The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-11-28
SEA WEATHER sEByIcf
Scheme For a Worldwide Fo,.
casting System.
EVERY SHIP A WIRELESS Stain,

EVERY sAP A WIRELESS Station
Chief Moore of the Weather p,
Would Have All Ocean ".
Equipped With New Tele.r.nh n
viee-How 1t Would Greatly
Dangers Of NavigntiOn-Howo -~.
i.ation Can BE Easily Effected
Willis L. Moore, chief of the Amo.,
can weather bureau, hopes to SEQ N,
day when every ship Of any size tba,
sails the seven seas will be wa,,h,.
observatory, equipped with instruments.
furnished by the weather bureau =,
the department of agriculture and
making daily reports of its observa.
tons either directly to Washington q,
to some wireless telegraph station tba,
will transmit them to Washington. saws
a special dispatch to the New Yorl
World
As corollary weather reports issued
at least daily would be furnished 70
every ship having a wireless telegram
equipment. Then the dangers of nav.
cation would be greatly lessened, for II
navigator can have twenty.four
hours warning of a storm that Is NOV.
ing in his direction he can take meas.
ures to sail out of the probable track
Of the disturbance or if that is imprac.
ticable take steps to have his ship in
such a state of preparation that the
danger of wreck Is reduced to a mini
mum.
By the use Of wireless telegraphy
says Chief Moore, it will be possible to
discover where storms originate If that
point of origin Is within the regions In
which ships sail in numbers great
enough to afford opportunities for re-
ports. On land and sea there are In
struments which measure within few
feet of break In an electric current
1t will be possible to figure almost as
closely with respect to destructive
storms.
The American weather service gave
warnings Of the approach Of the recent
southern hurricane in time for all ships
along the coast above the southern end
of Florida to get into shelter. The fact
that the storm continued eastward
after passing through the straits Of
Florida instead Of curving northward
and come boiling up the coast does not
detract from the value of the warning.
The storm simply failed to 60 where 1t
would have caused the greatest de-
struction had there been no warning.
If the wireless telegraph service had
been in existence all the shipping in
the lane leading from Europe to the
West Indies would have been warned
Of its approach, together with an &C
curate statement of the direction 1t had
when 1t departed from the ken Of the
observers on land. Navigators in that
lane, knowing that the storm would
not strike anything to again change Its
course, would have been justified IN
believing that 1t was coming straight
for them long before their barometers
began showing them the existence OF
disturbance somewhere II them.
There is good Foundation upon
which to rear the proposed superstruc-
ture. Great Britain, France, Germany
and Spain, in Europe, and Japan, IN
the orient, maintain weather services
patterned after ours, the pioneer IN
that line of. research, with which an
exchange Of news Is maintained. Inc
daily weather maps Of those countries
are sent to the United States govern
ment, and all the storms reported 10
them are carefully recorded by tne
forces employed by the United States
government.
The other day in the bureau OF ocean
meteorology a photographer was trans
ferring the lines made by the japanese
photographers to a blank map OF DIS
own. The Japanese record will De Oh
use in the future to show what was
happening in the eastern seas on
given day, and comparison or sucn
maps will enable forecasters to obtain
q good idea Of what will happen else
where.
An international agreement either III
the form of a treaty or a mere agree
ment between the heads Of the various
services will be needed to make Tue
proposed service Of value. 1t VIII NC
necessary to have it understood "hA'
part of the seas each nation will under'
take to cover with its own reporters
of phenomena, else there would be emu
less confusion.
One great obstacle now to SUCH
system is the fight among the invent
ors of the various systems of wireless
telegraph instruments. They VIII ~.
communicate with each other. 1na'
state Of affairs will not exist mon'n
after any one of the strong govern.
ments decides that there must DC d.
between the rival Systems
such as Is made by the railroads OIL 'ne
United States. This government can
forbid the transmission Of messages iol
any system that refuses to e1chane.
with another just as easily as 1t ca.