St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-17

roof, all nave attracted U1OT6 VI lSoS pun
lie attention. There is a vague, indeti-
nate idea extant that these are por-
ton of the paraphernalia appertalning
to the weather bureau. but there are
few people who cali intelligently con-
meet them with the operation of the
signal service system. There are, in
deed, few people who really know what
this signal means. what it involves, or
what it may compass. They have read
the weather predictions in the daily
paperS-alWayS noting the failure or
verification and never remarking the
rule of success-and they know OF that
mythical parsonage yclept "Old Proba-
bilities," but of the science of meteor
ology and the prediction of weather
changes, now nearly an exact science,
they have not tie remotest conception.
The value to the country of thorough
and perfectly equipped weather signal
service, is but now beginning to be APP
preciated. From the marine potts,
where the first beneficent impression
was made, the appreciation is spreading
throughout the country very rapidly.
but it will remain for the decade of
which this year is the beginning. to
fully develop the service itself and
thoroughly demonstrate its practical
value. The American system IS now
recognized throughout Europe as the
| best in the world, and with the lead
thus obtained, great results may reason
| ably be anticipated within few years.
! As knowledge Of the system grows with
| the people interest increases. and when,
IOo,,I nu0lnSfUtp mans lrfa in
| trOduced and posted. class of weather
! cranks may be expected to develop rap
idly.
Until recently there was but one me-
| neurological station of the first order in
the country, and that was located IN
Washington as the central Office of the
service. But at the beginning of the
coming wear there will be thirty such
stations and ST. Paul has been officially
designated as one of them. A station Is
called first order when in connection
with the usual equipment of instruments
it is provided with complete set OF
! Self-regiStering ones whereby the tenn
perature, air pressure, direction and We
| locity of the wind, The rainfall and sun
shine are recorded at all times both day
and night. The instruments therefor
are known respectively as. "thermO-
graph" ''borograph." triple register
for wind direction, velocity and precipi-
tation," and sunshine recorder"
THE ST. PAUL STATION.
Climb up to the top story of the cham
Der of commerce building, any day, and
study of the system in vogue will
| repay the trouble. Lieut.. Walsh, the
industrious officer detailed by the gov
eminent, is the "old probabilities OF
the station, and furnishes the weather
reports published each morning in the
GLOBE. Sergeant P. F. Lyons is the
| observer, and takes the observations
which cut so important figure IN the
general scheme of weather predictions
| Both arc courteous and Intelligent gen
| tlemen, who take pleasure in giving
| information relating to the service
| William Fl. Andy and Charles l.. De
| BarOS are the assistants at the station.
| Proceeding in the order of the work.
| Sergeant Lyons is the first man to see
! Twice every day, at morning and
| evening, promptly at O'Clock Wash,
| ington time, he takes observations
covering the cardinal points: Atmos.
| pheric pressure, temperature, direction
| and velocity of the wind. condition OF
! the skv aud the relative humidity of the
| atmosphere. The instruments in use
are the finest of their kind and are fur
niShed by the government. First comes
| Green barometer, which tells the pres
sure of the air. The mercnrial column
| is we'll understood, and is of the ordi-
| nary pattern. In one corner of the room,
| in a glass case, is curious instrument
operated by electricity, in which sta
tionary pen marks peculiar lines on q
revolving cylinder. at regular inter
walls the pen makes a regular jerk down,
| wards and then resumes the straight
| line. A glance at these Jerks" shows
the velocity with which the wind
travels, every ''jerk'' indicating a mile
The thermometer itself is little wind
mill, perehed on the summit of the build
| ing. Its revolutions are regulated by
the wind power and are faithfully re-
corded in the manner described. A
huge vane stands near by and indicates
the wind direction. Erected on stills
and incloSed in suffered box which
excludes the rain but freely admit the
air, are the thermometers and hygrom-
| eters. The former operates on the
| broken mercural column system and
registers the maximum and minimum
temperature. The hygrometer pre-
sentS two bulb tubes, swung on spin
die; one of the bulbs is covered with &
water-saturated cloth, and when the
spindle is rapidly revolved, the varying
| altitude of the mercury gives the hui
Nudity of the atmosphere. Two oper
| cylindrical vessels ranged side by side
complete the apparatus. Their duty i:
to catch the fall of rain and snow anC
| register its depth. Sergeant Lyons
duty Is to take and keep the records Of
| i,,r re cnndinr Inf
reports to the central Office at Washing
ton.
FoRECAsTING THE WEATHER.
Lieut.. Walsh is the man on whose
Judgment ana experience, backed by
the meteorological data furnished him
we rely for the weather predictions
Twice each day. when all reports have
been made to him, from Fort Assina
boine in the Northwest to Newfound
land in the Northeast, and from New
Orleans to Key West, in that direction
he makes out a weather map. The
map is an outline of the United States
with the signal stations marked upon it
| AS the reports come in he notes on the
map the data from every station. Then
comes his work. With red pencil he
| slowly and carefully draws the isobars
or lines of pressure. The irreg-
ular locality where the barometer
| indicates low pressure is in
| closed and marked ''low'. This forms
| the general storm center and is invari.
| ably accompanied by high temperature,
relatively. Then the red lines wave off
marking off the the various degrees OF
pressure, until finally a glance shows
| the barometric pressure at every part OF
the country. Next comes the isotherms,
or lines of temperature, which are
| marked in blue, and when completed