Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-11-05
IT IS MOST UNIQUE.
ONE OF THE GREATEST METEoho-
,oa,c,L STATIONS IN THE WORLD
HAS A QUEER LITTLE INSTRUMENT.
The Daily Routine-it is No Fun W
he nm Observer on the Top VI
Rem In Thuh"cF
storm.
,cor,espondence Of the DIspatoh)
storm.

| ,h,rd A. some Of the most pIVin'"~
| -.-.oo,o,ooiets as well as other PERSONS
- 80 IN the United Kingdom TO nave
ZEN Nevis observatory turned mo
.o...rnr,ont Institution, this little heard
- brt most notable place. suddenly as
sures international Importance i''o
sn,ondid service done by the ooserVa'o's
diving the past few years has called LOT
ro,ooted comment in tho reports OF the
tra,sactions Of the Royal Society OF
rd,rhrrgb and Of the Scottish Meteorolo-
glcal Society.
81 little has ever been written OF heaiu
about this famous and unique spot 'ii''
n description Of it at the present ''ine
will doubtless prove OF greatest interest
in America. 49,, chat
At the outset It may be stated 'iI''
the Ben Nevis Observatory canho'' -
on,, etretch of the Imagination, be calieu
. Measure resort. Buried far away up
~ tbe mist of the mountains, us SUI
| ,'',,r,lipos even in summer suggest niue
! 49, ottroct the tourist. Indeed, the TOP
80 heights of the mountain are al
49, wreothed in snow, and there Is
perpetual fog oyerhanging the oDScrFa-
| tory. ..tt,t,
The staff at the upper station, OF Whleh
| I sneak. consists only OF three per
So1e-two observers and one cook. Their
duties 20 an ordinary individual Would DC
considered monotonous, but to meteorolo-
| eical enthusiasts the suggestion Wouid
| he blasphemy The observer in charge
takes The night watch, commencins
| al o'clock and lasting for eight
or nine hours. when starting out on
/ the first observation tour of his watch,
| the observer takes with him an empty
rain guage. This is changed for the one
I that has been out during the previous
/ hour. which is covered up ana taken
/ back TO the observatory.
! The next duty of the observer IS 10
climb up a ladder to the roof of the
observatory and there face the wind as
I sluarely as possible, Immediately after
which the velocity recorded by the an
emoU.eter is recorded 50 that the per-
sonM observation is checked. Next the
/ clouds must bo looked after, and tho
/ fact noted whether they are upper or
! lower and what species OF either also
/ the area Of sky covered by them beyond
! 20 degrees from the horizon. The record
must also state whether 1t is raining
I or If the sun is shining clearly, through
I a cloud or not at all q the time. Not a
! single fact in connection with the con-
dition OF tho weather must be omitted.
| Should there be clouds or fog the fact
I must be noted. Are there clouds below
[ or above the mountain? Are they mist
| or fog? How thick is the fog, and how
great the distance al which you can dis
/ Germ objects through IT. II there are
1 glories, halos, fogbows, rainboWs, ana
| such like things, the fact must be noted
/ Possibly the mist is so thin that you can
I Ill srvrfF Of ]
eleven acres at least. Or there may be
riffs in II, giving glirnpses of some Of
the grandest Of Scotch scenery. Is 1t
! clearing or threatening TO rain? Are the
! clouds travelling fast or slowly? Is there
| thunder or lightning? Perhaps the whole
top Of the mountain Is wrapped in
a lurid flame and this anemometer to-
gether with every post and pole and the
Observers pencil even, are ali Kissing
forth electricity.
Now, for another departure, as the
observer enters little tower door and
| descends a ladder into a small room.
| Here is one or tho most curious features
! ia the observatory and something that
| is probably entirely unique IL IS the
| ingenious instrument invented by Mr..
John Aitken. BY means Of this the OBJ
! server counts exactly the number OF
| dust particles per cubic centimetre Of air,
very important department OF mete-
| geological study. Following his carefully
laid-out course, which, by the way,
Is as invariable as the law of certain
nations, the observer descends 10 the
office and measures of the amount of
rain that has been collected in the guage
| brought in by him. Should there be snow
in it this must first be melted.
This completes the list of regular OBJ
| seryatons. The extraordinary observa-
tons include reading once day the
| maximum and minimum thermometers,
the black-bulb thermometer in vacuo,
the depth Of the snow, and other small,
| but important, duties.
| In the interval before making another
| hourly round the Observers hands are
| busy copying out the observations that
he has made on his hourly slip onto the
| daily sheet. This sheet holds all the oh
servations taken by the superintendent
and assistant. on the night watch after
midnight each set of twenty-four hourly
observations is added up and the mean
taken, the maximum and minimum for
each day being noted.
Another duty which comes In TO FIJI
up these interstices Of time Is the keep
| ing Of the monthly record sheets, con-
| sisting Of separate sheets for rainfall,
! sunshine, temperature, wind, etc. In the
| barometric pressure sheet there are
/ tWcnty-fOur columns ana along the top
line Of each hours observation IS set
down the result for the whole day. Thus
the vertical and horizontal tabulations on
the sheets show the mean either way for
the entire month.
This routine work, although somewhat
/ tedious, is easily attended 10 in the sum
! mer or i'm fair weather, but VIXEN the
rigors of the winter set in, the life Of the
observer becomes one Of considerable
hardshlps ana unremitting labor. Then
IL IS that the hourly trip has 10 be taken
IN an outht of oilskins and sea boots
and pelting hail, rain, and snow must be
faced without any intermis siOn.
What the winter work at the observa-
tory is may almost be surmsed. Tie
thermOme tcr-screcns, rain-guage, and
other instruments are stationed at "a
distance from the house, so that no local
influences shall affect them, and lamp
in hand when It is either dark or foggy
the observer has to plod forth after his
duties. The thermometer screens have
TO be cleaned OF drifted snow or dug out
of snow drifts, as the case may be. and
often taken to the house TO be thawed
out. In this case a new set of instru-
ments must be put into the box, and II
! there Is storm raging this must be
dashed on TO a stand erected for The pur-
pose.
In referring to the usefulness Of tho
observations made at Ben Nevis, j. H..
Gore. T.. r.. y. S., recently remarked.
| The vital importance Of thcrmometric
! observations IS emphasized by the cir
cumstance that without them the ba-
rometrc observations are OF compare
| lively small value. no approximation to
! a knowledge OF tho temperature OF the