The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-22

same principle, but in place of the
column of mercury there is used in 1T
either one or a series of flexible hollow
metal disks. from which the air is eX-
hausted. The pressure of the air which
tries to enter these disks is met with the
counter-pressure of a spring or weigh
ed lever, and the movement which takes
place Is transmitted to a hand which re-
wolves about a dial These machines are
made in sizes ranging from that Of
watch to machines with ten or twelve
inch dias.
The men who study the barometer the
closest are ship masters. The weather
bureau men Keep record of its doings,
and watch its movements closely enough,
but they have the records of many other
devices and renOrts from all narts of the
country upon which to base their prog
nostications of the weather. The sailor
man has nothing else except his knowl-
edge of the direction and force of the
wind, the look of the sky, and the feeling
of the air Weather" TO the sailor man
means wind, however and he doeSn care
much whether he is going to have rain or
snow with the wind or not. Still, he can
tell about these, too.
On the face of every barometer is
hand or little sliding gauge which can
be set to the point where the barometer
stancs at the time of any observation.
In the summer the observer must watch
the variations more closely than in win
ter, for they are. as rule, OF less amount,
and therefore mean more than in the win
ter. The nearer the tropics the closer,
too, must we observe the barometer.
lin these ATTITUDES said Capt. Charles
years between this port and the West In
dies, 1.-The winds which bring rain or snow
with them generally come from the sea.
With a northeast wind blowing fall of
two-tenths of an inch in the mercury
means usually that the wind will be
stronger from the same direction; If the
wind is from the east and the barome-
ter goes down a little, it means that the
wind is going. to the sopth'ard When the
wind blows from the southeast and the
glass is falling, the wind is going to the
westward, and the rapidity of the change
i'll the glass indicates clearly the rapidity
with which the change will take place,
and the severity of the wind which is
coming. slow and steady fall means
that the wind is becoming more fixed, and
that the weather will be steady for some
time.
when the wind is at the westward,
watch for rise in the glass. Just as
long. as the mercury stays steady the
wind will blow, but it will moderate with
the change The highest readings are usu-
ally with the north or northeasterly winds
In summer time look out for squalls, if
the glass shows a drop of 2-l0 of an inch
or even less, in a short time"
The farmer is another man who IL
deeply interested in knowing what sort
of weather he is going to have. The
smoke from his kitchen chimney has been
his barometer for many centuries. If it
rises straight up he looks for fine weather
and if it sinks and trails along the ground
he says the air is heavy, and he looks
for rain. Then if he is a near down
easter or close JerSeyman he gets
out the garden tools, and tells the men
it rains too hard to work in the fields
Many farmers in late years have bought
barometers and learned the meanings of
their changes. and reaped great profit from
their use,fThe storm glass which is sold
for a trifie in the Shops mounted usually
in connection with a thermometer is a
cheap form of the barometer. 1t consists
of a tube of glass of from six to ten inches
in length in which a cloudy solution of
camphor is held in suspension in alcohol
With each change in the pressure of the
air the camphor solution rises or falls in
the tube, going up when the barometer
falls and down with a rise in the barome-
ter. 1t is marked Fair" at the bottom.
Change" at the center, and STORMY al
the top, and its markings are lust as de-
ceptive as those of the regular barometer:
but careful observer, noting the changes
which take place in the position of the
camphor, could come pretty near to telling
what the weather was going to be-
Such glasses sell for as little as % cents
Mercurial barometers sell for from Sc 10
$100, and aneroid barometers for from SO
to $50. new device for demonstrating
minute changes in the pressure of the at
mosphere was shown recently at the ex-
hibition of the Berlin physical society. 1t
consisted of a flask whose neck comnuni-
Gated with a. horizontal glass tube the
central portion of which was slightly bent
downward. In this tube was a mobile glo-
bule of colored petroleum, and this moved
backward or forward with each change
in the outward pressure. 1t showed re-
suits which indicated that it was $50 times
more sensitive than the mercurial barom-
Of