Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1878-07-15
sy(omth's Column.
HOW THE WEATHER is
FORETOLD.


bitiously prophesied whole year of cold
and heat, wet and dry, dividing up the
kinds of weather quite impartially, if not
always correctly.
But the almanac, good as it was now
and then, and the weather-wise farmes,
correct as sometimes they might have
been, were not always able to impart
exact information to the country and
they have been thrown quite into the
shade of late, by one who is popularity
known under the somewhat disrespectful
title of "Old Prob" or "Old Probabili-
ties" He has become the Herald Of the
Weather to the sailor, near the rocky,
dangerous coasts; to the farmer, watch
ing his crops, and waiting for good days
to store them; to the traveller, anxious
to pursue his journey under the fair
skies; and to the girls and boys who
want to know, before they start to the
woods for picnic, what are the "prob-
abilities" as to rain.
Every one who reads the daily paper
is familiar with the weather Record. F"
issued from the "War Department, office
of the Chief Signal Officer" at WASH
ington. These reports give. first, gen.
eral statement of what the weather has
been, for the past twenty -four hours, all
over the country, from Maine to Califor-
MIA, and from the Lakes to the South
Atlantic States and then the "Proba-
bilities," or indications, !" for the next
twenty hours, over this same broad
territory. The annual reports of the
Chief Signal Officer show that in only
comparatively few instances do these dai
ly predictions fail of ful6llment.
The reason these prophecies are so true
is simple and yet wonderful one. The
weather itself tells the observer what i
is going to do, some time IN advance
and the telegraph sends the news al
over the country, from the central sigma
office at Washington.
We shall see presently, how the wealth
err interprets itself to ''Old Probabilities.
Although it has proved such fruitful
subject of discourse in all ages, yet l an
afraid many people who pass remark
upon it, do not really think what tn
weather is made of. Let US examine it
different elements.
The atmosphere has weight. just a
water or any other fluid, although
seems to be perfectly bodiless. W
must comprehend that the transparent
invisible air is pressing inward towar
: the centre of the earth. This pressur
varies according to the state of th
+ weather, and the changes are indicate
by an instrument called a barometer
Generally speaking, the falling of tn
mercury in the tube of the barometer il
dicates rain, and its rise heralds cles
. weather. Sometimes the rise is follow
ed by cold winds, frost and ice. VIII;
2 these changes really Indicate. howeve
\ can be determined only by comparin
!. the barometric changes, at certain hour
in number of places very far apar
:, This is done by Signal Service. Obse
d vations are made at about one hundre
/ and forty stations, in different portion
y of the country, at given hours, and IL
'r results are telegraphed at to Washing
n ton, where our faithful weather clerk
d receives them, reasoning out from the
g the probabilities which he publish
Of three times in every twenty-four hour
q But the atmosphere varies not only
Of weight, but also in temperature. II
70 thermometer tells us of such changes.
u Besides this, the air contains a gre
lSS amount of moisture, and it shows
10 much variation in this characteristic
X in the others. For the purpose of ma
It ing known the changes in the molstu
ar of the atmosphere, an instrument b
y, been invented called a "wet-bulb" the
OF mometer.
a., as We are thus enabled to ascertain
in i'm weight or pressure. and the wetness
the air, and now it only remains for
by to measure the force, and point out I
az. direction, of the wind. This is dc
rs by the familiar weather-vane and |
ii, thermometer. The vane shows the
Oh rection, and the thermometer is an
rs strument which indicates the velocity
the wind.
- 1t is by a right understanding of
"a these instruments that the signal serv
officer is enabled to tell what the wea
lief, er says of itself; for they are the p
"a with which the weather writes out
1199 facts from which the officer makes
his reports for the benefit of all c
"a cerned. Thus, however wildly ,
l-a bllndly the storm may seem to come,
sends messengers telling just where
"a arose, what course it will take, and |
far it will extend. But it tells its
caets to those only who pay strict at
ton: James II. Flint, st. Nicholas
July.
Sadie B., little three-year old ch
ii attending church for the first time OF