Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-04

ike OF ne may wonder LU6
mechanisms he describes, like Ezekiel.
Scope of Study Broadens
ct believe that, while the field of in
spirational prophecy is narrowing until
it contains only comparatively few
charlatans and their dupes, the field of
scientific forecast is broadening tre-
mendously with the increase of human
knowledge. The provision thus gained
must be of inestimable benefit to the
human race.
'In this category Of practical scien-
tific provision come the forecasts of
the weather bureau, which are often
of great utility in the saving of prop
erty and sometimes in averting disas-
ter and loss of life. I say that they
come in the same category, although
the forecasts of meteorology are still
far behind those of astronomy in point
of reliability.
"The9 weather bureau sometimes
the matter of local conditions, such as
rain, clear and cloudy weather, ETC.,
as we all happen to know.
Bureaus Work Too Limited
1.-THE shortcomings of the service,
think, are due to the fact that 1t con-
fines itself too strictly to reporting
observed phenomena. The general hab-
| it's of storm centers are known, and
when, for example, an observer on the
| Pacific coast reports the approach OF
such a disturbance, the department is
warranted in concluding that it will
| travel eastwardly at certain average
speed along a certain established path
Then, as the telegraph is much more
| expeditions than the storm movement
| information of it's coming may be sent
to all the country lying to the east OF
us.
"This service the weather bureau per-
forms faithfully and with such accu-
racy as the doctrines of probabilities
can produce. But, so far as / know,
the weather bureau is doing little or
nothing to investigate new theories and
to enlarge the scope Of meteorology.
Lieut.. Finley, one of the earlier
lights in the service, declared in a
monograph that NO man can success
fully study the weather from his own
doorstep That is exactly what the
weather bureau is attempting to do at
the present time; 1t is studying the
weather from it's own doorstep.
"It is making no search for the larger
! factors which enter into and dominate
weather disturbances; 1t is not tracing
out cycles and co-ordinating them with
the rhythms of nature that are above
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Government Disastrous to Science
"It is perhaps as unfortunate for the
cause of science to fall into the hands
| of the government as it is to have the
| church and the state united.
"Under government control both sci
ence and religion become atrophied; (;
| they cease to grow. In the hands of a
we'll paid and self-sustaining bureau,
reeling out untold miles of red tape,
there is no such thing as pioneering
work
twenty-five years ago Lieutenant
Finley, to whom l have Just referred,
prepared a monograph which he enti-
| tied Character of Six Hundred Tor
nadoes.' 1t was published under the
auspices of the signal service, and was
a valuable work, calculated to throw
much light on these storms which dam
! age the United States to the amount OF
millions of dollars, and cause the de-
| struction Of many lives.
"Recently 1 wrote to the head Of the
department at Washington TO inquire
| for some later publication on the sub
| jeet Of tornadoes and was Informed
! that this branch Of research had been
! dropped. There was no later publica-
tion than that of Lieut.. Finley.
Shortly after the destruction OF San
Francisco a newspaper correspondent
| interviewed one of the chief officers
of the signal service, propounding a
/ question as to whether there could be
any connection between the eruption