The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-15

sistants make up the weather reports from
| all weather bureau stations in the United
! States. These stations are equipped like
those at Washington, and send in their
| report by telegraph at o'clock every
| morning to Washington. From all these
| reports the bureau at Washington makes
up its weather report for the next TWEEN
| tyfour hours.
The reason Savannah had no warning
| of the approaching storm which did so
much damage last August, was because
there is no station near where the storm
center originated. 1t came from some
| where east Of the Georgia coast, out in
the Atlantic ocean, where there is no sta
ton for sending weather indications to
Washington. Perhaps, in the future, a
station established on some island in the
Atlantic, might give US warning in the fu-
tuTe.
no return to the weather reports-as
soon as the reports come in, they are in
Dictated on q small map Of the United
States made Of onion paper, on account of
it's durability. On this map, at each sta
ton, can be read the kind of weather ex-
| pected that day. A circle, white, shaded,
or partly shaded, shows whether ii is 10
be clear, rainy or cloudy weather. On the
edge of the map are marks of tempera-
ture. There are also lines showing the
indications of the barometer. The day we
looked at this map the temperature at Sa-
vannah was 20 degrees, and the circle
showed rain. A glance at this map gives
one a complete picture of the state of the
weather all over "our country we might
have said, but since our little summer
tour in the Spanish colonies, we will be
more exact and say, in the United States.
These weather probabilities" sometimes
| fail. owing to the unknown state of the
| weather in other localities. In these cal
| culations, as in all the affairs of this
world, sit is the unexpected that often
happens"
| A trip to Washington would not be
complete without a visit to the naval OBJ
servatory, under the guidance of Prof.
| George A. Hill, the assistant astronomer
/ at this observatory.
The different buildings are on a beau
! tful hill in Tennally town, Northwest
! Washington. The grounds contain sew
enty-two acres, part of which is laid off
! in lovely lawns, with beds of bright
plants and flowers in various designs.
! Ten thousand dollars is being spent on
! the grounds alone. On one side a small
forest invites you to its cool recesses: on
the other, the city, with gilded domes, its
statues and gardens, spreads itself in
| gorgeous array"
Beside the main building, which con-
| tains the offices and library, there are sew
eTal smaller buildings, each devoted 20
some special work.
The first place that we visited was the
| dome, where large, but not the largest,
| telescope is located. Here Prof. Hill treat
ed us to a lovely view of Venus, who is
| also the starry goddess of day, where sci
| ence lends us her eyes. When we climbed
| the steps to the telescope and put our
eye to that wonderful piece of mechanism,
| which reveals so much, what a beautiful
| sight greeted usi The crescent Venus, In
color pale golden. in size that of the
moon in the same stage. 1t was a little
cloudy aud we were promised another view
before we left the grounds. This we had
| two hours later, and were told that it was
| one of the best views of Venus that it
was possible to get.
| Descending by means of the elevator,
we inspected the offices of the superin-
! tendent and professors. Crossing a lawn,
we entered a building, where the chronom.
| eters are regulated. They are tested for
use in climates both torrid and frigid, and
| for all temperatures between these ex-
| treTnes. There were only a few in the
| building, as the war with Spain had al
| most exhausted the supply. All these
| chronOmeters were running on London
time, which is about five hours later than
| n
| room was what looked like a large chest
| When its cover was lifted there was seen
| q Geographic switchboard. These wires
were connected with all the clocks in the
| building and with those in Washington.
| One little button was of peculiar interest
| being the one that telegraphs the hour of
! Y to all important stations in the United
! States. We were standing on the line
| that divides our American or the United
/ ina .1ox
Among the clocks which are kept In per-
feet order so as to give us accurate time
Is one of the famous Kessels clocks, made
in Germany. This is the only one in the
/ United States, and there are only q few
in Europe. During period of six months
it only varied seven seconds.
All the clocks rest on stone piers. which
| are free from contact with the floor hav-
| ing their base several feet under ground.
! Even with this precaution trouble some
! times arises between the clocks. Although
there was no contact between two clocks
standing side by side. they really felt the
! vibrations one of the other. On one oc-
casion, when it was necessary to stop one,
| 1t was set in motion again by the vibra-
! tons of the other.
In another building was seen the largest
! telescope belonging to the naval observa-
| tory, its cost being $4,000 1t has a lens
| twenty-six inches in diameter. In size,
it is next to that of the telescope in the
Lick observatory. This large telescope at
the naval observatory is little used, as
| our eastern atmosphere is not clear enough
to use such large magnfying power. Our
/ best days are only equal to the worst DAYS
| in Arizona and other high points West.
|
In another observatory Prof. Hill show
ed us his pet vertical telescope, used
| to find out the variations of the earth's
| latitude. This telescope was made in the
| United States. Although not a large one,
| the wheel which measures the variations
| cost $1,000. 1t took one man nine days,
! working eighteen hours a day. to make
this wheel. The work-room had to be
| kept at a temperature Of 80 degrees dur
| ing its manufacture. The markings on ID
cannot be seen by the unalded eye. The
| lines marking the distance are only six
| thousandths of an inch apart
There are twelve small minors around