Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-18

weather, gives warning of storms, marks
the drift of derelicts, etc. waterspouts are
, ,an because they are among the rhe-
noneha incidental to atmospheric distur-
Dances- These voluntary observers SEND
their reports to Washington by mail on
blanks provided for the purpose. They note
al Greenwlch noon each day-about 4 a m
IN Nashington-the direction ana force ~
me WIND, wherever they r1ay o.; likewise
nc temperature of air and sea. the motion
VI sea ana clouds, and the state OF the ba-
Ioineter Many of them make special mem
uon or birds seen, such as auls. corTnor-
an.s, guns, ducks. petr,ls AMI puffins. Irhe
appearance OF such fowl has much m 10
", ,.h .he weather Similarly, the sighting
" whales, seals or other marine rnarnnaIs
= uoted. Even the occurrence o. drIftwsood
or heip is made subject ct comment bsv.
ing connection with storms and currenta
'aiuable Work Of the ONCE.
Inc normal currents of the Pacific are a.
-eauy mapped out with wonderful accura-
cy. by aid Of this knowledge a steamship
win broken screw. which had drifted
lar OUT OF the track of trans-oceanic nav.
sa'ioh' was located by the photographic Of
ice a short time ago, 600 miles west of
where her owners had been searching sor
her. Most OF this important surveying
Work IN that vast waste Of waters has been
oone by Americans. who have sounded ~
and mapped out its winds ana curren,a
Win its drowned mountains and perennial
i,os-panks, until now IL is almost as we'll
known as IL IL were so much dry land.
~ course, the new pilot chart OF the Pa
and he,.,I wi. nave plotted on it all ice fields
oi them- 1t Will show the routes for stea w
snps, giving the shortest distances be-
, american and Asiatic ports. one
i ieason why II is important to Law out reeu-
lar tracks for passenger-carrvinp ste.,aes.
- eiat salnng vessels may keep out Of the
way, as carriages on country roads ars
ESe a.nea 10 look out for the locomotive"
OF sailing craft the shortest ''meteorologt-
cal routes will be marked-that Is m saw
the paths by which the Quickest passs ees
may De made. with due regard for winds
and currents.
The western Pacific is a great place for
lsiands that emerge from the waves uneT-
pecteoly, and as suddenly disappear Some
YIN they come up and stay, but more Of
rer,. ~ nave an existence merely tempo
a ry. me wondering skipper misses a IA
inlllar landmark, by which he has been ac-
custoned TO get his bearings and perhans
ths next day he runs his vessels nose upon
s,r ~, ahu-new piece OF territory that has
sprung up out OF the water since he last
came that way. The region south OF Ia
pan is so given to this sort of eccentricitv
mat ships avoid it. Volcanic action Is re-
sponsible for such phenomena Renorfs ~
them will he noted on the nilot chart 81
eTery case, though they are not alwavs re-
Hdole, because backs of sleeping whales ana
scnools OF hshes running along the surface
shoals ~ es anu
From West TO East.
The general movement of the at,,osnho,.
an around the globe is from west 10 east
Inc weather now. existing in the middle of
the North Pacific will govern the Irnited
states seven days hence. That is about the
rate OF travel ordinarily. Thus an accurate
knowledge of the meteorological conditions
IN mat region would render IL possible at
an tunes TO forecast the weather of the
United States with accuracy a week aheaa-
observers, in communication with the hy-
geographic Office. are now located i'm the
Hawaiian. Aleutian, Pitcairn, ana other
Pacific islands. If those islands are ever
connected by telegraph with the main
be fulfilled WA
IL Is rather odd that most people consider
me Aieutian Islands inhabited by a race es-
sentsally arctic, as IL they were far -no-rt,
beyond the latitude of ciyilization As /.
inauter OF fact, they are in exactly the sarf&e
latitude as London and Berlin namely 20
1esree north. Take an atlas and look IL up
Tor yourself. ST. Petersburg is on the line
or latitude 60 north. while the Pribyloff seal
lslands are only in latitude So
The photographic Office proposes before
On, ohs 10 issue a pilot chart Of the great lakes
l Is purpose will be not to make wea thor
because that is covered nv the
weather bureau, but to instruct the fresh
water mariners in seamanship and nayiea-
tlon At present they are sadly lacking
IN such knowledge One proof of this facr
Is that the loss of life and vessels on tbese
inland waters is vastly greater proportion-
ateiy than on the ocean. When a lake yes-
sci Is struck by a gale. the all-absorbing
thought of those on board of her seems
usually to be land at any price" instead
or anchoring and riding out the storm. they
do what a real sailor regards as the last
possible resort-they run her ashore ana
take their chances in the breakers
That is the chief reason why sixteen yes-
sells and fifty lives were lost in the storm on
october II, ultimo. The unfortunate sailors
had no notion of the art of handling a shin
In a storm. Oil has long been a resort Of
mariners for smoothing troubled waves. IT
has saved tens Of thousands Of vessels on
the seas. So far as can be ascertained. no
skipper on the lakes has ever Thought of
using it. In all Of these matters II is pro-
posed to instruct the fresh-water tars by
means of a monthly pilot chart Such a
publication, ii must be understood. has its
otheSwise blank spaces occupied by printed
'emarks on all sorts of appropriate subjects.
IL Is worth mentioning incidentally that
soapsuds have been found to be a very good
substitute for oil In storms. They are al
ways available, unless possibly on tramp
snip, and have the advantage Of cheapness
The photographic Office has asked Con-
gress TO grant $1,000 a year for the Pacific
pilot chart, which is certainly very little
the value which 1t will repre-
sent.