Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-23
THE WEAT#R>BUREAU
What Its Duties, Really Con-
sistpf:
COMPREHENSIVE SCOPE
PROF. WILLIS MOORE, ITS CHIEF,
STATES SOME FACTS.
Its Benefits to the Farmer as to His
Crops and to Shipping
Interests.

Crops and to Shipping
Interests.
Of all the government departments the
one from which the people hear the most
and, it is probable know the least, is the
weather bureau. To the great mass of
readers of newspapers the sole duty Of the
weather bureau is to furnish to the daily
papers false statements as to what the
weather is going to be the day on which
publication is made or the day after. These
predictions of the bureau. 1t is charged.
frequently are wrong and the bureau ad-
mits its infallibility when questioned out
right regarding the matter. But 1t Is
not the whole duty Of the weather bureau
to make weather representations. The
predictions as to rain or fair weather are
only very small portion Of it's duties. The
bureau was organized in the interest of
commerce and shipping and to reduce the
science of meteorology to such a system
that it could be of material aid in the in
dustrial progress OF the country. There Is
no country earth which has the system
of meteorological observations that Is pos
sessed by the United States. No country is
so geographically situated that such sys-
tenn could be worked out, in a very large
degree. so that the United States has a
great advantage. Spread out over the CEN
trail portion of North America in almost
every climatical zone this country affords
the meterOlogist greater opportunity for
the study of atmospheric conditions than
any other, and for that reason the weather
bureau of this country Is far In advance of
the weather bureaux of other nations.
What the Bureau Tries to Do.
Prof. Willis Moore. the chief of the
weather bureau, has in preparation a
hat Of i,,ct hot
bureau endeavors to do and what it cannot
accomplish and does not hope to prove.
According to Prof. Moore the great ques-
ton that arises in all discussions of the
weather service is: Has the weather bu-
reau won it's way into the hearts and con-
fidence of the American people and do we
feel that the expenditures made for its
support are wisely made?'
Let me answer this question by giving |
some facts relative to the number of people
and industries that are daily in communi
cation with the bureau said Prof Moore
recently. "In our Atlantic and gulf ports
alone there are floating over $3OOOO,OOO
worth of craft on any day of the year and
at every port, whether on the Atlantic, on
the Pacific or on thei great lakes, there is
either full meteorological observatory or
else storm warning display man who at
tends to the lighting Of danger lights in
the storm towers at night, to the display
of danger flags by day and to the distribu
vessel masters.
"a wonderful picture of atmospheric con-
ditiOns Is presented twice daily to the
trained eye of the forecaster. 1t embraces
an area extending from the north coast Of
South America over Mexico the islands of
the West Indies and the Bahamas. north
ward to the uppermost confines Of Cana
dian habitation. 1t IS panoramic picture
of the exact air conditions over this broad
area that is twice daily presented to the
study Of our experts Hurricanes, cold
waves hot waves or rain storms are shown
wherever present In this broad area. Their
development since last report is noted and
from the knowledge THUS gained their fu-
ture course and intensity is quite success
fully forecast. Every twelve hours the
Kaleidoscope changes and new graphic
picture is shown. Nowhere else in the
world can meteorologists find such an op-
portunity to study atmospheric changes.
System Of Distribution.
1.-THE system of distribution of the infor-
nation thus secured. as described hereto
fore, is SO perfect that the chief Of the
weather bureau, or the forecaster on duty
at the central Office, dictate a storm
warning and feel certain that inside of one
hour a copy Of the warning will be in the
hands Of every vessel master in every port
of material size in the United States. AS
matter of fact the storm warnings usu-
ally go only to a limited portion of the
coast at one time. While the daily predic-
tons of rain or snow, by which, as pre-
viously stated, the public measures the
value of the weather service are subject to
a considerable element of error, namely
about one failure in FIVE predictions, the
marine warnings of the service have been
SO well made that in over six years no pro-
tracted storm has reached any point of the !
United States without the danger warnings
being displayed we'll in advance. The pub
lie does not appreciate this part of the |
service that, as a rule. these warnings do
n hQ &c
not desirable to publish them so far IN adj
vance as to unnecessarily hold shipping in |
port. We only aim to place warnings |
twelve to sixteen hours in advance of the |
coming of the storm and then we communi- |
cate by telegraph, by messenger and by |
warning lights and flags directly with the
masters of vessels. 1t is notable example
of the utility of the new West Indian |
weather service. that the Galveston hur
ricane was detected on September 1, at the
time of its inception in the ocean south of
Porto Rico, and at no time did we lose
track of the storm, and everywhere, as 1t
progressed northward, such full informa-
ton was given that, Notwithstanding the
extensive commerce of the Gulf of Mexico
little or no loss of life or property occurred
upon the open waters of the gulf, and the
destruction at Galveston was many times
less than 1t would have been without the
premonitton that was given and the activ-
lty or the bureaus officers In urging peO-
pie to move from the low ground of the
city to it's more secure portions.
Flood Warning Service.
mo less valuable is the Woodworking
service which Is in operation along our
large river courses. So much advance has
been made in forecasting flood stages that
It is now possible to foretell three to five
days in advance the height of navigable
rivers at a given point to within few
inches. The danger line at every city has
been accurately determined and charted. SO
that when flood y likely to exceed the
danger limit residents Of. the low districts
and merchants having goods stored in cell
lars are notified to move their property out
of reach Of the rising waters.
IAN illustration Of this has only just
been given. This bureau sent warning to
the people of New Orleans this year of the
rising of the waters. Of the Mississippi from
seven to fifteen days ahead of the high wa
ter itself. Some ofithe people laughed at
our prediction. but the actual results show
that the high water was but seven inches
lower than the weather bureau prediction
and then it was more than a foot and q |