Omaha daily bee., 1896-11-23
WORK OF THE WEATHER BUREAU.
Prof Moore Takes Credit for Lives
and propcrty Saved.


WASHINGTON Nov. 22.-Prof. Willis l..
Moore, chief of the Weather bureau, has sub
mitted to Secretary Of Agriculture Morton
his report OF the operations of the bureau
during the fiscal year OF his administration.
OF the forecast and warnings Pref. Moore
says. in part "Timely warnings of all Sc
we're storms likely to cause injury to ship
ping were sent to all maritime stations and
resulted in almost inCalculabe benefit. in
the harbor of Buffalo alone during six OF the
most severe storms of the past winter, to-
tai of over $50 vessels, aggregating in value
upwards Of $l7 900 000 having on board
about 500 persons, were detained in port
by reason of the Weather bureau warnings"
The professor points out that as n result
of the danger signals displayed at all points
in advance of the West India hurricanes on
the Atlantic coast. no lives were lost and but
little property destroyed that no cold wave
or frost of unusual intensity has occurred
without forewarning, and that while no dis
aStrous floods have occurred during the year,
warnings given by the bureau in eases of
heavy rains and melting SHOWS were the
means of saving large amounts OF property.
The average percentage Of veriflcations OF
the bureaus forecasts during the year was
S2.4 per cent an Improvement of "a over
that of last year. Among the features intro
duced. perhaps, the one most highly conf
mended by all classes is the corn and wheat
region service established in the principal
corn and wheat producing states OF the CEN
tral valleys and in the west The informa-
tion obtained concerning rainfall and tenn
perature is promptly bulletined and dissem-
mated for tho benefit OF persons interested.
More prominence has been given to the sub
ject of aerial Investigations than to other
experimental work. Concerted cloud obser-
vations in cooperation with foreign nations
have been made at a number of stations.
From these 1t is hoped to gain information
regarding the general circulation of the at
mosphere, particularly during stormy
weather. Kite experiments were resumed.
On one occasion an altitude of 1000 feet was
secured. Prof. Moore says the use of kites
is always limited by the condition OF the
winds. There appears to remain but one
other means of exposing meteorological In
struments at approximately fixed points In
free air namely by the use OF devices sus-
tanned by the action of propellors which
either lift the apparatus directly or give it
a specially ascending or descending motion.
Many devices of this character have been
proposed by ingenious inventors. 1t Is
possibility that important meteorological
stations of the future will be dual in char
acter. One portion will remain as at present
at the surface of the earth. The other por-
tion will be poised at a great height in mid
air riding at anchor to the base of the sta
tion as it were. Simultaneous observations
from system of widely distributed stations
of this character would enable the future
forecast official to map out the atmospheric
condition both horizontally and vertically,
and arrive at a mcre exact knowledge of the
temperature, pressure, etc. The report says
it is not believed there has been an increase
in either the frCquence or severity of torna-
does. Unfortunately those of the present
year have swept through populous sections
of the country. Three hundred and six per-
sons lost their lives in the storm Of May 27
last. More than the aggregate loss by yio-
lent winds during the years 1891 and 1895.
During the three severe tropical storms that
occurred during the present fall season, and
for which hurricane signals We're issued by
the bureau, about 1000 vessels came into
or remained in port on the eastern gulf or
Atlantic coasts during the periods for which
the warnings were ssrred.