The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-12-17
ORIGIN OF CYCLONES.
How General Greedy ID Informed or Their
Approach From cubs.

IN an tiltle on the ~l-udl NtiNi'f anu
cyclones. ;he New Orleans Picayune says:
although the Signal Service Is charged
with the maintenance and periectng OF a
system Of signaling for the purpose Of com
municating intelligence for military pur
poses, these duties are not very important
in time Of peace. The chief functions of ths
Signal Service at the present time are of q
nature wholly civil. pertaining TO the peace
ful arts Of commerce and agriculture. To
keep account OF the stage Of water and
daily changes in the condition Of naNiga-
BILE rivers and 10 report from numer-
ous stations in all parts Of the
[ Union the daily meteorological conditions
which are called weather. make up the
most important duties OF the signal Bureau.
I'm fact. an intelli gent and fas"9d prcsenta-
ton each day of the matterFT entionsd and
the iorecastins upon the'" y Aturc weather
phenomena are Of Naiue O. COM
mercia, and agricultural interests. II Is
claimed that in the past year the forecasts
in percentages were as follows: For
weather, S.l; temperature, 1j.S. with a
general average OF $40. During the year
.OC6 storm signals Of all kinds have been
ordered. Of which $50 have been wholly, and
- partly, justified as TO velocity, and Ht
lust iticd as 10 direction.
The revolving land storms or tornadOcs
that originate on the Western plains and
move in easterly courses are much more
thoroughly under the observation Of the
Bureau than are the cyclones or gyrating
ocean storms. The former originate IN the
limits of the United states, and in reach OF
the signal stations. The latter are born III
the trOpieal waters of the Atlantic, and are
not i'm reach Of our observers until they reach
our shores. They are certain either 20 sweep
up along our Atlantic coast, or they enter the
Gulf Of Mexico. In either case they are
liable 10 work havoc upon American ship
ping and often their disastrous forces are
experienced on shore. IL would be OF the
very highest value TO the greatest interests
if a sufficient provision could be made 10 se-
cure observations not only from the West
Indies, but from all principal points around
the coasts Of the Caribbean sea and the
Gulf Of Mexico. The existing system OF
ocean cables would give excellent acili.
ties for the transmission Of intelligence
if only the observations could be made
Although the United states II not one OF
the leading nations in the possession of a
commercial marine, and although 1t has but
small nayal establishment, II SIN mas
sufficient interests. both on land and sea.
that are endangered by these tropical hur
ricanes to justify some provision for warn
ing Of their approach.
At present such information "a Is re-
ceiyed on the subject Is sent as matter OF
courtesy. We print the following from
the report of General Greely: The
chief signal officer H. gratifed 10 re-
port that the weather reports from The
| West Indies have been in measure re
sumed through the courtesy aud energy o.
Mr. T.. Carb0nelly, director Of the NaNa
Observatory at Havana. cuba. These re-
ports are Of iDestlmable value during th'
! cyclone season. and from 1871 10 1881 siN
citations (BarbadOes, GuadalOupe, Havana
| Kingston. Santiago de Cuba, and Il. Ihom
asl were maintained at very considerable
expense 10 this service. I'm 1881 they were
discontinued. partly through the failure o
appropriatiOns and partly owing 10 dOub
being thrown upon the legality Of spending
any part Of the appropriations in maintain
| ing "A station outside the limits Of the inites
states. This lOss Ofthesc stations has been yer.
much felt, and several Of the most Vi0len
and destructive hurricanes which have eve
devastated the nited states coast have ar
rived unannOunced simply from lack Of de
tailed meteorological information from III
West Indian stations. several efforts 10 Sc
cure special appropriations for the main
tenance Of these stations have met VIII
failure. In January this Office was iniorine'
| that the spanish bOfernmcDt Ddu pla'tu IL
meteorological service under the navy, AM
under the direct supervision Of the direct0
Of the Naval Observatory at Havana. an
that the service would be inaugurated abou
| January 18th. The Chief Signal Oiiice
promptly informed the. director that IN
prospect OF the establishment OF Wer
Indian meteorological service under IN
control Of the spanish Government wa
highly gratifying, and rendered the full &C
operation Of the Signal Service in exchang
for such reports as would be mutually at
yantageOus 10 the commerce Of the Unite
states and Of the West Indies. The organ
zation Of the spanish-Cuban meteorologic;
service has been carried forward with grea
energy on the part OF those officials charge
with its management, and the results q
ready attained give assurances OF inestim.
BILE benefits tOcommerce through syslematl
and accurate information Of existing atmo
pheric conditions in the West Indies and
the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
The United States is the richest nation
the world. and it ought not 10 depend Il
such important service upon the charity
Spain, which is one Of the poorest.