The times., 1898-09-25
ON COLD BEN NEVIS.
The Experiences of a Weather Man
on the Rniny Top Of the Mount.

Ike Experiences OF a WeatncF MAh
the Rniny Top of the Mount.
In Persons Magazine John s. Bigg,
one of the weather men who make their
home on the summit of Ben Nevis, in
Scotland, writes:
Here / sit at p. m, June ], of this
year of grace 1898, in a house so COM
pIetely buried in snow that not a flicker
of natural light strays through the snow
blocked windows into the lamp-lit
rooms, while outside the driving, frozen
fog is thick with drift, whiried in blind
ing eddies by bitter northeasterly
squalls Am l enjoying life in some
Eskimo hut? No; am only beyond the
widest dreams of boyhood, holding the
highest office in the United Kingdom
the office of the meteorological robserva-
tory of the first class, on the summit of
Ben Nevis, the highest hill we British
ers can boast of.
THE observatory, built in 1888, and con-
sisting of office. kitchen bedrooms,
storerooms and tower, with it's walls
from four to ten feet thick, its fiatToof
and its double windows, is admirably
suited to the most arctic weather of the
summit, and laughs at storms that would
cause any low-level house to shake In
its shoes.
1.-The stererooms are perhaps the most
important part of the building, as nine
months provisions for three persons
two observers and a cook-have to be
stocked there. Daily. from about the
middle of June, when enough snow has
disappeared TO show the outlines of the
bridle-path, which has been constructed
from base to summit a the expense OF
the observatory, hardy mountain ponies
patiently ascend the hill, laden with sup
plies of food, coke and paraffin for the
ensuing winter. which sets in about the
ND ref Co, tIn Of
October
Soups, meats. fish, milk, fruit and
even vegetables, all preserved in tins
form, with potatoes and -four, the bulk
of the food supply, and 1t is quite an
eventful break in the daily routine If a
pony can manage to ascend during the
winter with the rare luxury of fresh
meat. AS to drink, since there are no
springs so high as the summit the OBJ
servers content themselves with rain wa
| ter in summer and melted snow in win
| ter, both much more palatable than dwell
| lers in the plains imagine
AN observatory at sea level is worked
| in conjunction with the one on the sum-
| NIT, and. for the sake of variety inter-
| changes of staff take place at intervals
| during the winter, weather permitting.
| More exciting than these regular changes
| or than the rare apparition of an ice
! caked tourist. is the arrival at irregular
| intervals. varying from one to four
| weeks, of the observatory road surveyor
with letters and newspapers. There is,
| indeed. telegraphic communication be-
| tween the two stations by means of
| which any news of striking interest or
| Importance can be sent up, but then one s
| most valued letters are often not of a ma
| ture to be telephoned upi Hence, as we
| regale the letter-bearer with hot coffee,
we feel that, few and far between as his
| visits are, we are indeed entertaining an
| angelic being.
1.-The work of the staff consists in TAX
| ing hourly observations, night and day
| of the unusual meteorological elements
| the two observers having each a nine ano
| a three hours watch
| The lot of a man on night duty in the
| depth of winter Is not always an alto
gether enviable one Donning his sea
| boots his oiIsl1ins and his sou wester
| and armed with rain gauge and carefully
! shielded lamp, he leaves the cozy office
| The front door is probably quite blocked
so he mounts by an inside ladder to tbs
tower. where he hears the tremendou.
roar of the wind rushing past. Drawing
long breath and opening the tower
door, he steps on to the roof in the dark
ness, bending forward and strainini
|
the steady wind-blowing not uncommon
| iy over 100 miles an hour-while the driv
ing fog is filled with powdery snow ant
| humps of hard, icy dirt
| Fixing his armpit in a guiding rope
stretched from the tower to the instru
ments he staggers along TO the ther
| mometer box, and, tearing the caked drift
from his blinded eyes, reads the tempera
| ture, changes the rain gauge, and return
I -r,,f " n
the Office strangely silent after the bel
low of the blast" and settles down I
read or work for fifty minutes Matter
are, if anything, rather worse if tn
wind is more squally than steady, 70
then while bent forward to resist
strong gust. he may be caught una
wares by sudden lull and fall sprawlin
| in the snow.
.e,The only interruption which has take
place in the hourly observations sine
the erection of the tower occurred Feb
ruary q and %, 1855, when an exception
| " severe storm passed over the SUNNI
of which the observatory log book give
the following account:
% February 21-Rain gauge found blow
away to near the edge of the cliff: nc
put out again today. At p. m. the not
book for the observation was torn in tw
{ t and blown away After D. m. no ten
perature readings were taken, as IN
lamps could not be kept alight and tn
observers could not stand against tn
wind At 6, Z, and D. m. the observe
went out at the tower door with a lon
: rope, and hako he hauled back. Afte
that the obss u did not go out. AT 10
m. the outer glass of south window i
tower was seen to be broken, probabl
/ by flying piece of ice, many of whic
were heard rafting on the tower lik
, stones
} % February 22-First temperature OF
servation taken at a. m
Electrical storms are both common an
dangerous. They have caused damag
: to the building and injury to the oil
servers. But they result also in man
beautiful phenomena. The st. Elmo
fire, with its weird blue light and cur
Gus buZzing sound is of frequent occul