Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-14
FORECAsTING THE WEATHER.
Requirements Necessary to Fit a Man
for the Work.

Requirements Necessary to Fit n Man
for the Work.
From the Monthly Weather Review
A weather bureau man serving on sta
ton, whether he ranks as local forecast
official section director, observer or revels
In the three combined, to be a credit to the
service must be a man OF education and
training and in addition to being like Ben
jamin Franklin. "a philosopher, philan-
thropist and printer" should be statis-
ttcian, geologist and a farmer; he must
be able to prophesy OF weather events to
come and keep an accurate and compre-
hensive record of those past He should
be an electrician, too, and an astronomer.
unaided by any star-gazing paraphernana
with which to sweep the heavens for lost
comets.
That a weather observer should be a
philosopher is almost too evident to dis
cuSs, as the science he represents is based
on natural laws, many of which yet re-
main to be discovered, and the weather
bureau of today with its remarkable
achievements would not be in existence had
not thinking men turned into account their
knowledge of physics and applied it TO the
various atmospheric changes, until now
the art of observing, forecasting and tabu-
iattng weather conditions follows In i'm
potance close on the heels of the science
from which it sprung.
1t would not seem that philanthropy
could enter into an occupation where cold
blooded calculations, facts and figures play
so important a part, but 1t should be re-
membered that observer is at all times
ready to brave every climate for the benefit
of mankind and science; that his stations
are scattered from the edge of the arctic
circle in Alaska to the tropical jungles of
South America; that he should be equally
competent to foretell change of weather
to the weary gold seeker on the Yukon.
herald an approaching cold wave from his
bleak post in the far northwest or recog-
nlze the incipient symptoms of a West In
dia hurricane as it coils for a spring at our
commerce in southern waters.
Although a printer is furnished to
weather bureau stations whose publications
are printed, yet there will often arise oc-
caSions when a knowledge of typesetting
would greatly increase the value of an OBJ
server end prevent many a temporary
break in the records of his station.
Statistics play small part in a weather
observers work, and in order to compile
useful data from which to deduce import
ant facts in the future it is obvious that
much depends upon records being intelli-
gently as well as accurately kept. 1t is
popular belief among some that one day is
the exact counterpart of some other; that
back in some period of the worlds history
the atmosphere varied In pressure, the
temperature rose and fell, the winds back
ed and veered and the clouds formed,
changed their shape and melted away,
each in their turn, with unvarying regu-
larlty, again and again, to be repeated IN
regular cycles as the unceasing mill of
time grnds out the years. While many
facts tend to prove the fallacy of this
theory, climatic records do not yet extend
far enough back to positively controvert
1t and it rests with the weather observer
in the future with his accumulated data
of centuries, to establish the truth.
The relation between climates and crops
is close that a knowledge of the latter
is indispensable to the proper performance
of an observers duties, and he should also
be geologist enough TO study the soil in his
state or territory with view to deter
mine its special adaptability to the vari-
the enjoyment of the tourist and the re-
covery of the health seeker depend not
only upon the climate of place. but upon
it's productions as well. The up-to-date
farmer is no longer creature of mere
Drawn and muscle; he relies as much upon
the science of his occupation for success
as he does upon the sweat of his brow, and
the official who represents the climate and
crop service of the weather bureau should
be alive to all his needs and an unfailing
source for any information he may re-
quire.
Many of the most important records OF
the weather bureau are now made by self
registering machines which do their work
with the aid of electric contacts, and,
while 1t is not necessary to be an Edison
or a Tesla in order to understand the few
principles of electricity involved, an oo-
server should at least be master enough
of the science of this subtle fluid TO &C
count for and remedy any defects IN the
workings of his instruments.