The morning times., 1896-11-23

Atlantic Coast line from Florida to New
England, and passed nOrthward off shore,
but near enough To the coast line to serious
iy endanger craft about to leave our ports
Danger signals Were displayed at all ports
well in advance of the storms, and as Il
result no lives We're lost, and but little
property destroyed.
No cold wave or frost of unusual in
tensity has occurred without forewarniur
and there are numerous specific instances
of record where these warnings have re-
suited ill saving from destruction thousands
of dollars worth of property.
IArEkIMEArs WA KITES.
Kite experiments are reviewed on one
occasion an altitude of 1000 feet was
attained, and hut S,oCL feet Of wire WAS
paved out from the reel. This is believed
10 he the greatest height attained by any
eNpcrimentcr with kites.
II was found tnaJ both the form and
the body of the kite and the
action Of the ioICcS that affected IL de-
mdhded "A much fuller analytical CunSit,cra-
lion than they had hitherto received
From the results Of the Kite " prk thus
lar II has been demonstrated thly for
readily attaining elevations exceeding say
/ COO feet, wind yelocitirS exceeding ten
20 fifteen miles per hour must prevail
When conditions of favorable winds pre-
Vail. II has been shown that one or TWO
Kites of the improved iornS, pruducrd us
a result IF Weather Burcau Investigations
suffice for reaching elevations of from
1900 to 1000 feet, depending upon the
force and ; eadincsS If the winds aud the
load carried.
The use of kites is always limited by
the condition OF the wind, and experience
has shown that at many If our stations il
often would he necessary 10 wait several
days for single occasion of favorable
winds. There appears To remain but one
other means of cNI oSing meteorological IN
>'ruments at approximately fixed points in
free air, namely, by the usr of devices
sustained by the action Of pr olcllcrs, which
either lift the apparatus directly ar give
1t splrally ascending or descending mo-
ton. Many devices of this character nave
been proposed by ingenious inventors, and
several models of small size have proved
that the desired effects ON large scale
are within the range Of possibilities.
VALUE TO METEOROLoGY.
The frequency with which kites may
be successfully employed for reaching
very high elevations will no doubt be
greatly increased as the kite is brought to
more perfect state of construction and
the art OF its management more completely
developed There must always bt. how
ever, times when the upper air obSerya-
tions cannot be obtained by such means.
Captive balloons, which have been so
repeatedly tried for military purposes,
prove To be of little value for reaching
lofty elevations. From the great amount
of surface which must necessarily be ex.
posed, it results that the balloon is blown
away far from the zenith point over its
anchorage by even moderately trOng winds.
Combinations of the kite and balloon have
also been tried. This. in turn. possesses
hut little advantage over the balloon alone,
aud ia many respects is inferior to the
kite
Perfect appliances Of this character
VIII prove of such value to mctcUrulugy
that their development requires share OF
the attention To De- given TO the gre ater
problem of securing meteorological obser-
yltiuis i'll the free air. Such ubScrvations
ire now generally conceded by ncteurolo-
eiSts TO be the means by which further and
more complete knowledge is to be gained
Of the mechanics of storms and the Sc
GucnCc of atmospheric PHENOMENA
The idea may seem visionary now
perhaps, but it is a possibility that i'm
pUrtant meteorOl cgical stations of the
future will be dual lit character One
portion VIII remain, as at present, at the
surface of the earth: the other portion will
he pciSet at "A great height in mit.-air.
riding at anchor To the base of station.
as it We're. much in the same fashion as
tanned, however. by the operation of Other
forces than the buoyant action of the air.
DESTRUCTIVE ToRNADOES.
simultaneous observations from ii sys-
TEN OF widely distributed stations of ;his
character would cnab bic the future forecast
official to map out the atmospheric con-
ditions. both horizontally and vertically. and
arrive at Il more exact knowledge of the
gradients of temperature, pressure. etc,
Than is possible at the present time wiki IA
limited knowledge of surface conditions
only
The unusual destruction by lorna ioes
during April and May last is commented
upon as follows:
1T is not believed that there has Teen
AN increase, either in the frequency or
severity of tornadoes. Unfortunately,
those of the present year have swept
through populous sections of the country,
occasionally through the midst of small
villages and towns, and once through the
heart of one of our great cities. Three
hundred and six persons lost th:.ir lives
i'll the storm of May "a, / 500, more u IN
the aggregate loss by violent winds during
the two years, 1S91 and 1888, and more
than during any single year of which
we have authentic records, except 1898
PROPERTY SAVED.
Reports received from the Weather
Bureau stations and wind signal display
stations show that during the !, Zee severe
tropical storms that have occurred dur.
ing the present fall season, and for which
hurricane signals Were ordered by the
Weather Bureau, viz on September
9, 1929 80, and october %, alto ut 1000
vessels of all classes, having on hoard
upward of . 200 personS, and representing
with their cargocs Il value of moro than
twenty millions of dollars, came into or
remained in port on our eastern gulf
and Atlantic coast during the periods
for which the warnings were issued.
"of these vessels it is probable that
large proro rtion sought and rem lined
in shelter as n result of the warnings,
and IL is fair to assume that had they not
done 80 a large number of them would
have encountered the storms and have
been more or less damage if not entirely
lost
----- -