The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-01-26
WATCHING THE MAP.
oovePFssMEN WHO ARE INTER
JeTED IN WEATHER CHANGES.

The signal Service weather Map IN
80 House Lobby-Anxious Repre-
natives from Back Districts
we'd ITo for an Indefinite Period
HOW Changes are Indicated
From, the Washington star.
.rbbirtv-four below"
81 wonder if Jane AIMS new pitchers
cracked"
"rhirty-four"
Ia stood looking at a little spot on the
r,oat map of the United States that is
tst,cl, against the wall of the House lobby.
n.y., little section of the map on which his
-.e was fixed was way up in the north
80 where the billiards prosper. Right in
.so middle of it was little brass hook, and
s-oo the hook hung ittls piece of paste
l,ord on which was written the figures
.o,r with minus mark before. He had an
.ir obout him that indicated that he might
o.. now Representative, and his whsl1ers
a,S hair had a ruffled up appearance that
ohon,sd his district to be III the land of the
shes forgetful sort of woman some
.i,os lane Ann is, he added, as the signal
soryire man continued hanging up the little
Y,ste-board discs with the numbers on them.
Inst as ike she left the water in the
r;,cber If she did it's froze solid " Then
seves wandered a bit over the surround
;nocountrv and he began to calculate about
b3S2r the weather would last, and his
tborgbts seemed to spread out over little
more space.
SHOWED UP.
"Thirtv-four below, and showing. She
won't he able to get TO the hen house for
tbroe DAVIS. The snow II be banked right
IN against the kitchen door and running in
aver The window sills | expect Jane Ann s
snow locked"
He paused for a moment, aud then QueS-
toned the weather man about the prospects,
and his eve wandered down TO the warmer
cline Of Florida, and the 4S plus startled
| him.
,Whv. they could cook beans in the sun
down there" he exclaimed, and his eyes
again turned to the little bleak spot up in
The "bIizzards own
I'D sort O like to know how them pigs
are coming on. If they amt been looked
after they won't thaw out afOre spring. l
expect Jane Ann S setting close up to the
fire
Then other members came up and began
TO look over the map, and each one wanted
to know the temperature in certain little
spot about which his interests centered.
DAILY INSPECTION.
Every morning the members gather about
this map 1t is very large map and it
tells each one just how the weather is in his
distant home. 1t is Just stuck up on the
wall with a board back and no frame, in the
corridor of the House lobby, so that mem
bes pass it in going to the Speakers room,
The post office, or the Sergeat alarms
Al, IL Of tia he,
Pacific coast to Maine, is covered with little
brass hooks, short distance apart. On
each of these hooks hangs the interest of
some member But what they are intended
10 hold is a little disc OF pastebOard on
each of color and number to indicate the
change of the weather. The color indicates
whether it is clear or cloudy, showing or
raining, and the number indicates the tenn
perature A number with the plus sign in
front of it, or just the number with no sign,
shows that it is that much above zero, and
I'll quite cheering to a man from the cold
regions of the West. But a minus sign is
threatening, When a member finds a
minus five or a minus ten hung to his home
book he looks on with some degree of COM
pIacency, but when there is a minus twenty
Or twenty-five or a minus thirty-four he in
Voluntarily turns up his coat collar and cold
chills run down his back. Then he begins
to think about how things must be doing
about his neighborhood.
FIXING THE MAP.
Every morning at about 1880 the Signal
Service man comes with a tissue paper
chart for his guidance, ard shifts and
changes the little bits of cardboard on the
map. He takes off the old ones and hangs
upthe new. Some days nearly all the little
li@Sare blue then again they will be red,
then again red and white. Another day
'ley may be all white, or again black and
White, or all black. Another time they will
be blue and white, or they may be blue all
along the coast and white or blue, and
|lite up in the Western region. Each change
indicates change in the weather that
interests the members. When the weather
man arrives, a number of members will
gamer about him to ask questions and to
ho0e the changes he makes on the map. He
mas the little card-boards in a drawer, and
consulting his chart, he picks them out one
oy one and hangs them on the hooks. He
quay lake "a minus from a hook way up
III Jhe land Of billiards. and hang in its place
d zero or . plus. He may Tighten the
|Uole map with sunshine, overcast it with
uoqdsi deluge it with rair, or make it black
WIN heavy storms, with minus marks in
une track of the wind
WHY THEY WATCH.
Inc members watch for these changes.
noHio Vi Uheln nave shipping interests along
.le coast and dread the storms that sweep
uie Atlantic. Some have cattle or other
S,ocA IN the West that may be swooped
Ho~n upon by a blizzard Others merely
~ an interest to know how the weather IS
ugoue tnelr homes The first thing they do
"9el they get to the capitol in the morning
~ ~ get their mail at the post office, and
S f-en 10 10 look at the map. They nearly all
t tna out how it is about home" before get
"rS aO the work of the day
mere are several members who are
r"aJS on hand when the weather man ar
s ,tn@ and who will spend hours each day in
uuy ing the weather and making COMPARE
COWS CorS VI temperature in various parts of the
IIunuY' They have got to be experts and
inv irV IL 70 make predictions. Quite a familiar
ana Na az grown up between these members
c DTu tue weather man, and they chat and
b;l,ldre notes while the weather signs are
% Ing adjusted One member has acquired
TN sttiucn WI dom as to the weather that he
ve rvs great pride in making predictions and
ana piVen looks over the map and exclaims:
hi o'unt | tell You sop' Heis then referring to
Woo prediction of the day before. The
m soSler man always says Eyes" and the
cb 1,auer rubs his hands and swells out his
nsv oAe with satisfaction. Some members
nesri, pass the map without stopping, and
seon any time of day some one may be
COW sn IN 'front.' of it. Sometimes two will