The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-19
whether by Capt. Howgate or Capt Kibourne

cipher each local signal officer must have q Sc
saoee and Equally 70 pae u Ths 81 Is M
case. Each office is provided with several In.
strumentas OF each each kind which, CAREFUL,
suits forwarded to Washington Moreover an
inspector visits each station at least once year
bringing with him full set Of instruments
with which he compares the local instruments
ana SENDS the results Immediately to Washing
ton o., -,
tlon at our hands but the thermometer twind
measurer) and its self register. AS for the
others-the barometer gives warming of the
mometer gives us the temperature the hygro-
meter giver u.s. indirectly, the humidity; the
wind yane gives the direction of the wind and
the rain gauge the amount of rain.
THE ANEMoMETER
The thermometer Is q most interesting in
hundreds of writer's have signally failed to give
any fair idea OF 1t without making use Of en-
Rravings or diagrams to Illustrate their text.
| The present writer Is therefore encouraged to
make the attempt. conscious that II he falls his
VIII not be the only failure.
Anemometer. from the Greek anemos, wind,
measuring the wind Attention was first given zen
to this subject by DR., Croune. in 1867, and
and others. In the last century. WheweIl and
Osler. as we'll as DR.. Lind. have Invented instru-
ments Ia the present century for the same pur-
of Dublin. Robinsons anemometer is the one
used by the signal service, It consists of four
childs toy windmill upon horizontal arms
WHICH radiate, from the summit of an upright
| When exposed to the wind these cups or hollow
hem1spheres revolve at a rate proportional to
the velocity OF the wind, giving thereby spin
rapid. according to the velocity of the wind In
fact. on the outside the instrument looks like
pretty little windmill, and may be- seen incess.
revolving ayppnt a nu1T 81
northeast corner of the roof of the Custom
| House, near the wind vane.
| of it. The upright shaft around which the en- ps
revolve is only about twenty inches long. its
lower end is seen to be hidden in asmal cylin-
dr1cal box which Is Water-tight and has fixed in
It's side O circular piece of glass through which
the working AZ Of the machinery within can be ex-
amlned. This machinery Is worked by an end
less screw. fixed fmmovably on the upright
shaft near it's lower extremity and revolving
with It. This revolving motion is easily trans
cog wheel. to q dial, situated Just within the
circular glass aperture referred to above, and
on this dial is read the velocity of the wind.
This dial Is graduated in miles and tenths of
miles, SO that the wind velocity can be- read verv
accurately by mere Inspection. Such is Rob
tns2n,s anemometer. 1t must be exposed on
on well braced iron rod.
But this, requiring to be inspected or OK
ladder everytime It was desired to aseerta tai
the velocity Of the wind did not satisfy the
chief signal officer and when Mr.. Gibbons. an an
observer, invented a self-regster for it. he was
urged and encouraged to perfect the invention
as quickly as possible. He succeeded admira-
Oily, and his Invention is now In use at every sig
n IA once IN inc country as q supplement to the
Robinson's anemOmeter. The self -regjster TO |
the anemometer depends on two principles,
also on the TACT that a bar of soft iron can hv
sending current of electricity round ana
b boun at IT, Pc i2tsstananeonsly magnetzed. and
demagneti2ed Such an apparatus ia an olectrn
magnet
Accordingly slight modification was made
In the dlal OF the anemometer by inserting
studs near y quarter of an inch long in the
dial. one at every mile and bringing the outer
ease Ease s sn e near these studs to permit
around with the dial. and thus allow thu passage
OF an electric current from the dial to the outer
anemometer was then ready to be attached TO
an electric battery and to the new self-register:
ior It was evident that If one wire were attached
the battery and the outer case, then at every
mile Of wind marked by the dial current Of
et beino Woun Pass along the wire the cir
dial-stud with Che outer case. The Object OF Of
the self register Is to utilize this current and it
Ia the office. looking like a sewing machine to
the careless looker-on. The top may be re-
moved; just like the top of Wheeler & Wilson.
But when it is removed, instead of sewing
machine we see ON the left centre Of the little
table covered cockwork which keeps a cylin-
stantly but almost imperceptibly. AS it revolves
2 spiral screw, pushes it away further and
further from the ,clockwork; In front Of the
pencil, As the cylinder revolves and moves TO
me right the pencil traces upon it o line which
eh to when his an Inc b bognd it from
edge OF the left hand base of the cylinder the in
st yar ta, must De reset This occurs once
travelling over the surface of the cylinder has {
crossed q number of blue fines. some heavier :
nan ,a . others and on watching it for awhile we
sst ones In five minutes that the heavier ones
re, re quarter Of an hour apart and so on !; and,
lnally. that all the five minute spaces make
ravels, is attached to movable arm the arm t
only movable through a small space from {
ghd e left teit and back and near the hinge on
he left of which. at short distance Is a neat
l t, magnet. whose use can be Inferred from
let and the thermometer ION the roof have '
10Th been connected with the electric battery L
hen, at every mile Of wind above, the dial stud
ne current OF electricity PUSHES along the wires
nd through the electro magnet. This last at '
bbaetS the arm holding the pencil, which is
herepy caused to make mark of any desired n
5nRth perpendicular to its former course
cry quickly the current ceases. the electro .
magnet is demagnetized and the arm graytates e
ack to it's previous position after having t
cored one mile, but as rule is soon dragged h
aGk TO score another on the continually moving
I I,ntoii tnus Lne nlie marks are successive
instead OF permitting the pencil TO make its
1ark on the cylinder itself sheet of paper
pecialy rul led and having the time marked on
at every hour, is interposed. These sheets
re preserved and constitute a permanent re- n
ord OF the wind velocity for every part of the t
az and for every day. t
The numb Der of miles of wind that passes n O
Fatlon during each twenty four hours is called O
10 daily velocity of the wind, and is careful +
counted up from these sheets and noted in i,
le record, The consequence Is that the veloci- :.
at any hour can always be told as well as the "
verage velocity for day or for any number of G
ours, or the total movement of the wind at the II
alton for the month or year, b
The signal service rain gauges are all of the q
ame pattern. In fact. the better to secure uni 81
,rmity they are all made by the same firm.
hey are 50 made as to admit of the measure
rent of LOO Of an inch of rain.
The great success of this department is so 7
ron0unced as to require no comment. 1t is t.
,ue that the indications are not verified as in
item In the Gulf States in other parts of the |.
luntrY: but that Is henansa tha stnrmr Gonna