Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-29

atmosphere grows colder and colder II
rises The ink must be such that It will
not freeze. and the oil must work down to
100 degrees of cold. In the shops here saw
instruments for testing such machinery
down to 100 degrees below zero. One,
remember, was a great can of about the size
of half flour barrel. with a coil of copper
pipes inside it, and good arrangements for
packing. BY putting liquid air in the pipes
the temperature is reduced to the desired
point.
Where It is Always Calm.
In striking contrast with these great
changes are the conditions found inside the
magnetic laboratories. These buildings are
so made that throughout the year the tenn
perature changes not more than one-tenth
Of one degree. The buildings have triple
walls, with dead air spaces between them
One of them has no windows. and the rays
OF the sun never penetrate 1t. Both build
ings were constructed without the least bit
OF iron or any other metal except copper
and the ma chinery within them IS the finest
for magnetic observations and study that
the world can furnish. went through them
with Prof. Miller who has charge of this
department of physical research, but his
conversation was too scientific for popular
reproduction.
A Scientific Workshop.
Indeed l am surprised at the extent and
equipment of Uncle Sam workshops which
nave 81 iSNtHlIy DtSi pun ny Iltlt ci ApP
of the Blue Ridge. When Prof. Willis
Moore. the head of the weather bureau,
presented the project, through Secretary
Wilson to Congress, he was told to go aheal
and spend what was necessary to carry
out his plans. There was, i believe, no re-
striction on the weather bureau appropria-
ton. So far he has expended only S125.tu0
and he tells me that when the entire equip
ment buildings and all. are completed
which will be within the next three or four
years, the cost will be not more than $3.50
600. For the sum already spent he has
here ninety acres of ground, right on top
of the mountain, fenced and cleared. and
a part of it laid out IN walks and drives.
He has put up eight different buildings. in
Guiding stables and wagon house, quarters
for his men, an electrical power plant and
machine shops, several laboratories and a
large administration building. The latter is
of stone, with walls two and one-half feet
thick, with wide porches and comfortable
rooms for the scientists who are to stay
here. The power plant has 3J-horsc-po
er gasoline engine and electrical ma
chine which will decompose air so that the
hydrogen gas can be taken out, compress
ed and shipped to the different stations all
over the country for use in balloons
The idea is that when a great storm oc-
ours at a given moment each of the sta
lions within a certain radius of the storm
may send up balloons. Each balloon will
contain an apparatus which " III make auto
matte records of the aerial conditions
through which 1t passes AS each balloon
reaches a certain height the machinery is
such that it will explode. and this appa-
ratus fall slowly to the ground under
parachute.
The apparatus will have a card attached
to It, offering reward for its immediate
delivery to the nearest weather station.
Such widespread reports have never been
attempted elsewhere, and X Is thought that
the facts gathered in this way from all
parts of a storm region, may be of great
value. Prof. Moore tells me that the ordi-
nary illuminating gas now used is totally
unfit for balloon purposes and that it is
only by this means that the proper gas
can be economically supplied.
New Physical Laboratory.
One of the most interesting of the sclen-
tific workshops here will be the new physi-
cal laboratory which is now building. This
will be under the direct charge of DR.. Will
fam J. Humphreys of Johns Hopkins I'M
versity and late professor of physics in the
University of Virginia, who is also the chief
of the scientific station here. Dr. Hum
phreys is noted as a physicist, and he VIII
have here one of the finest labora tories of
the world for studying the ionization of the
air upon the precipitation of rain or snow.
By ionization is meant the broken up atoms
of gases which are supposed to form the
nuclei or centers of condensation of rain
drops. He will also investigate the re-
lation Of the dust notes of the air TO the
same problem. He will measure the
changes in the electrical potential of the
earth and air, and endeavor to learn some
thing more definite about the forces oper-