Evening star., 1897-06-12

ana by no means infallible (for forecastinp n
purpose0 air strata close to the earth.
which up to the present time have been
the sole reliance Of the weather experts in
making their predictions. 1t has only been
within comparatively recent years that the
weather scientists have thoroughly estab-
hshed the fact that warm and cold waves
are felt IN the upper air considerably in
ADVANCE OF their prevalence at station on
tne ground beneath. The discovery Of this
tact led number Of the most progressive
among the worlds meteorologists, especial
Iy those directly connected with govern
mental institutions for the determination
In advance Of weather conditions, to grap-
pie with the problem of devising means for
making weather observations in the upper
adr-"verticar' observations, they are term
ed, to distinguish them from 'horizonaal'
observations, made from the domes of
weather offices, with which the weather
people contented themselves until they
learned how pregnant with prophecy the
upper air Is. In attacking the task the
weather people soon discovered how ex-
ceedingly fallow their ground was. They
tried all sorts Of schemes before they hdt
upon the right one. They sent up cap
tive balloons, with automatic meteoro-
graphs attached, with fzzles only as the
result. chiefly on account Of a captive bal
looms cranky instability, the impossibility
Of letting captive balloons out to a suffi-
cient height, and for other purely technical
scientific reasons. Then they tried The
plan of turning small free balloons loose,
also with meteorographs attached. and
with cards tackled to them directing the
finders to return them to such and such
an address and receive a small reward.
They got about one per cent Of them back.
Many were the promising schemes the
weather scientists cooked Up to conquer
the fckleness of the upper air, and many
6aSpOS tl1ev encountered
In their attempts, before they harked back
to the dawn Of history TO borrow Chinese
idea, perpetuated through the ages by the
worlds small boy-the kite. The thing
has now been carried to such a point Of
perfection that the kite, as modified and
improved by the brainy men of the occi-
dent, promises to soon become the most
important bit of paraphernalla in the me-
teorologist's outfit, with the exception Of
his ordinary meteorological instruments.
At the Weather Bureau.
The United States weather bureau
(Which. sans spread-eagleism, is univer-
sally admitted to be the most admirable of
the worlds weather bureaux) has been in
the forefront in efforts to master the prob
lem Of upper air observations, and 1t was
practically in the lead in hitting upon the
kite as the most practicable device for do
ing the work. Prof. Moore. the head of the
weather bureau, could not devote the nee
the kite puzzle, and so he turned the in
vestigations which he had planned over to
his meteorologist. Prof. G. +. Marvin, one
of the most distinguished and able among
the younger American scientists. Prof.
Marvin has now been carrying on his kite
experiments almost within cannon shot of
Washington for three years, and he has
solved in almost every detail the riddle of
obtaining perfect weather observations a
mile or more above the ground.
Prof. Marvin has conducted all his more
recent kite experiments on patch Of level,
open ground back of the Arlington Nation
al cemetery. near the Arlington settlement.
On this patch of ground he had small
shed constructed for the slowing Of his ap-
paratus, which, to the eye of the layman,
appears awesomely complicated and in
vclved, the kite itself, which resembles
nothing SO much as a much-enlarged trans
parency of the sort carried in political pa
rades, appearing to be the most simply de-
vised contrivance of the paraphernalia. The
stout reeling apparatus, used for letting
the kite out and hauling 1t in stands at a
distance from the shed.
1.-The letting out and hauling in Of cell
lular kite said Prof. Marvin to a Star
reporter. in exhibiting this reeling ma
chine, may be compared. to the launching
and the return of a ifeboat through the
surf When a lifeboat gets beyond the
surf line and out of the breakers. the
worst danger is over until its return
through the surf line. scientific kite en-
cages in the most inexplicable antics when
1t is first turned loose in the lower air
stratum-the intangible surf line-and, al
though it may hang as steadily as a stan
cfion in the air a mile above the earth,
when we begin to reel it in and get it haul
ed down again to the lower air currents,
1t Immediately resumes the kicking I'D of
didoes that are both maddening and dan
gerous for the kite. At such times the
strain on the steel wire holding the kite
to the reel Is very great, as is indicated by
the instrument we have devised for reg
toto iyrry hn IN
SO we shall install q small two-horse pow
er steam engine to control the reel, and
then the kites may be let out and taken in
automatically.
The Problems for Solution.
When Prof. Marvin first undertook the
job of making the kite serve meteorological
ends he tried nearly all the oddly shaped
box kites that have been experimental
upon by scientists for various purposes,
such as signaling and photographing, for
the past dozen years or 80. and he found
them all unsatisfactory for weather obser-
vatlon purposes. The first of the cellular
kites, shaped like box, was invented by
an Australian scientist, Hargrave by name;
but Prof. Marvin. after giving the Har-
grave kite every possible show to distin-
guish itself, found that it wouldn't do for
meteorological uses. By this time Prof
Marvin had become pretty thoroughly in
oculated with kite theories ideas and lit
kites devised by his predecessors in the
field. he undertook the invention of a cell
lular kite OF the shape that would serve
the end he had in view. Some of these
kites which the weather bureau meteorolo-
gist, with the assistance of Mr.. 8. A. Pot
ter, another weather bureau scientist con-
structed were of exceedingly intricate pat
tern tern indeed. beautiful to look at, with
their side fans and fippers and rudders,"
as the professor humorously acknowledges
'oniy they wouldn't work." From ex-
treme complication Of design Prof. Mar
vim then leaped at bound to the greatest
simplicity Of construction, and thereby
Immediately struck his meter. The final
result Of his strivings to make a kite ca
pable OF holding meteorological instru-
ments steadily In the air at great dis
tance above the earth is q kite not unlike
IN general shape the ono originated by
Hargrave. with certain technical differ
ences In the distribution Of the weight and
area, and 1t works like q charm. Prof.
Marvin. in undertaking the designing OF e
kite OF his own. made q very elaborate
study as to the proper materials to be used
Tor the purpose. For the frame for his final
hte-the kite which before many months
Will be sent into the air for weather OBJ
servatton purposes from all of the most
important weather stations In fha T1rttad