Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-06-03

dry Sp0llS, NOT
and cold waves,
,NI GltU floods and gales. So
@I3&1 long as their predic-
@E-wWmmNv tions turn out cor
S@l1D.1 e7F; rect nobody pays
@e@ much attention. II
6s dlhs they make a mistake
howls OF derision
and indignation arise. People have no
use for prophets who exhibit fallibility
like ordinary mortals.
Prophesying about the weather Is al
ways an anxious business. 1t is very
different from running an oracle after
the Delphic pattern, dispensing ambigu-
GUS replies to fool questions. II the
rainmaker of the Congo promises a
shower and it fails to arrive he is dis
credited as a fraud. 1t is much the
same way in the Signal Office at WASH
ington.
The weather reports, which come by
telegraph to the Signal Office at 3
O'Clock every night, are curiosities in
themselves. Here is an actual speci-
men, illustrating the style:
BosroN, March 14.-Bashful barmaid
damnable bony hirsute pirate.
1t is wonderful what a lot this means.
"Bashful" signifies that the barometer
40 VI uuu JIG temperature OV NSSkCCS
Fahrenheit. "BRrmaid" tells that the
wind is from the north and that
flfty-two hundredths of an inch of rain
has fallen during the last t%wenty-iour
hours. "Damnable" says that the ve-
locity of the wind is twenty-five miles
an hour and that the highest tempera-
ture during the day was AZ degrees.
"Bony' declares that the sky is covered
with cirrus clouds. "Hirsute" makes it
known that the observations were made
at & p. M; that the dew point is 80 ard
that the local prediction is for fair
weather. Pirate" communicates the
fact that the highest wind velocity dur
ing the day was fifty-two miles an hour.
Each letter in every word some-
thing, and in this way it is possible to
condense a deal Of information within a
brief space, each observer having his
W key to the cipher for making up
dispatches.
These dispatches begin to pour in at
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. He reads
them aloud in a sing-song tone, while
four skilled men at desks close by jot
down the information they convey on as
many outline maps Of the United States.
On each map the $50 signal stations are
indicated by as many small circles. in
which the facts noted are penciled with
symbols and figures. One operator
records the condition of the clouds and
the direction of the wind at every point.
If it is clear ut Chicago, for example,
he leaves that circle unmarked. Sup
posing that it is cloudy, he marks lines
across it. If partly cloudy, he shades
only one-half of the circle. Rain is in
dicated by the letter r." snow by the
letter "S." The point from which the
wind blows is shown by an arrow. By
equally simple means the second opera
tor records changes of temperature, and
the third puts down barometric changes.
The fourth registers the Temperature
and barometer at the time the observa.
tions were made, the velocity of the
wind and the amount of rainfall during
the past t~wenty-four hours.
These maps. when finished, present
a complete picture of the meteorological
conditions at = p. m. all over the United
States. Upon their showing the prophet
only n OF the three is on duty at any
given time-bases his predictions.
Meanwhile, however, other things have
been going on.
Two swift compositors, sitting on tall
stools at cases near by, set up in tabu-
lar form the data given in the dispatches
as fast as the translator. reads them off.
Instead of single letters they have type.
words and figures in their boxes, deci-
mails to indicate barometer heights. etc.
Thus they are enabled to do the work
with surprising rapidity, and SO accu-
rately is it performed that no reading of
proofs is 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. i. .s.
At the same time still another expert
sits in front Of a brass plate exactly the
size Of a weather map of the United
States. The plate is perforated with
$50 square holes, corresp onding in po-
sition to the signal stations. They are
not labeled in any way, but he knows
them all by location perfectly, SO that
when the translator of the dispatches
calls off Sacramento OF Minneapolis. he
fits a little slug of lead into the right |
hole without a moments hesitation. |
h slug bears an arrow crossing q cir |
Gle, n the way in which it is set to
point indicates the direction of the wind. |
III you will look at a weather map you
will see these arrows scattered All over
It, and will also notice that the circle |
through which each passes shows the
state of the weather at that station.
Supposirg that it was clear al the hour
of observation, the circle will be white:
If rainy, it will be black. The useful
ness OF this brass plate will be presently
seen.
Al. r.phet Gets in HI. Work.
At this stage Of the performance,
when the contents Of the 1oO dispatches
have all been noted on the maps, re-
corded upon the brass plate, and set up
In type, the prophet steps in.
He has been keeping an eye upon the
has come for him to analyze 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 a CLASSY
look, premonitory OF a prophetic duck
fit, as he feels the aflatus Of inspiration