National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-05-13
WHY IT is WARM
REVEALED ON THE WEATHER MAP.
A Talk with Weatherwise Mamie Tells Some
thing About Humbugging People and Why
We Are Sueltering at This Time
OF the Year.

day ran across Mr.. 1. P. Noyes who knows al
about weather, and from q single question learned
the following: The knowledge of meteorology to-
day is relatively about where the knowledge o
geography was in old Sir John Mandeville's time
Such statement as this may surprise many worthy
people, while Others may think the comparison
little overweight; but before they decide thai
such Is not the case, or continue to rest in the as
surance that all the nonsense which so often ap-
pears in print in regard to the weather is true, le
them read examine and digest all the facts in the
case as collected up to date by the most competent
authority-our much abused weather bureau
One ofthe most surprising things in the world-ai
least one of the most surprising to men OF common
sense to use financial yet forcible TERMS that
the intelligent world will continue to " take stock
in the old Sir Johns and have so little hith in the
COlumbuses, the Cabots, and the Raleighs. AT
times we almost believe with Barnum that the
world
LIKES TO BE HUMBUGGED.
There is, after all, certain dreamy soporifc
charm about humbug, especially if it is firstclass
that to many minds is most charming; and with
the poet we often delight in saying,
Stay, gentle spirit; still deceive me;
Let me dream that dream again;
and again and again we like to shut our
eyes to plain matters of fact and thug some de-
luSive phantom until she transforms us into
beasts or TO be allowed to continue at least a
while longer under the strange influence of the
goddess Humbug
HAD BARNUN LIVED
in the days of old Grecian mythology he would
have been enthroned among the consultations of
the heavens as one of the gods. Although we adj
nit the charm of humbug, and especially high
toned humbug, there is, after ALL when we advance
to it, a far higher and nobler charm about plain
matter of fact, about truth and revelations from
nature that are infinitely more satisfactory and to
the superior mind there is an aureole of fiscina-
ton about it beside which humbug has no more
charm than the glitter and gold of Baden Baden
has for the true philosopher who has earned the
reward of his superior labor and earnestnesS in
the well-lghted paths Oftruth
IT Is NOT SURPRISING
that the ignorant are beguiled by such stories as
old Sir John Vaudeville used to tell in his day. or
even in this day, that those who are unable to
know better believe in and are charmed with such
nonsense so often appears in the columns ofeven
such papers as the New York Herald, to the effect
that the moon, the stars, the relative position of
the planets, the icebergs, the muskrats, the ground
hogs and such like nOnSenSical and contemplate
powers have an effect to produce changes in the
weather or in any manner to produce signs that
are worthy Of consideration. The plain, simple
reason why relatively to the season. it is warm or
cold is revealed
on THE WEATHER MAP
every day-why this year we have thus far had a
cold and backward spring, ard why the last week
of April, 1881, was excessively hottie full and
complete reason is placed before us every day on
the weather maps, posted conSpicuously in all the
public places III the city. We cannot go into
public building, enter the corridor Of hotel, or
even glance into the express Office but this little
mpOitOr n in tho fapp iny-itipyIV
d" Read me and be weather-wise." For about ten
years this knowledge has been thus thrust before
eyes We have not had to explore Egyptian tombs
old tosSil-beds, nor dig into the old sandstone
STRATA OF THE EARTH,
nor even go TO the North Pole for this Information.
For the past ten years it has been i'll most con-
Spicuous places daily before our eyes. Such being
undeniable fact it does not speak very well for
the intelligence of the world that it still continues
TO follow the spirit of old Sir John Vaudeville
rather than that of Columbus, the Cabots and
Raleighs. The study of this wonderful map will
reveal the fact that the area of low barometer for
short termed low, is the storm centre: that this
storm centre is ever on the move from west to-
ward the east, sometimes on
ONE LINE OF LATITUDE
and sometimes on another, and that it ever sur
prises US by its variety of changes in
form, speed, and i'll its line of direction as
it pursueS its course ever toward the
east; that this area of low" is what causes the
wind; that the wind is always from high" to-
ward low" that i'll the economy of meteorology
. high" and "low" bear certain relations to each
other that go to make upour weather system which
cannot be explained in this short article, but
which can be fully understood by patient and
CAREFUL STUDY
Of the weather map; that as the wind is ALWAYS
81
he latitude, It will produce a nort'r = We y,
--.1r0re be cold; when on high line of latitude,
t will be warm. Almost all through the past
winter - low travelled on lowline of latitude at
east until it passed up into the northeast; hence
he reason why such continued cold, and
Why it was relatively warmer up in Maine than
IL through the South and West, and why this year
We had not the usual January thaw, and why out
Vest they are now having such terrible floods. For
his reason, and for other, we had cold
WEATHER THIS SPRING
i'll after the middle of April when "low' started
II on a high line of latitude" Presto, change p
md it is very warm. The details of this science
md these wonderful little maps are too numerous
md too deep TO begin to discuss in short article.
The facts herein stated, however, cannot be con-
radicted they are facts, and not mere theories. !
would seem that it full time that the intel
igen people of the world took hold of this subject
nd lent a hand" in giving it an honorable niche
mong the sciences Of the world. There is no
more worthy subject to which men of science
ould devote themselves. At present it is way
lown i'll the scale of public appreciation.
IT DESERVES TO BE LIFTED Up,
loG elevated above other sciences, but made the
,eer of all the rest. The weather map, instead of
icing neglected and used for waste paper, de-
erveS TO be put in frames of gold. When the in
elligent people begin to comprehend the beauty
# this subject and the wisdom that is daily re-
ealed in the weather maps they will no longer
AVE respect for any of the ingenious yet ignorant
rticlcs on the weather which at present gain such
aSy admittance to the columns of the best papers
IL the land. Nor will they have any rcSpcc: for
he sensational weather prophets who delight in
leven- foot snow-StOrms and in predicting jan
larry thaws which do not come to pass. There is
n abundance of entertainment in this simple
title weather map To neglect it longer is to shut
ur eyes against a beautiful truth which would
cad us on to delightful realms of rhe most COM
,lete intellectual satisfaction.
Two Old Fings.
iaufpnant Goddard IF tba IVoShipr