Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-26

Al long as their predictions
%yA,A1W turn out correct no.
body pays much atten-
ton. II they make .
| mistake bowls Of derision and Indignation
arise. People have no use for prophets who
exhibit fallibility like ordinary mortals
Prophesying about the weather 10 ALWAYS An
anxious business. II 10 very different from
running an oracle after the Delphic pattern.
dispensing ambiguous replies to fool questions
II the rainmaker Of the Congo promises A
| shower and it fails TO arrive he is discredited
| as fraud. 1t is much the same way in the
| signal Office at Washington. A week ago the
chief government prophet. Maj Dunwoody,
| predicted snow for the following day. Al noon
! 1t had not arrived and the skies looked discour-
agingly bright. He felt sad therefore. With
an effort at cheerfuiness he said to his three
small children:
MY dears, il it snow. this afternoon. will
give you rs cents apiece"
Three hours later the children burst into the
library crying Twenty-Five cents all round,
Sure enough, the fakes were falling fast 40
that by in the evening there was two inches
OF snow on the ground and the storm had only
begun. Never did prophet pay rs cents with
more gladness.
THE WEATHER REPORTS
which come by telegraph to the signal Office at
O'Clock every night, are curiosities in them
selves. Here is an actual specimen, illustrat-
ing the style:
Boston, March 14-Bashful barmaid damus-
BILE bony hirsute pirate.
1t is wonderful what a lot this means
"Bashful' signifies that the baron ter ia 80 -
and the temperature 30 degrees Fahrenheit
bar maid" tells that the wind is from the
north and that ffty-two hundredths of an inch
OF ram has fallen during the last twenty-four
hours. "Damnabls" says that the velocity of
the wind Ia twpntv.twn mi md
the highest temperature during the day was AZ
degrees. ''Bony" declares that the SKY is
covered with cirrus clouds. "Hirsute'' makes
IL known that the observations were made at 8 |
p. m. that the dew point is so and that the
local prediction is for fair weather. pirate
communicates the fact that the highest wind
velocity during the day was Fl Fty-two miles an
hour. Each letter in every word means some
.hing' and In this way it is possible to con-
dense deal Of information within brief
space, each observer having his own key to the
cipher for making up dispatches
FROM ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY STATIONS.
These dispatches begin to pour in at o o'clock
in the evening from $50 signal stations all over
the country. As fast as they arrive they are
translated by an expert into ordinary English
ne reads them aloud in u sing-soug tone while
four skilled men at desks close by lot down the
information they convey as many outline
maps of the United States On each man the
$50 signal stations are indicated bv as MANY
small circles, In which the facts noted are pen
clied with symbols and figures One operator
records the condition OF the clouds and the
direction OF the wind at every point lift is clear
at Chicago. for example, he leaves that circle
unmarked. Surprising that it is cloudy. he
marks lines across 1t. II partly cloudy he
shades only one half Of the circle. Rain is in-
Dictated by the letter ''E" snow BY the letter
Inc point from which the wind blows is
shown by an arrow By equally simple means
tile second operator records changes of tenn
persture. and the third puts down barometric
| changes. The fourth registers the tempera.
ture and barometer at the time the observations
were made. the velocity of the wind and the
amount Of rainfall during the past twenty-tour
hours.
these maps, when finished. present a COM
plete picture of the meteorological conditions
" p. M ell over the United states. Upon
their showing the prophet-only one Of TITO
three is OH duty at amy given time-bascs his
predictions. Meanwhile. however, other things
have been going ON.
THE PRINTERS At WORK.
Two swift compositors sitting on tall stools
at cases near by. set up in tabular form the
data given in the dispatches as fast as the trans
lator reads them of. Instead Of single letters
they have type words and figures in their boxes
decimals to indicate barometer heights, DC.
Ihus they are enabled to do the work with sur
prising rapidity, and accurately is it per-
formed that no reading Of proofs ia necessary.
The table made in this way Is to be printed in
| the right-hand lower corner OF the weather
map published for the next day.
THE WIND ARRows
At the same time still another expert sits in
front Of a brass plate exactly the size of
weather map Of the United States The plate
is perforated with $50 square holes, correspond
ing in position TO the signal stations They
| are not labeled in sny way but he kuows them
All bY location Derfactiv an hat rhaux ka
lator OF the dispatches calls of sacramento or
Minneapolis he dts q little slug OF lead into the
right hole without moments hesitation. The
slug bears an arrow crossing circle, and the
way In which it is set to point indicates the di.
roction OF the wind. II you will look at weather
map you will rec these arrows scattered
| all over it. and you will also notice that the
| circle through which each passes shows the
| state OF the weather at that station. Surprising
that it was clear At the hour OF observation the
circle will be white; il rainy, Il will be black.
The usefulness Of this brass plate will be
presently seen.
THE PROPHET GETS IN Hu WORK.
! A. this stage Of the performance, when the
contents Of the $50 dispatches have all been
noted on the maps. recorded upon the brass
plate and set up In type, ths prophet steps in.
He hm been keeping an eye upon the situa-
foi him 70 analyEe the present situation and
forecast the future for one day, two days, three
days ahead No wonder that he passes his
hand through his hair, while his eyes assume
classy look, premonitory Of q prophetic
duck 1T, ~ he feels the afaatus Of inspiration
coming upon him. Turning to clerk at his
side he begins to dictate in low voice, saying:
| For New England, fair weather, westerly
winds, followed BY increasing cloudiinsss and
probably light snowa"
And SO on until the prospect for the entire
country has been declared In detail The clerk
| writes the forecasts with stylus in manifold.
one copy being handed at once to the printers
who set it up In type All the words necessary
| Tor the purpose are cast entire in separate
types, 20 that IL h quick work, but the cuse
containing them has no less than 1880
for the compositors to keep In Iniud The
other copies Of the manifold are passed over
TO clerkA who telegraph the predictions 70 the
press associations and to observers IN diff srent
parts Of the country. The COPY IA tvpe i. 10
be printed in the lsft-hand lower corner Of the
weather map. 7tt-
| fnRrAnINa TIE NAP.
Before uttsring his predictions The prophet
has drawn liuss Of equal temperature and
baromstris prssurs-you may sss them ON
any weathar chart-upon the map which has
been already prepared with data noted down
respecting thsse mattera ALSO he draws