The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-04-27
A WONDERFUL DEVICE.
TAKEN INTO UPPER AIR BY KITES.

TAKEN INTO UPPER AIR By KITES.
Automatically Registers atmospheric Con-
ditions-Intercst In Arctic Exploration.
Improvement In Equipment For Polar
Research.
WASHINGTON, April s7.-[Special. l-One
Of the most remarkable Instruments In the
world is new device now being put into
use by the United States weather bureau
In connection with It's efforts to explore
the almost unknown upper strata of the
atmosphere by means Of kites 1t is an
instrument or rather combination of In
struments, which notes and automatically
records minute by minute and hour by
hour
First.-The temperature of the air.
Second. Pressure of the atmosphere.
Third.-The humidity of the air.
Fourth.-The direction of the wind.
Fifth.-The force of the wind.
All this is accomplished by this device,
and yet the whole continuance Is no larger
than an ordinary loaf of bread and weighs
less than six pounds. That 1t should have
small weight was prerequisite to its suc-
oessful use, as IL Is to be sent high up into
the air by means of kites. Once elevated,
IL will do It's own work, the delicate and
ingenious instruments causing pencils to
slide over sheets of paper wound around
drums, thus recording the various data
from which scientific men expect such in
teresting and important results when 1t
becomes possible to collate the results of
measurements of the upper air taken stimuli
taneously at a number Of stations located
In various parts Of the country.
Professor Willis l.. Moore the energetic
director of the United States weather bu-
reau, under whose management these ex-
periments are being made, came near GO
ing as member of the Greedy arctic ex-
petition which met with such misfortunes
that only men out Of 20 came back alive.
Mr.. Moore was then q young subaltern In
the signal service and volunteered to ac-
company Lieutenant Greedy on his Ill
starred expedition. Hewas at first ac-
cepted, but was later left behind on &C.
count Of some technioality. At that time
Mr.. Moore never dreamed that some day
he would be at the head of the United
States weather bureau. which was later to
be disassociated from the army signal
service, and through series of develop
ments to become the first weather bureau
of the world in completeness and utility.
A Bath In q snowdrift.
Another noted Washingtopian who had
narrow escape from service upon an Ill
fated arctic expedition is Professor Alex
ander Graham Bell, inventor of the tele-
phone and now president of the National
Geographic society of Washington. Mr..
Bell volunteered to accompany the jean
nette expedition and came near going. This
expedition, under Commander De Long,
1t will be remembered, lost two thirds of
its members by drowning IN the Arctic
ocean off the mouth of the Lena and by
starvation and exposure in its delta.
To this day DIR. Bell, who is now one of
the stanchest friends of science In the
United States, is man of great physical
endurance. 1t is related of him that
year or two ago, while at a hunting camp
near his summer home in Nova Scotia, he
felt the need of bath, and, no other
means of securing one being at hand, he
rushed naked into a snowdrift, and that
without experiencing any i'll effects from
his chilly plunge.
Great interest Is felt in Washington in
the coming expedition to the polar regions.
The national capital Is the residence of
many scientific men who are keenly alive
to the benefits which may accrue to knowl-
edge from more perfect information con-
corning the now unknown parts Of the arc
tic area. 1t is not generally appreciated
that in the regions lying about the north
pole there Is an UNEMPLOYED tract of more
than 100000 square miles in extent,
equal to the entire area Of the United
States, with Alaska left out.
Scientific men familiar with modern
arctic exploration understand that now
there Is much less danger in polar research
than there was even 90 years ago and
much less likelihood of tragedy resulting
from efforts to penetrate the desert of ice.
In the first place, stanch, powerful steam
vessels have supplanted the old sailing
ships in which Franklin and the earlier
explorers attempted to force their way
through the heavy ice. In the second place,
no modern explorer thinks of setting ont
upon a journey without knowing beyond
a shadow Of doubt that he has base of
supplies to fall back upon In case of need.
He establishes these bases of supplies him
self and does not trust to others to do IL
for him, which was the condition forced
upon General Greedy by the governments,
who planned his expedition and who then
failed to establish the supply stations as
agreed upon.
Modern Polar Research.
In the fourth place, modern sledging
methods have made 1t possible for party
that may have suffered the misfortune Of
losing It's ship to travel q much greater
distance In escaping from the 10y wastes
than was formerly thought possible. An
example of this was found In the expert
snoe of DIR. Nansen and Lieutenant johann
sen, who left their ship and travelled 500
miles before they fell In with human be-
ings again or enjoyed the use of any food
or articles OF civilization save those which
they carried with them.
Arctic exploration In these times Is not
considered specially hazardous, and prob
ably the world has seen the last of great
disasters to expeditions In that field. As
. matter Of fact, there have been but three
great tragedies In all the history of arctic
exploration, though mankind has been en-
gagged In efforts to penetrate the polar
regions for more than three centuries.
| These were the disasters tn franklin Tn