The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-26

and it's islands and shores are spread out
in a beautiful panorama, and you can see
Mount Hamilton, and then beyond the
SHOWS in the Sierras. You look down into
Valley, and the panorama presents
a picture indescribably charming and
grand. We saw but little of San Francisco
owing to the cloud of smoke about the
city,"
Then Mr.. Harmon rold why meteorolo-
gists would like to get at the upper air
from that summit. If an observatory
were established there, at height of 2600
feet. the observers, by standing on tiptoe
and f1ving kites and balloons, could get at
the air for a mile above the sea. All OBJ
servations are now confined to the ordi-
nary ground level. Al the same time
things are working quite differently a
half mile or mile above, and what is
going on up there is really more i'm
portant to forecaster than his ground OBJ
servations. So vertical section of the
air to the height of mile or SO, supplied
two or three times day and used in con-
nection with the horizontal section now
made quite complete over the whole coun-
try by the great number of observers,
would vastly increase the certainty and
value of forecaster's predictions. Such
q vertical section, gained fir m one or
several elevated stations and balloons and
temperature, baronetrical pressure, hui
mildly and currents OF the upper air.
Mr. Harmon states some novel things
that could be done with such an observa-
tory. From the top OF Tamalpais an OBJ
server looks down on the fog banks when
they appear, as on the clouds from Shasta's
top. He generally sees the banks leaving
open areas here and there over the ocean,
and vessels can be seen coming out of fog
banks into the sunshine and running into
dense fogs or being enveloped by them
An observer up there could report vessels
going into the fog with their location, an
nouncing their arrival on the bar, and
often giving directions for tugs TO find
them.
Tamalpais is an exceptionally valuable
location for such station, much surpass-
ing Pixies Peak for two main reasons. 1t
is close to the great harbor to which
weather is so important, and then it is
right IN the big gap in the Coast Range,
through which air currents pour in and
out as the waters do through the Golden
Gate.
In discussing the observatory idea yes
terday Mr.. Harmon said:
A good observatory, adequately equipped,
could be built for about $4,000. The main
thing would he its maintenance. To do its
best work it ought to have about $4,000 year.
The Weather Bureau may do something to-
ward establishing station up there, but the
observatory ought to have its permanercy as
sured, and, besides have scope 10 pursue
purely scientific Investigations and expert
ments. The work of the Weather Bureau is
necessarily very practical. Under the bureau
it would have varying fortunes, according TO
appropriations and policies. The Pixies Peak
station, not very valuable one, perhaps, was
discontinued several times and closed a little
over year ago. The vertical gradients such
an observatory wonld give us would be ex-
tremely valuable in forecasting.
The station would be valuable in several
l.weys to the commerce of this port and its
work might be of great value from a purely
scientific standpoint. Tamalpais is an excep-
tionally valuable location for such an observa-
tory and it would, if properly equipped and
used undoubtedlv become famous and accom-
| pIish very valuable work.
Meteorologsts are just tackling the