Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1850-11-13

d" NlF. IsuitOg - Ou art uWuIS ttIdl icN
' years ago. commenced 10 overhaul must
$ sea journals, and to get my sea falin,
Y friends to explore garreis for retired sea
!, char,s-old sea chests are very apt to COT
T. tain old MISUNDERSTANDING that from
these sources, observations Of great valu
!. might be obtained touching the winds an
0 currents Of The SEA provided these obser
yations were broush, together, compared
e and discussed. ...
With the materisIs thus obtained. wen
quietly to work, and with the assistance O
> Lieut., Whiting. U. s. Nan admirable
drafi rafisman-cons,rucled sort Of samph
char, that navigators, whose assistance
intended TO ask. mig.i, have correc, idea:
as 10 what proposed TO do.
They understood the ohject at once, ap'
precia,ed the undertaking, and in true sal
io7 style. came forward with offers Of a
helping hand a." right off the reel"
Thanks TO these bold seamen. | have
COW not less than one thousand American
merchantmen engaged daily in collecting,
from all parts Of The navigable ocean, ma.
terials for the Nv ind and current charts -
is the series is called.
The only wav hv which we can hope to
obtain correct knowledge of the laws
which govern the general circulation Of
the atmosphere. is by an extensive and ex.
tended series Of observations such as this is
Ga the land, you have the exceptions
The winds are interrupted in their course
BY mountain ranges. or are turned aside
by deserts and highly heated sandy plains.
Bot away ou, upon the blue waters, where
there are no irregularities Of surface, and
No unduly heated districts to interfere with
The general laws which can rule the winds,
there we see them in operation.
Upon the study Of these laws, | have
been closely engaged. |. would be in
vain TO hore for an Interpretation of them,
unless with the assistance of such jealous
and patient co |aborels as are the officers
Of the navy who are engaged with me up.
on the work, and their task would be a
friulless one, un'ess they had numerous
and of repeated observations in the most
paris of the ocean to guide them.
Ticse materials are afforded by Ameri-
can ship.mas'ers and to my mind. it is
one Of The most beautiful moral spectacles
'ha, was ever beheld, in this voluntary as
s!siance rendered by more shan thousand
aIl-in the conducting,
according ioa regular system, series of
in all parts Of the world, at
alI hours Of the day and the night, in the
Storm and the calm, for the advancement
IT science. This is an undertaking which
So'omon's exchequer could not have borne;
get here. in Republican America, it is un.
iertakcn al the instance o: subordinate
Iliicer Of the navy, wilhou: power or pa.
vi uuy SOIis "uipUt SOSt vi CA
'ense TO any public fund Whatever. New.
r was there before such corps Of obser-
'ers engaged in concert upon any subject
If philosophical research. 1t speaks well,
'oes it not, for the American sailor? II is
N offering made by him TO his country in
acknowledgment Of The effect Of her free
Institutions upon his mind. L
But what, yoI and your readers are say
ng TO yourselves, what have these inyes,i-
;ations and the work at the Observatory,
o do with farming and plan,ings
They have almost as much to do with I
gri"uliure as with navigation and they I
"ncern the husbandman as much as the {
hip owner. The winds are everything TO
he sailor and climate is all in all to the
armer, for The one can get along quite as e
ell without breeze, as the other can I
without rain. And those who live on dry
and must have winds TO bring to them.
rom mois, places, The rain and dews Of I
eaven. The vapor which is first con. '
ensed into clouds over our heads, and then '
ITO fruitful showers for the husbandman, 9
ras taken up from the sea, and brough,
, its place Of precipitation by these winds a
hose courses and laws these sailors are b
ssis'ng me to find OUT.
The task is far from being completed Il
ct the undertaking has already been so II
,r crowned with success. that any one a
tho will study the results Of these obser- p
atoms as developed in the charts, can tell c
D what part Of the world il is now the 81
amy. and in what part the dry season. u
lie can poin, out to yoa the rainless dis.
lets. He can show you the basins on the a
md in which the quantity of rain that falls c.
xceeds The quantity Of wafer that is taken y
p again by evaporation. He can dis,in. ii
uish 'hese basins from those 10 which the p
recipl,aiion and the evaporation are equal.
'e can pick out for you the hot climates n