1400 BC by the Egyptians. They first used surveying to accurately divide land into plots for taxation. They used measuring ropes to gauge the dimensions of various land plots.

Famous Americans who were surveyors include Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln. Explorers Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark were surveyors.

And I'll wager that not one mother's son of them knew what a groma was. 

I feel better now. Keep your powder dry and your lines plumb.

* * *

GOP may see a crowded primary
for Second District seat

At the latest count, at least four Republicans have expressed interest in running for the Second Congressional District seat held by Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who recently announced he was not seeking re-election in 2024.

State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, was among the first to announce his candidacy. Antani is serving his first term in the Ohio Senate. Having been first elected to the Ohio House at age 23, and elected to the Ohio Senate at age 29, he is the youngest currently serving member of the Senate. He is the first Indian American state senator in Ohio history.

He said he plans to move to the Second District.

Former State Rep. and longtime Adams County attorney Danny Bubp has expressed his interest in running. As we reported two weeks ago, "Over the past several days, community leaders from every corner of Ohio's Second District have reached out to me regarding running for this seat," Bubp said. 

"For the sake of our country, I am strongly considering vying for the honor of representing our area in Congress. With a mere four months before election day, I will be making my final decision soon and am prepared to build an effective campaign operation capable of winning this seat."   

Bubp is a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. 

Clermont County Republican Party Executive Committee Chairman Charles Tassell reportedly is running for the congressional seat.

This week Derek Myers, former editor of The Scioto Valley Guardian, announced his candidacy for the 2024 primary. Myers serves as the chairman of NewsPatrol, Inc., a multi-media company in Ross County. 

Other possible candidates include Tim O'Hara, a Brown County business owner, and current State Sen. Shane Wilkin of Hillsboro. They have not formally announced their respective candidacies.

To date, I am not aware of any Democrats who are planning to run next year, but surely there will be someone.

Whichever candidate emerges as the ultimate successor to Brad Wenstrup, he or she will have some big shoes to fill, metaphorically speaking, since Dr. Wenstrup is a podiatric physician.

As Bubp said, "For over a decade, southern Ohio has been represented in Congress by Brad Wenstrup, a patriot and statesman. I appreciate his service to our country and the people of our district."

We all do.

Great Oaks Career Campuses President and CEO Harry Snyder told me this week about Rep. Wenstrup's decision: "Our community has been blessed with a servant leader."

I agree. 

Good luck to all the potential candidates.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.