The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-28
EENY-M MEENY-M
THE WEATHER MAN
How He Untangles a Puz-
zIe Code.
1T Is JUST AS EASY
A Heart to Heart Talk With the Man
Who Handles the Weather and
the Information | Obtained
is Handed Out to the
Weather Wise.
1T is JUST AS EASY
BY EDWARD T.. BRITTON.

like this:
Chicago. Seine, Havoc, Nelson,
Banana. Winged, Common, Page.
No, it is not Il section of a page of
a spelling book, nor yet an irate lino-
type man hurting anathemas at copy
which defies translation. II is a real
article and has TO do with the weather.
1 discovered such a hybrid mixture
the other day when 1 chased down
Mr.. A. Weisner. the Weather Bureau
Man, in an effort to get some cooler
weather on tap. l fould Mr.. Wiesner
and he has ladled out better weather
since our encounter. Therefore you
and / are debtor to him.
But to return to our mutton as the
French would say. this being the
tumble of words which / have present
ed. They are Weather Bureau words
and having espied them on a tele-
graph sheet when l called on Mr..
Wiesner in his eyrie in the Fisher
Building 1 wanted to know why" 1
informed Mr.. Wiesner that 81 am
from Missouri and he showed me.
Nearly every reader of The News and
Obserer is familiar with the daily
weather map issued by the Weather
Bureau, but only a few have even a
slight idea as to their system in re-
ceiving telegraphic reports from all
sections of the country, SO my inves-
legations will be of value to all who
want to be weatherWise, and here is
the result:
The Bureau has about $50 stations
scattered over the entire United States,
and over half of these issue daily
weather maps somewhat similar to
the one issued by the Raleigh office,
a
charts are based on observations taken
at o'clock in the morning, and gen.
orally completed before ten o'clock.
This in itself is evidence of the splendid
system in exchanging reports. since
each station files its own report at
o'clock, and before another hour and
a half every station is in possession of
the condition of the weather at all the
others covering the country from the
Atlantic to Pacific. and from the Gulf
Of Mexico to the Canadian border.
In order to handle these reports
with such rapidity, the Bureau has a
special contract with the Western
Union Telegraph Company to form
ltelegraphic circuits connecting all
weather stations within a certain dis
trict. Thus when the operator at Raj
eigh sends his weather reports all the
other stations in that circuit receive it
at the same time, after which the Raj
eigh operator closes his telegraph key.
and the operator of another station
on the circuit takes his turn, all the
others receiving his report, and so on
until the round is made.
1t would seem that such interchange
of reports among all stations would in
volve an enormous expense, but such
is not the case, for the Bureau uses
one of the finest and most condensed
codes in existence, superior to cotton
or stock exchange codes, and by means
of it much time and much money is
saved. 1t was this code that | ran
into at the Weather Bureau office in
Raleigh, and when l had gotten
through with the lesson Mr. Wiesner
taught me L realized that the Weather
Bureau folks had all the expert
stenographers and stenograpneresses
"skint mile"
"Tell me what all these words
mean?" I asked Mr.. Wiesner as
picked up a long sheet which he told
me contained the latest information as
to the weather all over the United
States He told me to read it, but it
was all gibberish to me, so he spun his
yarn as follows, beginning with:
"Chicago-Seine. Havoc, Nelson,
Banana, Winged, Common Page"
"Can you understand it 2" he asked
me.
Verify, kind sir. cannot"
replied for the thing was as meaning
less to me as the hieroglyphics on the
tombs of the Egyptians.
why" said he. cts as simple us
can be-" and with index finger pointed
at each word in turn, "the master of
the CODE thus unfolded the mystery
| to me.
| ''The first word. Chicago, is self eX-
| planatory, for it means that this teie-
gram tells of the weather in Chicago
| The second word Seine denotes that at
| s o'clock in the morning the barome-
ter at Chicago read 1884 inches, and
the temperature was. GA degrees; the
third word Havoc, denotes that the
total rainfall within the preceding 24
hours was LOS inches; the next word,
Nelson. means that at the time of the
| morning observation the weather was
cloudy, the wind was blowing from the
southwest, and the highest tempera-
ture for the past "a hours was SO de-
grees. The next word. Banana, means
that the wind at the same time was
blowing at the rate of IA miles per
ing the night was 81 degrees; Winged
denotes that there was a thun lerstornl
during the night, commenced at 4 d.
M, and continued till Z a. m.; Com
mon, that eight-tentl1s of the sky was
covered with Strato-cumulus clouds
which were moving from the south
and the last word, Page, means that