The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-02-12
CLOUDS And JUSTICE.
How the Weather Records Are Used
In the Courts.
TWO OR THREE CASES IN POINT
A Cement Concern Establi.he. = De,
Tense by Showing; u tFour-
Inch Snowfall.

Among the MULTI udinousE duties OF
| Weather Observer T. S. Outram is the fur
| nishing of evidence in state and federal
courts Inasmuch as Mr.. Outram is also
section director and custodian of the de-
partment of agriculture's weather reports
for the entire state this special duty in
creases in Importance.
The supreme court has held that copies
of weather records with seal affixed are
as competent testimony as the original.
| The observer also keeps diary of the
| state of the weather and of meteorological
phenomena. This little book is very in
teresting to lawyers who have cases hing
ing upon weather conditions and upon
facts as to whether the moon shines or
whether on such and such day it rained
! or was warm enough to melt or snow or
! cold enough to freeze. @
| Int eresting cases have been aidedSin the
settlement by records which Mr. Outram
produced or by notatiOns he has made con-
corning anything of weather interest.
Lawyers frequently spend hours in the
weather Office at the top Of the federal
building going over musty records in
search of telling points. Frequently coun
sci for both sides of the same case find
meat in the same data.
A case or two in illustration will SHOW
where the weather man earns his SLIP for
subpoena. A cement firm was sued be-
not come up to the mark. The company
satisfied that the product was all right
when it left the factory in certain Min
| nesota town set about to determine why
1t did not hold after it "set." The car
containing the cement was traced from
shipping point to station after station.
The state of the weather when the car was
at different points was learned in the de-
partment of agr1culture's Minneapolis of
ice. After dillgent search it was discov-
cred that the sacks We're unloaded at a
prairie station and left uncovered on the
platform. The records showed that the
same day four inches of snow had fallen
followed Immediately by a chinook which
turned the snow into water. It was seen
at once that the moisture had percolated
through the sack coverings and "set" to
certain extent the contents. This ex-
planned the failure of the cement to act
properly and transferred the blame from
the manufacturers to other shoulders.
At the time Of the Smith & Wyman fac
tory fire on the East Side year ago it
Will be remembered that peculiar phe-
nomenon appeared in the sky dispelling
the darkness to some extent. It's appear
lance attracted the attention of all who
were outdoors that night and was the
subject OF Investigation by the department
at Washington. Since then the evidence
OF the records has been required to show
whether the surroundings of a certain
part of the city where sufficiently light ed
up by the flaming cross in the zenith to
enable person to recognize certain OBJ
jects.
1t will be seen that if breach of prom
1se suit hinged on the fact that the rec
reant young man had proposed upon
certain bright moonlight night which cir
cumstances had fixed the date and fact in
the maiden's mind and the weather rec
ords went to show that the fateful night
was dark and gloomy the young woman's
evidence would be much weakened in the
eyes of reliable juryman.
Inc government does not urge upon the
people the use of records for. such pur-
poses, but is willing that the officers in
charge should give their time and knowl-
edge to the courts. This accounts for
the fact that Mr.. Outram or an assistant
is frequently seen on the stand in one or
another of the courts