St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-02-14

st. Paul. He sits in his room on the TOD
floor of the chamber of commerce building
and when his clicker rattles he knows
where the storms are blowing. lie STANDS
in with the head of the weather bureau at
Washington, and when the chief says biz
Yard, he runs up a flag Oh the hagstan tnat
sunnounts the chamber and the whole city
knows that in Montana or the Northwest
Territory is the crest of wave that washes
The mercury down to the bulb, and the pop
ulace turns up its coat collars and is glad
that there is no danger that the palace will
thaw. He is Observer p. +. Lyons, chief
of the signal service in st. Paul, one Of the
men that is always ri ad 70 see newspaper
man, and tell him just what he
wants TO know i'll the shortest time
and space possible, and apparently
with the understanding that he is doing it
that the public may get the information it
Graves and not that the curiosity OF the re-
porter alone is to be satisfied. lie is solid
with the newspaper men. 1t was IN April,
1882, that he came to the st. Paul Office,
since which time he has had watchfnl eye
on the weather of the entire Northwest
The signal office was established here In
1870. Nov. l, and there are two others in
the state-one at st. Vincent and one at
Moorhead. In the little room where Officer
LYONS is to be found are TO be seen a Their
mometer fixed on the window casing, bar
Ometer, a couple of telegraph instruments,
Oh little shelf within a cylinder in a case,
All instrument for recording the velocity OF
the wind, and in one corner of the room
long arrow that turns with the weather cock
above. and on a sort of dial points out the
direct ion of the wind. Six observations OF
the weather are taken each day, three of
them local and three Geographic. The lat
ter are the ones sent to Washington to give
Gen. Hazen the groundwork for ten-line
guess on the weather for the upper MlSsls-
sippi valley and the Northwest" that appears
each morning in the paper. The are taken
at a. m, 9 and 8 p. IN. The local OBJ
servations are taken from the thermometer,
the barometer and the hyrometer, the first
for the temperature and the latter for the
probabilities as to fair or foul weather. The
direction and
VELOCITY OF THE WIND
are noted, the dew point determined, and
if it is in summer or the river is not frozen
over. the observer notes the level of the
river. The observations of the thermOm-
eter and barometer are such as any one can
make, and such as probably have been
made, by more people this winter and
within the past few weeks particularly than
ever before in st. Paul.
To determine the dew point two Their
mometers are used, on the bulk of one of
which water is placed and allowed to evap-
crate. Any one who remembers how chilly it
is on coming ont of the water after ''going
in swimming" will easily recognize the fact
that water in drying brings lower degree
of temperature. and it is on this principle
that the wet and dry thermometers are used.
The wet bulb is allowed to dry and the diff
ference in the degrees registered by this
and dry thermometer is noted. The gov
eminent has made computations and tables
showing the dew point-the point at which
moisture will be precipitated from the air,
as it is Oh a pitcher of ice water in hot
day-for differences of any number of de-
grees from a fraction of one upward, and
when this difference is noted the dew point
is known by reference to table. For in
stance. if dry thermometer registers at
50 : and a wet one at 81 :, then in the ia
bic the figures opposite Sc the difference
will be the dew point. For 50 the dew
point is so and this is put down on the
records.
All observations of the thermometer and
barometer must be corrected after they are
taken, TO give uniformity to the Observa-
tons throughout the country. To do this
requires a considerable knowledge of
MATHEMATI TICS AND PHYSICS,
and until one is familiar with the opera
tions considerable time. OF course. in the
barometer the cold or heat affect the height
to which the mercury will rise, so that on a
cold morning the fact that the mercury is
falling may indicate nothing as to the
moisture of the atmosphere. Consequently
the reading must be on basis of some par
ticular degree of heat, and to give uni
formity, all observations are corrected for a
temperature of 80 2 by means of tables and
few computations. Another circumstance
outside the condition of the atmosphere that
affects the height of the mercury is the
height at which the thermometer is
fixed, and to secure uniformity in this re-
spect, sea level is taken as the basis at
which all observations are made. To make
the corrections for elevation more tables
are used and more computation. Still a
third is needed for the imperfection of the
instruments for it is impossible to make a
barometer absolutely perfect. and each
instrument has to be compared with a
standard and its imperfectlon allowed for
on each observation. The observations of
the thermometer are corrected to bring
than to sea level and for the imperfections
of the instruments. 1t would probably
take one who had not had much experience
in making the computations, and yet under
stood the principles on which they are made
an hours time and considerable paper and
pencil. but Observer Lyons makes the COM
putations and verifies them nearly all in his
head with reference to his tables in little
less than twenty minutes.
In sending the observations to Washing
ton cypher IS used, chiefly as a matter of
quickness and to save telegraphic tolls. A
book like the telegTaphic codes used by
merchants is in each Office, containing a
system OF words for about all conceivable
state of wind or weather. For instance. if
there is wind accompanied by rainstorm.
the book gives for this combination of the
elements the simple word half" If the
sky is clear and there is no wind with p
prospect for fair weather, the simple word
''usuaF or some other may be given. By
this CIPHER it is impossible for bulls and
bears to tap the wires and get important in
formation in advance of the regular bulle-
tin, unless, OF course, the bulls and bears
have the code.
THE WORK OF THE OBSERVER
Is combining. as his observations must he
taken at regular hours each day, and
each day in the year. Mr..
Lyons says that the title sergeant
as applied to himself is not correct as he
has no military title and his position in the
government service is not in anyway such
RS TO give him that title. His title is ''Ob-
server" and his kilograms from Gen. Hazen
are directed to him under that address, He
Is something of veteran in the service
having served DIT the main Office in WASH
ngton, then at Montgomery, Ala, after
wards at Nashville Tenn, and Leaven-
worth, Kan. All officers in his position are
required to have sufficient knowledge of
Biography to send twenty-five words per