Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-08-26
MYSTERY OF STORMS
Efforts of the Weather Men to
Wrest Secrets From
the Air
TESTS MADE TEN MILES UP
Both Balloons and Kites Used-Me-
teorooaists Also Interested In Dust
Notes, specks Without Which There
Would 30 No Light.

The weather man is working indus
triously nowadays to make himself In.
fallible, writes John Callan O'Laughlin
the Chicago Tribune's Washington cor
respondent. Not only is he studying
meteorological conditions close to the
earth, but lie has started On investiga-
ton of the air at an altitude Of ten
miles. In addition, he is seeking to
discover secret which nature thus far
has zealously guarded-the mechanics
of storms.
This work Is not confined to the
United States, though the great area OF
this country enables general deductions
of the highest Importance to mankind,
but 1t occupies the attention OF me-
neurological experts In Europe and the
far east. The first step now has been
taken to insure cooperation between
these experts, so that there may be OBJ
tanned accurate information Of the
strata Of air that blow over the low
lands and sweep around high noun
tains and the layers Of atmosphere,
equally important to our comfort.
which dwindle out into ether.
The result will be greater accuracy in
future weather forccasting, which in
itself will be no mean boon to humani-
ty and perhaps eventually certain con-
troll of storms.
The Smithsonian institution has re-
Gently made an additional grant to DR..
A. Lawrence Rotch. director Of the
Blue Hill meteorological observatory,
just outside Of Boston, for continuance
Of his work in collecting records of
temperature, pressure aud air currents
ten miles above the earth. DR.. Rotch
has flown kites as high as, $4,000 feet
with instruments attached, but through
the use of rubber balloons Of various
sizes, to which are attached small para
chutes with baskets carrying self re-
cording instruments, 1T has been posi-
BILE to get records at much greater
heights.
Experience has shown that as the
balloon ascends and atmospheric pres
sure lessons the bag expands until,
reaching the limit Of its tension, the
rubber breaks and releases the para
chute with its burden. This floats
gradually to the ground, to BE- picked
up aud returned for a small reward.
The Thermometers have registered in
some cases So degrees below zero +.
eight miles above the earth. At about
seven miles a relatively warm stratum
was entered, which was found to be ut
q higher level in summer and autumn.
Professor Willis l.. Moore, chief OF
the weather bureau, who has been
making similar experiments ut Mount
Weather research observatory i'll the
Allegheny mountains, has found that
at an altitude of 1900 feet above
Mount Weather 1t is just as warm at
midnight as it is Mt midday in July In
the hottest weather 1t is the intention
of Professor Moore to scatter observa-
tiop balloons made of rubber and pa
per throughout the west. then to pick
out q given storm or a given cold wave
and explore it. Professor Moore thus
describes his proposed experiment:
We will say there Is storm extending
from the Mississippi river to Denver and
from Duluth to northern Texas By tele-
graphic orders will direct three of the
stations In each quadrant Of the storm to
liberate balloon say, at o'clock. They
will shoot right up through that storm,
and the instruments carried In the para
chute will record pressure. temperature
and humidity. When the balloons get up
to an altitude Of ten miles, they will ex-
plode. We can explode them at ten or
even fifteen miles.
Then the instruments will descend slow
ly to the earth with the records They
will be sent to Mount Weather, where, for
the first time, we will be able to study tho
mechanics Of the storm itself
The Mount Weather station promises
10 provide meteorological data Of high
est Importance. 1t is intended there to
measure the absorption Of the earth's
atmosphere to find out exactly the
quantity Of solar energy that reaches
the earth and the quantity absorbed
by the air.
The air is full of dust, and it is in
tended to count the number Of dust
notes. AS many as 100000 of these
notes have been counted in a cubic
centimeter, about one-third of an inch.
These atoms Of dust are nearly all
vegetable and are separate and dis
tinct from germs, but Professor Moore,
who asserts that germs attach them
selves to dust notes, says:
We have learned one important func-
ton. 1t Is this: If you were to eliminate
dust notes from room, II there were
no dust in the air there, every person In
1t would be like star stuck In black
armament. On perfectly rnoonless night
If you look at the stars they are ltks
bright glittering objects stuck into a
background. II there were no dust NC,
in the room each person would be visible,
but the interval between would be inky
black You would see walls, but the space
between the walls would be inky black
You could not illuminate the room with
out dust notes
The notes refract light. They take UP
light and scatter it and diffuse 1t and
thus illuminate the whole space. You
say, What has that to do with meteor
ology?" We have gone further, and We
find that without this same atom you
could not produce rain. The presence OF
dust notes in the atmosphere is such that
probably every little minute droplet has a
little atom for nucleus. You could not
get fog without dust notes at the cen
ter of each little minute droplet.
We want to study in the physical labora-
tory and count up these notes. We want
to take samples from here, from the Far
allones, from New York and so forth and
analyze them. we want to count them
every day and determine their number
We want to count them before rain falls
and even during the falling Of rain. That
IL only one Of probably, I might say, a