The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-06-11
ON A GOVERNMENT MISSION
WEATHER BUREAUS SUPERIN-
TENDENT OF TELEGRAPH
J. H. Robinson, of Washington. in
st. Paul on His Way to the Pacific
slope-WiH Experiment With
"hat Will He the Longest Wire
Span in the World at Neah Bay.
Washington.

1T may shower trif1e tomorrow
morning, but by afternoon 1t will clear
up. and you will have some good
weather"
st. Paul people will have an oppor-
tunity to judge for themselves TODAY
just how much wisdom J. H, Robin
son mas acquired during his twenty
seven years of service as superintend-
ent OF telegraph Of the government
weather bureau at Washington. He Is
In st. Paul, and yesterday afternoon
sauntered In between showers, his
trousers rolled up at the bottom, to
the once OF Weather Observer Lyons
In the chamber Of commerce building.
II was to MI. Lyons that the prophecy
was made. How accurate 1t Is NAV
be known today.
Supt. Robinson Is an interesting Of
fetal. Just at present he Is on his
way from Washington to the state Of
the same name on the Pacific slope.
where he will superintend an interest
ing experiment The government at
present maintains an ordinary gutta
percha cable from Neah bay, on the
coast of Washington on the outer
extremity Of the straits Of Juan de
Fuca, to Tatoosh island, three quarters
Of a mile distant This island which
Is valuable to the government from a
meteorological point Of view, as well
as because 1t affords an unbroken view
of vessels on the ocean, has come to
be used by the newspapers and other
interests in getting the earliest view
OF vessels coming from the Klondike
through the straits to Seattle and
other coast points. Owing to the rocky
bottom and shoal water, the life Of
the average cable has been very
short, so it has been decided to at
tempt the longest wire span in the
world, and upon Mr.. Robinson's ar
rival in the West the work will be
begun. He is very sanguine that this
wire can be suspended from the two
points named and made to operate sue
cessfully.
Supt. Robinson has fairly earned his
spurs, having been a telegraph OBJ
orator at Pittsburg in 1854, when the
western Union company had but one
wire In operation, and that one the
Wade line from Pittsburg to Crestline
Q. AS an operator in 1861 he received
the first overland message sent to Chi
cago from San Francisco by the West
ern Union company.
He spoke yesterday Of the work now
being done by the volunteer telegraph
corps under the direction of Gen.
Greedy, the head of the signal service.
Ihere are, according to Mr.. Robin
son, some 300 miles of government
wire through territory where CONNER
cial business cannot be profitably car
ried on, which are being used now to
good advantage in policing the Allan
tic coast. These wires run from Nan
tucket, Mass, to Woods Hall; from
Block island, to Narrangannsett pier;
from Norfolk, Va, to Hatteras, N c.,
and connect the life-saving stations
and lighthouses on the coast with the
department at Washington. The line
covers the distance from Massachu-
sets to North Carolina. The line from
Norfolk to Hatteras is considered the
most important, and is the one over
which news of the arrival and depart
ure of vessels at Hampton Roads is
chronicled. These stations are kept
open day and night. There are some
200 miles on the Pacific coast, from San
Francisco to Point Reyes lighthouse,
just off the Golden Gate.
Mr.. Robinson has been in the employ
of the weather telegraph department
for twenty-seven years, during most
of which he has been superintendent.
He leaves this afternoon over the
Northern Pacific for the coast.