The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-06-09
THE DARK ROOM
NEAR SISAL.
INTERESTING SCIENTIFIC WORK
BEING CARRIER ON BY
THE GOVERNMENT.
DELICATE APPARATUS TO REC
ORD MAGNETIC CURRENT.
A Local Station Which Is Part Of a
Great International Scheme Of Scien-
tifiC Research.

In a small dark room on the coral
plain in Eva district, the United states
Government has placed several OF the
most delicate instruments ever devised
by man. They are for the purpose Of
recording magnetic currents, ana are u
part Of one of the largest international
schemes of scientific investigation that
has ever been known. The instruments
rest on tables of cement based on
the solid coral foundation The walls
OF the little building in which they are
housed are three feet thick, having an
air space of o inches and solid packing
of saw dust Of 2l2 feet. In this quiet
darkness and CoOlness the machines
silently respond to the influence OF the
earth's unknown currents, and a pho-
tographic apparatus steadily records
every movement.
The little building with it's dark room
is the Honolulu magnetic station of the
United States Coast and Geodeuc Sur
Ney. Wlth scores OF other stations
throughout the world, it is cooperating
in a general effort by all the nations OF
the earth, to reduce to system all OBJ
! tainable knowledge of the magnetism
OF the earth and To provide data which
may eventually lead to important dis
| coveries regarding the unknown force
| Night and day, the steel needles in all
| varying currents of the mysterlour
| force, and every motion, as well as ev.
| cry variation in the intensity of the
| force, is photographed as it occurs. The
| current is so delicate that the approach
| of a steel suspender button ON the
| clothes of an observer would bring a
new element into the records, yet ad-
! justments SO perfect have been made
| that the needles make their motions
md uFr a q "
placed mirrors catch the motions in a
tiny ray of light and throw the ray in
! the form of spark trailing across pho-
| tographic paper. The photos are sent
TO Washington, where similar records
come from each other American sta
tion.
BY mutual agreement among nations
| having stations all over the varth, in
! every European country in the far
north, in india, Japan, China, AFRICA
and Australia, these records OF Obser-
yations are to be taken from January,
1902 To February, 1903. Some time in
1908 an international committee will
take hold of the information obtained
and study it. At the same time, the
British and German Governments have
dispatched expeditions to the Antarctic
seas to make similar Investigations,
with a view to aiding in the general
study and making magnetic charts OF
the seas towards the south pole.
The Honolulu station, as it is called,
is in charge of J. 4. Fleming, who Sc
lected the site and superintended the
| construction of the buildings. William
Weinrich, Jr., recently arrived to sue
| Ceed Fleming, who is to return to
Washington and may be sent to estab-
lish another station. Both are at the
observatory in Eva district, near Sisal
station, carrying on the work together.
The popular idea that the magnetic
needle always points to the north" Is
I far from the truth ana the one of the
most important tasks Of the stations
is to ascertain how far the compass di-
, reCtiOn differs from the true direction.
There is a line across the United
States said Observer Fleming, "ap-
. prOXimately from Charleston to Lake
Michigan, though not taking a direct
, course, owing to the effect of local con-
ditiOns, along which the compass
points exactly to the North Pole. In
Maine the needle points q degrees west
y of the pole, and in Washington state
, it's direction is % degrees east Of the