The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-08-10

tHe WtdlneI COME W VS. mSt tiiNuSN
the upper air, and this, after While,
influences the lower strata of the at
mosphere, If, therefore. the conditions
In the upper air can be made known 10
us, a forecasting of the weather may be
made some time In advance of that
which depends upon our knowledge OF
the surface conditions. But independ-
ent of this there are many facts about
the atmosphere and the clouds, which
the kites will give, and it is toward the
collection of such data that the ener-
gies of the Blue ffill people are at pres
ent directed. VA
The mechanical difficulties In getting
the kites to so up into the air a mile or
more are not great when the proper
apparatus is at hand. The kites are
fastened to a ring, which is soldered 10
the outer end of the wire, having lead
ing strings of some hundreds of feet IN
length. To the same ring the instru-
ment is suspended having as a part
of Its mechanism q spring which is in
tended to save it from sudden shocks
or jerks. With couple of good kites
at the top, the wire is paid out rapid
ly, the reel being controlled by means
of a brake. Immediately in front OF
the reel is a wheel having a groove,
through which the wire runs. This
grooved wheel is connected with reg
istering device so that it is nnsslble to
read from it at any moment the amount
of wire that has been sent out On the
return an oil droDDer is placed above
the wheel and the wire is returned to
tha Thic t,ravantS
rust and aids somewhat the process of
winding in the wire. This is done at
the present time by means of cranks.
and Is a tedious process Of two hours or
more, which. with the steady pressure
of the pull OF the kites, becomes real
labor and necessitates frequent shifts
of the working force. If higher flights
are to be attempted, a little motor or
engine will be necessity.
When two or three thousand feet of
wire have been cent out % third kite is
attached to the line, and at intervals
below this, whenever it becomes nee
essary to relieve the upper kites of the
weight Of the wire, other lifting kites
are employed. The device which fast
ems the kites to the wire Is quite inge-
NOUS, being a little clamp Of alumni
mum, made by Mr.. Ferguson, which
bites the wire between it's jaws and
holds 1t firmly by means of the pressure
Of some set screws For this purpose
alumipum is not very suitable, for the
softness Of the metal causes the threads
of the screws to slip, and occasionally
a fastening slides up to the end of the
line, transferring the pull Of the kite to
that point and delaying by the amount
Of this pull heprocess Of getting home
the kites. In the high flights Of the
past week only three kites were used,
two at the end of the line and a third
a distance below to help support the
wire; and in the condition of wind
| which prevailed these kites seemed
quite adequate to their work.
The kites are of the pattern which has
| been heretofore employed. and the kind
is largely dependent upon the stock at
| the observatory. For, even with the
dents will happen, and the frail spruce
sticks are not proof against falls and
collisions, so that the repair gang has
plenty of work 1t is sometimes one
form of the Kite that is ready for an
ascent and sometimes another. On
Monday last the kites were all of the
Eddy pattern, and on Thursday one
was a Hargraves on the first trip, and
after an hour or two in the air it was
replaced by an Eddy kite fitted with
the Archibald tail an improvement
| which makes the delicate al iustmeIt
1 OF the Eddy kite much less essential
than heretofore. The Archibald tail
consists of a series of conical caps of
cloth which are fastened below the
kite with the points downward. They
are so light that they stream away
from the kite with the wind, and catch
the air in their open tops The strong
er the breeze the more pressure they ex-
\ ert SO when the breeze rises and the
| kite needs trimming, the tails exert a
1 stronger pull and swing 1t into its most
effective angle to the wind. They form
| a self adjusting tail, and, excellent as
the Eddy kites have shown themselves
to be, the Blue Hill people will doubt
less fly them In the future with the
Rrchibald cones.
| Mr.. Archibald himself was a visitor
to the observatory on Thursday and
demonstrated his knowledge of kite
lore and his practical skill by assist
! in Transforming an unbalanced Eddy
into an effective highf1yer, which held
/ it's own with the best kite in the OBJ
j servatory's stock. Mr. Archibald, who
/ has worldwide fame as an expert
tmeteorologist, was the first one to send
kites into the air for scientific pur-
poses, and for three years he conduct
ed a regular set of kite-1ights in Eng
| land. He did not strive after great
heights, although his apparatus was
! quite comparable with that in use to-
day, but gathered a great deal Of in
formation about wind velocities at diff
| ferent heights up to about quarter of
a mile Prof. Harrington. formerly
chief Of the weather service, also was a
visitor on Thursday when quite a
number of local kite experts-MilIet of
Sharon. Hobbs of Weston, and the Blue
Hill men-made veritable congress of
kite flyers on the sunmit.--Boston
| Evening Transcript.
I