The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1875-03-20
Our clio.
PROBABILITIES.

show the advance OF system in meteorologi-
cal observation and science, as an inspec.
tion Of the maps issued every day by the
United States Signal officers, stationed
throughout the United States, under the
direction Of the Weather Bureau Of the
War Department We will take for illus
tration Of these remarks, the ono printed
at one o'clock on Monday morning, and
issued simultaneously yesterday at all the
stations, This map, like all others from
the Signal Offices, covers the United States
and the British North American provin-
ces, and it shows the locality Of some fifty
to sixty Of the signal stations distributed
over the territory indicated, from st. Johns,
New Brunswick, to Indianola, Texas, and
from the Atlantic coast to the Puci6c.
The groundwork of the map itself is print
ed in green tint exhibiting the ranges of
mountains, the courses Of rivers, the lake
shores and the seacoast lines, together with
all the important cities, towns and stations
at which signal observers are placed. In
addition to these green-tintcd maps, the
signal officers arc furnished with a set Of
type symbols which are impressed upon
the maps in red ink every night, after the
last observations made over the whole
country at IL p. NJ, Washington City
time, are received at Washington and
transmitted to the several stations. The
type symbols referred TO are small circles
with arrows passing through them. The
circles are used to show the character Of
the weather at every one of tho stations
throughout the country, and the direction
Of the arrows as impressed upon the map
indicates the direction Of the wind at all
the stations. The circles are of several
varieties. One of them is simple light
ring, and wherever this is seen on the map
it shows that the sky was clear at that
place at the time of the IL p. NJ. observa-
tion. Another is ring of heavier char
acter showing clear spot in tie centre only,
and this one indicates cloudy sky wher-
ever itappears upon the map. Still another
of these circles is ring like the one first
mentioned, except that it has broad red
bar across it, and this one indicates what
is called "fair" sky, but with some clouds.
The fourth is dark circle or disk with no
light about it, and this one shows that it
was raining at the place where it appears
on the map at the time of the observation.
The fifth is a circle like the first mention
ed, except that it has three narrow red
lines across its face, and this tells the story
Of snow at the place where it is shown on
the map Besides these type symbols
there are three sets Of figures to be i'm
pressed in red ink upon the map after the
last observation for each night, These
show first, the temperature as marked on
the thermometer; second, the pressure Of
the atmosphere as marked by the barome-
ter, and third, the force of velocity Of the
wind as shown by the thermometer" an
instrument used for that purpose.
The map issued yesterday morning has
all of these symbols and figures upon it,
and any person with the map in sight has,
at single glance, a "bird's-eye viewp of
the condition of the weather over the
whole of the United States and the Cana
dian Dominion, as it was at IL p. NJ. of
Washington time on Sunday night. The
storm which we were having at that time
in Philadelphia had passed away from the
Southern and Western country, but was
still prevailing everywhere from Pittsburg
to the Atlantic coast, and from Washing
ton City northeastward to Burlington,
Vermont. The remains of that storm ex-
tended along belt Of country parallel with
the Alleghenies and with the Atlantic
coast, and it was moving from the west
and southwest to the east and northeast.
1t was raining at Philadelphia and at
Burlington, Vermont, and was showing at
Pittsburg, Washington City, Baltimore,
New York, Albany, and Portland, Maine.
Beyond this belt of storm, and to the
westward of it as far as the Cumberland
and Ohio rivers and the great Lakes, the
weather still remained cloudy; and this
belt of heavy cloud, which was the rear
guard of the storm, shows the same paral-
lelism with the Allegheny mountains and
the Atlantic coast, as Is shown by the
boundaries of the storm itself The west
ern boundary Of the cloud belt extended
from Nashville, on the Cumberland river,
north-sastward through Louisville aud
Cincinnati, on the Ohio, Cleveland, Bufia-
10 and Oswego, on the great lakes, to St.
Johns, New Brunswick, on the seacoast.
These boundary lines of the storm belt,
and Of the cloud belt following in its rear,
are all clearly defined on the signal map;
and behind them again, to the southwark
and westward, was vast stretch Of clear
or fair sky, extending over all the rest of
the country. This belt Of clear aud fair
sky was spread over the whole of the
Soath Atlantic and Gulf States from Fort
ress Monroe, in Virginia, to Indianola, in
Texas, and everywhere west of the Mis-
sissippi, the Ohio and the Great Lakes to
the Rocky Mountains. II was following
in the wake Of the storm belt and the cloud
belt, and it was this that brought us the
sunshine Of yesterday, after the western
limit Of the storm belt and heavy cloud
belt had passed away to the northeast.
Although it has taken up considerable
time to write this, and will take some
little time to read 1t, the whole view Of
the waafh af the cout;nant .,,.<,, x,k;oI,