Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-08-13
Franklin's Place in Science.

Frauklin's contributions to science
are not limited to his electrical dis.
corsries or Inventions Dat of many
such that might be mentioned there
are two that deserve especial attention,
They are III the course of storms over
the North American continent; (2) the
effects of the Gulf Stream.
He relates the circumstances of his
meteor logical discovery in letter
dated February, 1749. You desire
to know my thoughts about the north
east storms beginning to leeward.
Some years ago there was an eclipse of
the moon ct nine o'clock in the even.
ing, which intended to observe, but
before night storm blew up ut north
east, and continued violent all night
and all tho next day, the sky thick
clouded, dark, and rainy, so that
neither raoon nor stars could be seen.
The storm did great deal of damage
all along the coast, for we had accounts
of it in the newspapers from Boston,
Newport. New York, Maryland, and
Virginia; but what surprised mo was
to find in the Boston newspapers an
account of an observation Of that
eclipse made there, for l thought as
the storm came from the northeast it
must have begun sooner in Boston
than with us, and consequently pre-
vented such an observation. l wrote
to my brother about it, aud he informed
me that the eclipse was over there an
hour before the storm began. Since
which have made inquiries from time
to time of travellers and Of my cor
respondents northeastward and south
westward, and observed the accounts
in the newspapers from New England,
New York, Mary land, Virginia, and
South Carolina, and I find it to be a
constant fact that northeast storms be-
gin to leeward, and are often more vie
lent there than to wind ward. Thus the
last October storm, which was with
you on the Sth, began Oh the 7th in
Virginia and North Carolina, and was
most violent there"
OF late years this observation OF
Franklin's has been greatly extended.
1t now appears that almost all the
| chief atmospheric disturbances of this
continent pass in an easterly or north.
easterly direction toward the Atlantic
ocean. Nor do they stop on gaining
the sea coast. Why should they? In
making their way over that ocean,
though some may disappear, many
reach Europe. It follows, then, that
the approach of these storms may be
foretold by the telegraph, aIu that not
only in the case Of the more intense
atmospheric disturbances, but the COM
ing of minor ones, such as are popu-
larry designated waves of heat and
cold, and variations of atmospheric
pressure, may be predicted. The in
PRODUCTION Of the land and ocean tele-
graphs for this purpose constitutes IN
epoch in the science of meteorology.
Ships about to cross the Atlantic may
be forewarned as to the weather they
may expect. An exhaustive examine
ton Of the whole subject was made by
Daniel Draper. director of the New
York Meteorological Observatory in
the Central Park, and published in his
reports of that observatory for the
years 1923.
al. OF the Gulf stream. The ex-
istence of this current was long ago de-
tected by the New England fishermen,
but they had no idea Of its magnih'
cent proportions, its great geographi.
cal and Chronological importance.
These we're first brought into view by
franklin. In u memoir read at meet
| ing of the American Philosophical So
ciety, December, 1855, he states that
while he was concerned in the manage
ment Of the American postOftice an in
vestigation was had respecting the cause
OF tho long voyages made by tho packet
ships from England. The merchant
ships made much shorter ones. "Therc
happened to be then in London Nam
tucket sea captain Of my acquaintance,
Captain Folger, to whom / communi-
Gated the affair. He told mo that the diff
ference was owing to this. that the Rhode
Island captains we're acquainted with
the Gulf Stream, which those OF the
English packets were not. In cross
ing it we have sometimes met and
spoken with those packets, who we're in
the middle of it, and stemming it. We
have informed them that they were
stemming q current that was against
them to the value of three miles an
hour, and advised them to cross it and
get out of it. then observed it was
q pity no notice was taken of this cur
rent upon the charts, and requested
him to mark it out for me, which he
readily complied with. I procured
it to be engraved by order from the
General Postof1ics on the old chart of
the Atlantic, and copies were sent to
Falmouth for the captains of the pack
cts. Having since crossed this stream
several times in passing between Ameri-
ca and Europe, l have been attentive to
sundry circumstances relating to it by
which to know when one is in it. I
annex hereto observations made with
the thermometer in two voyages. 1t
will appear from them that Their
mometer may be q useful instrument
to navigator, since currents coming
from the northward into the southern
seas will probably be found colder
than the waters OF those seas, as the
currents from southern seas into North
ern are found warmer"
Though Franklin was not the dis
coverer of the Gulf Stream, he was the
frst to bring it prominently into no.
tice, to cause chart OF it to be pub
lished, to detect its most important