The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-04
WEATHER BUREAU KITES
the INTERESTING EQUEPMLENT or TRB
ARLINGTON OBsERTATOBE.

Ol tne VlVy, ABOUT N mile from inc otu Ooo
home at Arlington, Va, the Weather Bureau
has established a kite farm and Is making e1-
pcriments in the use Of kites for weathor obs
servatlons. This aerial observation station
Is one OF sixteen under the direction OF the
bureau. Others are at Cincinnati, Omann.
Topeka. Knoxville. Pierre. s. d.; Duluth.
Cleveland. Cairo. ILL.,; Sault Ste. Maria Shl
Little Rock. Prof. c.. +. Marvin. who IL in
charge Of this work, believes that valuable re-
suits can be obtained by the kite observation
system. and has invented q number Of de.
vices for handling and managing the Immense
kites used at the Arlington station.
Onedrawback to the use OF kites has been the
difficulty of controlling the big seven-toot ae-
fairs employed to carry the observing and 70.
cordinR instruments used In meteorological
work. To cope with this difficulty Prof. Mar
win has built a new kite-controllng machine.
which makes It possible for one person stand.
ing before the reel to have within reach all the
controlling handles and to read the dials show
ing the amount of line run out. the pulling
power OF the kite, It's elevation. distance and
| electric connections. As a further convenience.
the kite Is provided with a Shipman four
horse, automatic. pll-burning engine. to fur
nish power for pulling In the kite. The
throttle Of the engine is also within easy reach
OF the operator. so that the steam power can
be applied instantly, and in case Of an emers
gency the kite can be brought down rapidly.
The improved Hargrave. kite Is used almost
exclusively for the regular observations, al.
though experiments with new forms are still
being made. many having c~uriously shaped
cells, some with divergent ends, wings, tails
and other queer appendages. The average
size is seven feet long. six feet wide and three
feet high. the forward cell having q central hors
izontal division or intermediate supporting
plane. Steel piano wire. 30-1000ths Of an
inch in diameter. weighing fifteen pounds: to
OF 800 pounds. is used for kite string. Thisl d
Ih SE p SGS ne q these &c K Fit sssI '9assuTTe l9fs s nsa SSSsa;
10 pounds or more; To have a kite fy away
RES Ttsp would YOU dt mean q esSssSdsIbis E SOsS. and nc V ne
operators do not run the risk q sending the
5 1895 ~ fe n very or p ssayy EoaF miles ah Of F wire carries
cb TnS e % fbs VIII Rhl,5 whiSh z MFii Pot Is SbI Sh e ham tS IN
10 his kite farm. Only q slight breeze 10 re-
i9eaaeS a so MAKE att6Se an TO as seat so mse d HE ts T Sv
ttEEo a II. The reel g I.r BE applying PLYING Z a the . steam Son.,d RSwSslE:
distance and scars skyward instantly. By re-
pefating this his operation seyernl times; the en-.
As the wire unyinds from the reel it passes
again again over oHa G q SWIVEL !" pulley IIIeSS Wheel HheeS'i to on sSe kite,
The swivel Wheel turns on ball bearings. end
scales. registering in pounds the pulling power
efe rh Se fore the TN 'o aesGit3rR NIT Mt. Po Sa ayP Ras Se-
fore him on the machine two lndicatorsto
diSi is sat attached to the h SWIVEL yRsel and The
osh IS.f i hi Sos s1PS,,}at * The Is d TsiS;ola at.%Is Il the reel.
clination Of the wire at the reel is deter.
RnIe Of the The s TSfiSs Wheel FRe t. s GlddsP SS tg TRoIR th Z
around to meet the kite line the angle may be
c cfSaa e fRs te obs sTS; BY san re ssi tSs e tS g tfRS siaSt q
the kite from the ground, knowing. both the
H IiPs ana and = I tRS s%SSat s Of l aIso 9 Fsnt 4 AZ ta Ssssp.
T The Machine Is even Sttsd With . : guide o
IR arly q1, he sSs T Ts5G t fRPs s Sslas IS w sssoma atiissf1
moved from side; to side. and winds the wire
On a solid platform. and when not in use Is pro.
'eS Tse 81 great w Sdasne soE tRat has taken place in
the aerial observatiops Of the Weather BuT,eau
1 %sns Wss made ffS or TeeSrdips se eeaeR q the hes eea:
6ias0 Been 81 ad tas Ge %hleh. pe M2 . aa tbs tRRs' WoTf &
four os sep az ,S. {% nr% b fSst and is Lighter TSa than msa
eany the humidity. barometric pressure. the
t ( ndeGTd sse 81 tf printed nitf;d ana IN f ses w d%iSis GefHSt sef
the VARYING degrees Of hgmidisy .:o R6 g
G3IF Sidsd a l51 foF tSe tTslV S9f hO %ina OF afe tSs ai;E sn e
fastened around a drum. which. operated BY
sSl 6SFs' K is n aPea fSts noSins record On tE SSs.s
that the meteorological chanRes are indicated
t~hermograph pen. which Is operated by spe-
cial quicksilver tube, is adjusted .h I'd to TIE Inc on
pera SuTee Is, IKE pen POINT Y Is lenEthsned
or shortened to the he point 9f the correct tsm ten,
n @idttS as q 3e asasfi SdIf fro ons TIE &Ss. SsadSnss q y TIE
Pressure RiSpI pen, rrec;ordins basometric PreSsqrs:
AZ asr ZEE W With dnt the rsf FeeSsdinR Of the Saro@eter. TSS
wind pressure indicator. Of coHrse. starts ct
chanisms Is made as simple and a. light a.
With all the indicators set exactly. the pe.
which is attached to the kite In sHch q Roei.
open cylinder. in which, It acts upon the. re.
GordeeSss re, END end the aSed pens marx fSs e out the Mers shs sIaysfI
turns sn the s'i record ssSe sSsct, 'n and the pens siSsHVss
waving lines. which indicate, precisely the con-
a ds the o II sns sRS1p iastsa L a'IR Is n6siessb 81 i tSass
all four records correspond with one another
someIEhat In moyentehn zen TG naI instance eS. as t afs
t %fsSsI place II humidity and bSFometric pres.
At the sixteen stations these records arg
made daily when the weather is fayorable. and
eSHrdipG; sSerlaI. Conditions are learned and thS
Interesting results Is the iorecasting Of cold
and warm waves. Such changes In the wealth.
er are found to be apparent at a great heighS
long before they reach the earth. and Kite rec.
fully twenty-four hours In advance of Its hrss
symptoms at the surface.
THE dangers OF the use OF wire In flying
kites to great heights can be understood.
There Is, always more or less electricity On n re
new operating machine makes It dangerous to
touch the reel At all: A ground t Son ne is
distance away from the point OF operation.
MI. Potter has a switchboard ON his instru:
ment. so that he can also ai direct tne ,S Sar ps
pose OF making experiments with the atmo-
spheric electricity produced, a spark thre9-
In a number OF cases a storm, coming up while
a kite was up has. done considerable damagei
Recently, at one Of the stations. 12,OQQ feet OF