The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-12-02
The Weather and the Prophets.

AhS "ColAACA oAb lhC lOPiiCbS'
The loss of the Portland is attributed
to the disobpdience of her skipper in
putting to sea when ordered not to do
so. This appears to be almost incredi-
bic. Captains of passenger steamers
realize the responsibility of leaving port
in the teeth of a foreCa asted storm.
They dread to do so when compelled,
and shirk when possible. Captain
Blanchard may have been an exception.
although there is no more tangible evil
dcnce to that effect than the loss of his
boat and this vague intimation of
disregard of orders. We shall never
hear his side of the story.
However that may be. the Portland
was only one of large number of
craft that have strcwn the Atlantic
coast with their wrecKage during the
continuance of this fearful gale. AZ
all the wrecks We're coasting vessels,
being almost within hailing distance
of the shore, had the meteorological
bureau given timely warning of the
impending hurricane. it is impossible
to conceive how all these ships, big and
small, could have been incontinentlY
caught in it. There seems to have been
no such warning, or no anticipation of
n tempest from the point from which
IL sprung. We had an intimation that
= storm was travelling east of the
Mississippi, an ordinary blizzard in fact
which is normal at this season of the
year But ii was not expected to af-
feet the New England coast more Sc
Nercly than amy other section of the
continent over which il swept. This
storm did not originate in the Rocky
mountains, rOr IL that faVOritc home
"f tn" cyclone the West Indies. Had it
done So its p"osnOstication would have
been scientifically possible and its
force and direction approximately de-
t"rminaDle. The storm. instead, was
one of those great billows Of wind
which sweep across the North Atlanta
and the European continent from
northwest Il southeast i'm the latter
part of November and the earlier days
Of December Nearly two weeks ag,
it struck the British islands with un,
precedented fury, part of it, as i
truversed .he Atlantic, sNeepina
through the Straits of Gibraltar and
along the Mediterranean until ii spen,
itself on the unprotCcte shores OF
Italy, causing disaste. to shipping il
that country scarcely less severe than
here at home.
An occurrence like this which has it'
origin in the east, while our meteor
oogists have their heads turned to
wards the west, is not very Credtabl,
To their scientific prcscienCe. Their,
appears to be a vast amount Of un
conscious delusion i'm weather fore
casts. They are serviceable as records
of actual harOmetriCal phenomena
which through cOnnotation may b.
loosely relied upon to give an indica
ton twenty-four hours in advance O
the weather We may reasonably eXpec
II things do not change meanwhile
This is highly valuable, AZ far as /
goes, but it goes only a very little way
TO be sure it leaves us Independent O
foolish lunar predictions and arbitrar
empirical forecasts which our fore
fathers regarded with such fond assur
anCe. We know that the appearance
OF the moon does not presage the con
dtion of the weather. The atmos
pheric envelope Of the globe does no
reach to the moon, nor can the moo
possibly influence it, The rainbow, "
know is not sign of rain but Is act
uaily rain itself, and its prlsmatic hue
are the result Of refracted light on Il
PARTICLES and not the condition of ia
vapor in the rainbow. We nowaday
know, also, that the atmosphere
made up Of mixed gases, highly elastic