Omaha daily bee., 1881-09-01
THF GREAT wEATHER-GUEs-
SER.
Something About Vennor and His
system,

reporter, THAT a movement is oI
foot III official circles to have you su
persede Gen. Hazen as chief of tn,
United States signal service. Would
you--
would l accept" interrupted Mr..
Nennor. "No, sir, | would not; mos
emphatically | would not. saw the
dispatch you referred to printed in the
Times of this morning, but nothing
will come of it. Has not the tcle.
graph some foundation! Probably il
has. Correspondence touching the
matter has reached me from high
sources, but l assure you | have not
for a moment given the subject any
serious considerati on. You see my
system is so very different from that
of the United States signal service
that l should really be out of place i'll
the position held by Gen. Hazen."
"Mr. Ncnnor, tell me something OF
your methods. That is a subject OF
which the public in this part of the
world, at least-know nothing"
my methods! That would be a
long story. 1t is a story, too, that is
hard to tell in words. You ask me to
try what l have never heretofore at.
tempted. In brief, the basis of my
work is the result of observation and
the comparison of cause with cause,
effect with effect, season with season.
1t is a mere matter of relationships.
Now, all this sounds abstruce, don't
it! And l detest high-soundine
phrases and abstruseness-detest them
above all things. All my life an
active worker, and yer engaged in
outdoor emp oyments, it is no won
der that l became interested in the
weather and made endeavors to fore
cast it," remarked the Canadian after
a thoughtful pause. 81 claim no
special gift. What l do and have
done is the result of persistent study
and directing others labors. l dis,
covered one fact, and proving it to be
a fact beyond question or dispute, ]
have built upon it--and but safely,
think. What was that discovery
Just this: That seasons and years
recur in couplets and triads. Rules
applicable to the first season or year
of a couplet are equally applicable to
the second season or year of that
couplet, and precisely SO of the triads.
Such is the main superstructure OF
my work. But l o found that the
system was not bound down to a mere
generality embracing only a season
or year in It's entirety. Experiment
evidenced that the same calculations
could be made for a month, and that,
too, with an eXactness that at first
appeared to be surprising. And
pursued my work still further, until
now l do not hesitate to bring my
calculations within a week. Yes,
have been able to designate par
ticular days. That is usually my
rule in the text of my predic,
tions. But the public should under,
stand that, except in special cases, !
never risk everything upon any single
twenty-four hours. | have not yet
reached that point in my system,
although there is no telling what will
be accomplished in the near future.
My experience long ago impressed me
with the force of the recurrence OF
periods of similar weather, and to my
personal experience ! have added the
authentic records of three-quarters OF
a century. Those records cover Can.
ada and the United States. They are
practically complete, and they uphold
my theories. Upon them, in fact, to
no small extent, do / depend fol-
everything. Sometimes l am bothered
by my inability to decide whether ]
have entered a couplet or triad of sea,
sons, and until that matter is settled
1 am all at sea and quite as likely to
be wrong as right. Now, an instance
of that was the winter of 1880, when,
you will remember, / declined to say
anything positively. I was in doubt
upon many phases of the then occur
ing weather, and was unwilling tc
make any forecast. You will bear in
mind the circumstances, There was
the strangest of weather. But the
instances in which / have been obliged
to forego my predictions are wonder
fully few. Such a miss is not possible
once in a thousand times"
"How do you manage with YOU
Headquarters in Montreal to map out
the weather for New York and other
parts of the United States?" asked
the reporter.
SIT is just there that the specia,
virtue of comparison comes in," wai
the quick reply. Montreal is my
CENTRE as ! call it. From that 'cen
tire all my observations are taken ant
all my calculations made. The sur
roundings of Montreal and the in
luences that extend from that point
are my primal means of declaring re
suits, next to the teachings of the
records of which l have told you
The consequences of influences reach
ing out from Montreal are apparen'
to one who knows intimately the in
huences themselves. And so far a
those influences extend, SO far car
they be traced understandingly anC
made the basis of calculations as clos
as any possible at their very point o
origin. The relation Of weather il
Canada to weather IL the United
States has been one of my most fasci
mating studies. Close comparisons
extending over a long series of years
have established certain facts that no
only harmoizo with my system, bu
that support and emphasize it. l
is the same story Of cause and effect
present and prospective. This i
hard to trace sometimes, but traceabl
it always is, Now, here is am instance
of the weather relations. Midsum
mer frosts at Montreal signify cy
clones and hurricanes IN the western
and southwestern states. To ~forecas