The Portland daily press., 1891-10-21
HOW OUR WEATHER IS MADE FOR US.
a Glimpse at the Working OF the
Weather Bureau office.
a Daily Paper Issued by the United
states Government Here.
Something About the Strong Hold OF
the Service on the People.


simply wind. Nearly everybody knows
what the vane Is, also on top Of the bank.
and only few less know the purpose Of the
four cups that spin around on a staff, near
the vane and the flags. Here, however, the
knowledge Of the general public concerning
the dolngs Of the weather bureau OF the
Agricultural department ceases. Up In the
top Of the building, In the rooms, outside OF
which Is the tasteful iron railing. Is located
the Office Of which the flags, the vane and
the thermometer cups are the visible agents.
In these rooms are two gentlemen. Mr.. K. p.
Jones, local forecast Official, and Mr.. w. A.
Shaw his assistant. who are popularity sup
posed to make the local weather according to
orders which they receive from Washington
twice daily.
Such Is not the case however. Msssrs.
Jones and Shaw do nothing more than keep
watch on the weather as 1t is made around
them. and publish the predictions and fore
casts sent out from Washington.
The weather bureau sfice In this city Is
not one Of the first class, where self register
ing instruments Of all kinds do the neces-
sary work almost without human assistance.
The barometer. thermometer, vane and rain
gauge have to be attended to by the officers
and their readings recorded twice daily, at 8
a. NJ. and 8 D. M, 10th meridian time. The
thermometer, the whirling machine on the
rOof, does record Its own dolngs. There Is
electrical connection between 1t and small
cylinder moved by clock-work and pressed
against pencil point So long as the wind
keeps at uniform velocity straight line Is
made on the strip of paper on the cylinder.
When there comes a burst Of speed the pen
ell jumps over. changing the line and max
ing a notch In It. II these bursts keep up.
1t gives the paper the appearance Of the
edge Of saw. and makes trouble In calcu-
lating maximum and minimum rates Of
speed. One strip Of paper lasts twenty-four
hours, and when taken off presents a com
plete record Of the VagarIes Of the wind for
the preceding day. 1t Is surprising In look
ing over the slips to see how many notches
there are In the line on what seemed 70 be
almost uniformly calm days. The wind may
blow where 1t listeth and no one know
whence 1t eometh. or whittier 1t goeth. but Il
leaves a permanent record Of Its fluctuations
behind In the Portland weather Office.
The thermometer and barometer used in
the Office are Of the best, and their readings
are to be relied upon. The rain gauge Is out
side on the roof and is not as 1t should be
self-Tegistering. This Is TO be regretted. as
rainfall Is one Of the things Of greatest in
terest to the public. and the most Of 1t Is in
the night when nobody is at the station.
The routine of business in the Office Is
something as follows; At a. m. 18th Msri-
dian time observations are taken with the
various instruments and recorded on the
proper blanks. This Is done simultaneously
at all Of the stations In the country and the
results telegraphed to Washington. In
| short time they begin to come back again
| from all OF the prominent stations, and the
| work Of getting out the daily paper pub
/ llshed by Messrs. Jones and Shaw conn
mences. The reports received contain
the reading Of the barometer reduced to sea
level, also corrected for temperature; the
current and minimum temperature In the
morning and current and maximum tempera-
ture at night; state of weather; direction
and velocity of wind; dew point and rainfall
sent In cipher on leased wire. AS soon as
these reports are received at the different
stations they are translated and the work Of
preparing the map begun.
Since Prof. Harrington took control Of the
weather bureau the policy OF the service has
been much changed in regard TO maps. They
are now distributed much more generally
than they formerly were and are now more
familiar than they once were. 1t Is surpris-
ing, the officers say, to see how deeply inter-
ested the people are In the maps and how ex-
.ort Of he ttanhaorfkarots
becoming In making their own weather.
The process Of getting the map out Is a
close parallel to the getting out Of a paper.
The news, that Is the observations at other
stations. is telegraphed In and arranged.
Instead Of being set up In type. the dis
patches are set out graphically on a sheet Of
oiled paper. The blue ground work Of the
map representing the country and the water,
with the stations marked on, and certain
squares in the corner is printed In Baltl-
more and sent around to the stations in
quantities. The black lines. figures. arrows
and circles constitute the local "newspapcT"
work.
A sheet OF oiled paper is laid down on q
map and the different kinds Of circles for
rain. snow, etc., and those Showing the dl-
rection Of the wind are cut In with steel
punches. The Isobars or lines Of equal press
ure are cut In with sharp stylus, and the
dotted lsotherms or lines Of equal tempera-
ture are cut with little wheel such rs Is
used by dressmakers In cutting out patterns.
| Figures are marked on with another steel in
strument in the following order, tempera-
ture. minimum temperature and wind veloc-
ity. When all these things are cut Into the
sheet it makes stencil plate. Corners are
cutoff and the forecast and weather condi-
tlons, table Of precipitation at various sta
tious and other remarks which have been
prepared with type writer on small pieces
of oiled paper are laid over the corner pieces
and the Portland Daily Weather Map "goes
to press" The stencil sheet is laid on an
linked slab and the blue maps are laid on 1t, a
roller being used to give the impressions.
Such chart Is called a"synoptlc chart"
because 1t enables the meteorollst to
take a general view, as 1t were, over large
area. Sometimes they are called "synchro-
nous charts" because they are complied
from observation taken at the same moment
Of time.
The curvature of the heavy lines show the
probable course Of the storms, and the
| dotted are temperature lines, the movement
| Of cold or warm waves.
The circulation Of the Portland Daily
Weather Map" is quite extensive, both In
the local field and by mall Scientists
throughout the state, and at the different
colleges and schools are supplied with them
All public places In the city, the newspaper
offices and many stores and offices are also
furnished daily with birdseYe view OF the
mornings weather all over the land
When the daily edition Is worked on, MI
lanes and Mr.. Shaw have various statistics
and records to work upon from the remain
der of the day until D. m, when another
set of observations Is taken and the process
| of the morning repeated, except that the
morning papers are favored with the predlc-
| tIons and tables instead Of the general pub
| lie by means Of the maps.
There are many things needed at the Port
land Office to make 1t Of the frst-class, the
most important being a self-registering rain
gauge and barometer, so that happenings In
the night can be recorded with accuracy.
Obituary Notes.
Slgnor Scafate. the famous singing master,