Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-05-20
TIE WEATHER BUREAU An
IT'S LATEST CRITIC.

Raleigh, Special.-The work that
is being done by the U, S. Weather
Bureau is perhaps better known to
the majority Of citizens than that
of any other Bureau of the Govern
ment, and it hardly seems necessary
to defend it from such attacks as for
instance that which appeared in Ev-
erybody's Magazine for May. This
attack was written by Mr.. Emerson
Hough, who makes specific charges,
and these charges will be reviewed
and answered in order.
First, he charges that the Weather
Bureau is unauly expensive, but does
not explain that the appropriation
for this service is examined critical
", item by item by a committee Of
Congress, and that this committee
voluntarily increased the appropria-
tion asked for by $133, 100000, and
that last year more than $50,000.00
was returned to the u. S. Treasury.
The Honorable Jas. R. Mann said
that this service is the most economi-
cally administered service, with the
work that has been done, in the Gov
ernment service anywhere.
Second, that it does not progress.
It would seem that progress is being
made from the fact that representa-
tives Of weather organizations of
Europe have visited this country for
the express purpose of stud ying meth
DDS and foreeasting under the, Chief
of the U. S. Weather Bureau Re
searches of great value to the science
of meteorology are being carried on
by this Bureau, and the world s re-
cord for the greatest height reached
by kite carrying a meteorological
instrument was attained by this Bu-
reau at Mt. Weather, Va, the re.
search observatory.
| Third, that it is excessively explain.
atory. This is rather a virtue thar
a fault. The Weather Bureau ha:
nothing that it wishes to keep secret
It's methods and results, however
must be made known, or the public
would not have that sympathetic re
lation with this Bureau that it nov
I holds
| Fourth, that the service is genera
and not specific. A knowledge Of th'
i problems involved in giving a specifi
forecast in regard to exact time AM
locality would at once dispel tn
charge that the Service is too general
Forecasts are made as specific as tn
knowledge Of the conditions will war
rant.
Fifth, that it is evasive and inten
tionally ambiguous. The forecast
are formulated with great care, an
cannot have not in any sense a Del
phic Interpretation. They are mad
, ito cover a definite period and all fors
casts are carefully examined to aSce1
) tain the percentage of accuracy whic
} varies from 80 to So per cent.
> Sixth, that it offers no well-founi
ed hope Of Improvement in local fore
) casting. On the contrary every il
ducement is. made to officials in til
Weather Bureau to excel in local for'
e casting, and the practical test {
merit Of all experiments and a
) theoretical work is the measure {
: how much it will improve the for.
casting of the weather.
5 In the cases Of the Galvesto
: storm and the storm. in which tt
) steamship Portland was wrecke
s which Mr. Hough claims the Bures
S failed to forecast, the records
marine associations, Of the local pres
: 1 and of the Weather Bureau bear u
\ impeachable testimony to the ia
that the Bureau gave ample warni1
Of the coming of the Galveston stor
; that the Gulf was practically clea
. ed Of vessels OF commerce and no 10
. of property occurred in the open Sc
! and that the morning before the pa
sage Of the storm hurricane sigma