The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-10-18

crude and to a great extent very un-
satisfactory. The registers Of the
Smithsonian Institution alone fill up
wards of three hundred large folio
volumes. All this was very well, and
might assist scientific men in their in
vestigations, but was of very little use
to the public generally. One good
result, however, was brought about,
namely, public attention was called to
the subject, and consequently on the
9th of February, 1870, the following
resolution was offered in Congress by
Paine, of Wisconsin, and adopted
without dissent:
"Resolved, That the Secretary Of
War be, and he is, authorized to pro-
vide for taking meteorological obser-
vations at military stations in the IN
terror of the continent, and at other
points in the States and Territories of
the United States, and giving notice,
on the northern lakes and OIL the sea-
coast, by magnetic telegraph and ma
rine signals, of the approach and force
of storms"
Thus was the great department Of
the Signal Service called into exis-
tence. An appropriation Of $4,000
was made, and the new department
was placed under the control Of Gen.
Myer, who, in its organization and
management, has shown an executive
ability of the highest order. 1t was a
laborious undertaking everything was
new, and there was no guide or prece-
dent to assist him. The difficulties he
had to encounter cannot better be sta
ted than in the words of his first an
nual report:
"The organization of aservice Who'll
ly without precedent on the scale Oh
which this was to be organized; to
provide for that service in every part,
both as to the personnel and to the
equipment without a precedent exam
pie in this country; to establish
system of stations, with q practiced
observer at each; to negotiate with
telegraph companies for work Oh
their part, of which their records show
not even semblance before attempt
ed; to difuse some general knowledge
of the plans and aims to be accom-
plished, and to secure the cooperation
of scientific establishments, and of
those commercial interests for the good
of which the work was especially
planned, have been some Of the labors
devolving on this office"
The outside world can have little
idea of the vast amount of labor this
involved. Yet all was satisfactorily
accomplished, and the department put
in good running order in the course Of
few months, and its course from that
day has been one uninterrupted sue
cess.
At first people doubted the utility Of
such movement, and "Old Probs"
has been made the subject of more
stale Jokes than any other individual
that ever existed. "Old Probs," how
ever, did not mind, but pursued the
even tenor of his way, surmounted the
numerous difficulties that lay in his
path with IN unswerving faith i'll ulti-
mate success, and to-day he has the
qualification of seeing that success re-
cognized throughout the length and
breadth of the land. People laugh at
him no more. The merchant before
he ships his goods, the ship-owner be-
fore he trusts his ship to the waters,
the traveller before he takes his jour
ney, and the farmer on all occasions,
come gladly to consult him regarding
the prospects of the weather, SO that
he is now a power in the land. From
his office in Washington his lines OF
communication extend over many mil
lions of miles of the earth's surface,
from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico,
from California to Nova Scotia. At
prominent points along those lines ed
ucated and intelligent men, who have
been carefully trained to the duties
pertaining to their office, are stationed,
who record and report at specific times
the atmospheric conditions existing in
the neighborhoods, and at all times
note the peculiarities and changes that
may occur within their sphere of OBJ
servation. Consequently no storm Of
any dimensions can show itself on the
coasts or within the boundaries of the
United States without his having time
| " notice, so that the districts most
concerned can have due notice thereof.
The benefits thus derived by the
shipping interests of the country are
incalculable, and millions Of dollars
worth Of property aAoat in the lakes
and around the coasts has been saved
from destruction by storms owing to
the timely warnings given by the Sig
nal Service Department Of the ap-
proach of those storms. AS al in-
stance among many, we may mentlon
a storm that swept over the lakes on
the 9th and 10th of October, 1875,
which in severity has not since been
equalled in that region. The damage
to shipping on that occasion was, how
ever, not very great, owing to the
timely display Of the storm signal at
the various lake stations. A great
number of vessels took refuge in Mil
waukee bay. One, the Tanner, laden
with wheat, put out on the morning Of
the 9th, but had hardly got outside
the bay when the storm struck her and
drove her ashore, where she went to
pieces next day. Before leaving the
harbor, the Captains attention was
called to the "storm signal" but he
said it did not matter; he would 60