The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-10-20
SON OF THE SOUTH.
LIFE AND SERVICES OF COMMO-
DORE MAURY.

Proposed Monument to His Memory-The
Immense BENEFITS to the Country that
Originated In His Fertile Brain-skctch
Written by His Daughter.
Boston Journal1
Some persons have proposed that
sum of money tie Sci apart by the Con-
gress of the United States for the pur-
pose of erecting a suitable monument
to the memory of the great American
photographer and meteorological, NJ. +.
Maury. in grateful acknowl led gm-nt Of
his services to the marine. CONNER
cial. agricultural and other interests
of our great country. The monument
should be erected in the city of Wash
ington in the year 1899. and thus not
only perpetuate the memory OF the
man. but Of his deeds for the contem
plation Of future generations. aud as
an Incentive TO lofty ambitions. Per
haps |. as a member of his family,
may speak thus for him. Maury
was Virginian by birth. but he emf
grated to Tennessee with his parents
when in his fifth year. and entered the
that State in 1926. After continued
sea service for SIX years he was APP
pointed sailing master Of the slOop-of-
var Falmouth in 1881. and ordered on
a three years cruise to the PscIfic. Be-
fore leaving New York on tins voyage
ne had searched in every direction for
reliable Information as to the winds and
currents To be encountered aud The best
path for his vessel to follow. He soon
found that little or nothing was known
on the subject. and he forthwith
began to collect material AID make
observations. Ia this connection
he noticed the curious pben0meuon OF
the low barometer off Cape II I'm. He
wrote his first scientific paper on this
subject. and il was published soon
after his return by the American
Journal Of Science. Shortly alter he
wrote another much-talked-uf paper.
entitled The Relation of Terrestrial
Magnetism to the Circulation OF the
Atmosphere. These small beginnings
he soon expanded into his celebrated
wind and current charts and Ealing di-
,cclions. These charts completely
revolutionized commerce. sad the Sec
Charles of the Navy lin their annual
reports for the years 1850 81 so So 81
% and 'j6. and have not only saved
millions of dollars TO those who 20
down TO the sea in ships, bat have add
4 glory and honor to his country. y
calculation of the amount saved to the
.ommerce of the United States by short,
nlng the voyages fifteen daS S by the
of these charts will show the follow
ng startling results: Tbeave age freight
nom the United States to RIO IS III
cents per ton per day. 10 Australia ~
cents. The mean of this is a little over
10 cents per ton per day. but to be
vi. hin the marx we will take 1t al IL
cents and include all the ports of South
America. China and the East Indies.
We estimate the tonnage OF the United
states engaged IN trade with these
places at 600 .0O0 tons per auIum. With
hese data we see that there has been
atfected q saving for each of these tons
Of - cents a day for period of 10
days which will give an aggregate Of
Z. 250. 900 saved per annum. This is on
me outward voyage alone. aud the ton
lage trading with all other parts of the
world il left out of the calculation. Take
these into consideration. and also the fact
that there is vast amount of foreign
onnage trading between those places
nd the United Staes, and It will be
cen that the annual SUN saved will
well to an enormous amount: beside.
I'D many ports the voyage l. shortened
.prty and even ninety days Sir John
Packiugton. of the British Admiralty.
aid. the practical resulis of the re-
arches of this great American phllOs-
lpheI Of the seas have been to lessen
he expenses Of the voyage 10y shorten
ne ne passage) Of every 1000 ton YES
eel from England TO RIO. InuIa or China.
y no less a sum than EDO while on "A
voyage OF every ship # thl, tonnage to
california or Australia aud back the |
aVing effected was fl200 or GlJ00.
When the san FraucI.cO with ahun-
dreds Of United States troops on
i0ard foundered in an Atlantic I
hurricane and the rumor reached port /
nat she was IN need ct help. the Secre-
tary Of he Navy sent e. Miury to- infor- /
nation. He at once showed on chart I
where the winds and waves acung upon /
helpless wreck would drift her. To .
his spot relief was sent, and there the .
urvivors were picked up. When the .
Prince OF Wales returned from hl, visit
20 the United States. he sailed from .
Portland. Me-; his coal gave oul. he got
INTO region of contrary winds and
was overdue ten days. The Lords of
Admiralty waited on Maury and asked
or information of his whereabouts.
Mgury showed them, and they cent aid
an1 brought him home IN tri-
umph in time TO celebrate his
birthday. These were mere in
.idents in his study OF the winds and
waves Bg the use Of Many 3 whale
harris the New England fisnermeI have
-ayed millions Of dollars. There he
shows at glance those paris Of the
ocean where at any season ct the year
whales sperm or night may be found.
The observations of one whaleman
would. necessarily, be limited. but this
arrangement Of Maury enable, him to
profit by the experience. Of thousands
Of others" See report OF COMMITTEES
On Naval Affairs in 1886 Besides these
here were Maury's pilot chai L., his
isothermal charts, &C., when are Of in-
calculable value.
In 1853 the Government of the United
states invited all the European nations
% meet Maury IN a meteOroiOg cal con-
ference at Brussels. This was done,
and he then urged that the system Of
meteorological observations he had al
ready inaugurated at sea shodld he ex-
ended TO the land, and thus form q
weather bureau with observers in all
parts of the world. He spoke Of this
soon after his return in an address be-
fore the United States Agricultural
Society at Washington. and ,ald: The
atmosphere is a great basin which en-
veIops the globe. and every plant and
animal that grows there is dependent
Tor its well-beIng upon the laws which
govern aud control the wind in its
ami no.e more so than man,
the lord of ALL To study these laws
we must treat the atmospere as a
whole. We have now the sea
made white with floating obssrva-
tories, all equipped with instruments
hat are comparable. observ-