Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-06-08
Science and The Weather.

ing, weather Reports from the Sig
nal Office of the War Department.
Under this head, are collected the
daily results of a purely scientific ar
rangement for determining the at
mospheric changes in different sec
tons of our wide domain, and there
BY tcrc-casting the weather, as it is
called.
! A line of Signal Offices, for exam
pie, is extended from San Francisco,
by way Of Cheyenne Omaha, Chica-
90, Milwaukee, Toledo, Detroit,
Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester to
| New York, and thence to Washing
ton City, the whole being connected
by tclegraphlc wires. The officers,
in charge of these stations, keep daily
barometic and thcrmomctrlc observa-
vations, noting, at the same time. the
course of the winds. And so thor
oughly are the laws o. the proverb-
tally fickle wind understood, already,
that these officers act upon 1t as a
fixed fact that the atmosphere will as
certainly flow from q point Of high
barometer to point Of low barome-
ter, as that streams will flow down
hill.
Thus, if high wind, blowing
eastward, is found at Cheyenne or
Omaha, to-day, and the barometer is
found to be sinking as we approach
Chicago. Cleveland, &c, the course
of the storm will evidently continue
to these points, and it easy to esti-
mate when it will reach them, by
merely knowing the velocity with
which storms travel, to-wit: about
thirty miles per hour, or not to ex-
coed the rate of an ordinary railroad
train, in the most level and prairie
countries, and at sea, and much less
in timbered and billy countries.
The obvious use Of all this IS, to
give timely notice Of the approach
Of storms, and so avoid the usual
losses both to lite and property,
which so often accompany them. So
accurately do the Storm Signals full
fiji their intended purpose. that, in
the course OF year, not more than
three to five errors will occur out Of
every hundred Signals. Indeed, the
first storm warning, ever made in
the United States, was sent eastward
from Chicago, November s, 1870.
and the storms approach was known
at Detroit and Cleveland fully three
hours in advance Of it's arrival, which
was true to time.
1t is plain that the value of Storm
Warnings will depend entirely on a
knowledge of the fixed track of the
wmds,-while this fact, itself, is de-
pendent upon the possibility Of find
ing ont the laws Of atmospheric cir
culation. But, thanks to the nntir-
ing diligence of scientific men, it is
now known that the general course
of the winds can be as certainly as
certained as that of the rivers. The
courses and laws OF oceanic currents
were unknown and almost unsuspect.
ed till wlthin the last thirty or forty
years. They are as now definitely
known as those of our railroads. Sc
Of the winds. They have fixed laws
and follow certain tracks, which car
be marked out on chart as accurate
" as the isothermic lines.
| Now, who can tell the extended
usefulness which may yet be reached
by this new application OF science to
the business OF life. Both railroad
ing and telegraphing began with a.
few Of the elements OF success ir
them as this. Now, a town withou,
its railroad station and telegraph Of
fee, is thing of little Importance
May not similar importance attach
to storm warnings in few years
There is little doubt that they will
one day be consulted to determine
the prospect of the weather when i'm.
portant enterprises are to be assum
ed, just as we now consult the tele.
graph to find out the latest turn in
the markets, and the daily march Of
events.
Storm signaling is new in this
country; but in England and France
it has been of the utmost value to
shipping and commerce during the
past FIVE or six years. 1t cannot fail
of a like benefit to us; neither il
there any reason to suppose that it,
application to the purposes of agri
culture, can fall at all short Of sue
cess and value as great as has crown
ed it in it's present uses.
On the Sd Of May Prot. Hinrichs, of lows