The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1892-06-01

yIuDkvWy4Yk>and cold w o q I,
.MH&WM ttk~foods and gales. So
s-ZEE1 long as their predic
-SsA- Sm.arVuw~ lions turn out COR
&4AIgnn. NM 1r;r,. rect nobody pays
1M- lD1F1F much attention. III
WvW.X|bs dllI they make mistake
ufB " howls Of derlsion
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 10 very
different from running an oracle after
tho Delphic pattern, dispensing ambigu-
GUS replies to fool questions. IL the
rainmaker of the Congo promises a
| shower and 1t 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 O1ice at .
o clock every night, are curiosities in
themselves. Here is an actual speci-
men, illustrating the style:
Boston, March 14-Bashful barmaid
damnable bony hirsute pirate
It Is wonderful what lot this means.
-Bashful" signifies that the barometer
Ii 30.12 and the temperature 80 degrees
Fahrenheit. "Barmaid" tells that the
wind Is from the north and that
ffty-two hundredths Of an inch OF rain
has fallen during the last twenty-four
hours. "Damnable" says that tho We
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 means some
thing, and in this way it is possible to
| condense deal of information within a
brief space, each observer having his
own key to the cipher for making up
| dispatches.
These dispatches begin to pour in at
8 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 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
II it is clear at Chicago, for example,
| he leaves that circle unmarked. Sup
posing that it is cloudy, he marks lines
across it. II partly cloudy, he shades
/ Lo1f - Dot Tt
dictated by the letter r." snow by the
letter IS" 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-
| tons were made, the velocity Of the
wind and the amount Of rainfall during
the past twenty-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 one 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 80 accu-
rately is it performed that no reading Of
proofs is necessary. The table made in
thisvway Is to be printed in the right
hand lower corner OF the weather map
published for the next day.
At the same time still another expert
sits in front Of brass plate exactly the
size OF a weather map OF the United
States. The plate Is perforated with
| $50 square holes, corresponding 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 or Minneapolis, he
fits little slug of lead into the right
hole without a moments hesitation.
| The slug bears an arrow crossing a cir
Gle, and the way in which 1t Is set to
| point indicates the direction of the wind.
| II 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 1t was clear at the hour
of observation, the circle will be white;
| IL rainy, 1t will be black. The useful
ness Of this brass plate will be presently
seen.
| 1hs rophet Gets In His Work.
At this stage Of the performance,
when the contents Of the $50 dispatches
have all been noted on the maps, re-
corded upon the brass plate, and set up
| In typa tho Dronhat Stana in