, 1909-05-29

collection will be taken up at the doors.
Mr.. jean Petersen wrote us from West
End that a lines Of rain were measured on
Thursday morning and that the fail Tor the
month to that date had been 18lines.At Sally's
Fancy 3 lines were measured on "Wednesday
morning | line on Thursday morning and
half q line yesterday morning Here I Of .
line was measured on Thursday morning
and { Of o line yesterday morning, making
the fall for the month to date 81 lines.
The American mail per s. 9. h0ronG will
be closed IN Christiansted's Post Office at 4
O'Clock this afternoon.
For most Of us in the West Indies the
II. S. Weather Bureau has some interest III
the hurricane season only, when 1t IS hoped
that the experts ut the Bureau stations
among the islands viii be able to keep us
posted as to the movements Of those not
always agreeable visitors known rs cyclones.
For the vast country which has instituted
and maintains the Bureau, it has an interest
at all times Of the year. 1t issues warnings,
not only Of the approach OF high WINDS,
but also Of the approach OF heavy ram ana
snow, the coming OF frosts, OF floods III the
rivers, and the like. The Bureau Is III fact
q branch Of the Department of Agriculture,
and it is for the benefit Of the farmers Of
the United States that II ia 'n"lnte'nFn-
1t is mainly for thoir sakeB, even, that 1t
keeps stations in the West Indies, and sends
out every year, as the hurricane season ap-
breaches. o trained staff Of Observers to keep
the central office posted on the atmospheric
movements over the Caribbean Sea and the
adjacent part Of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Weather Bureau is q very extensive
and highly organized department, and costs
n large sum Of money, more than y million
and n half Of dollars being voted for It
every year.
All the world knows about the sori-
GUS mistake which the Bureau made on
the 3fd Of March, when it prophes'ed
for the following day, "cloar and cold"
weather for the Presidents Inauguration.
The latter characteristic was no doubt
maintained, the day was "cold" enough;
but the conditions otherwise were very
bad. According to the telegram recelV-
ed here on the 4th "Ilo antjclp0t'ons
of q most brilliant inauguration Ct PIE
eident Taft have been blcmishod by deep
snow, high gales and severe old. about
the worst weather of his ' "''t.' 1t
turned out TINT tho only thing .ch WAS
"clear" was that somebody Lau Is auderad.
There were n great many ong'y zeia
that day, and many no doubt usE,c What
is tho use Of the Weather Bureau il vas
M unfortunate mistake, for there can be Nc
doubt that the Bureau is 81 really valuable
institution, and it would be a great mis-
fortune TO have its action crippled by tn
Withdrawal Of any part Of it's finds. ye
many were asking on that day, what tn
Bureau gave for the very large sum annual
expended by it?
In "Evorybody's Magazine" for May ther
is an article under the heading Does tn
Weather Bureau make good p which COZ
tains some severe structures. The write
makes several charges against the Bureau
he admits, however, the great dlficultr
that beset the work. Take for ezamp
these paragraphs
eYou may have heard that IN general o.
storms start IN the west, and converge
the northeastern portion of the Unit
States. Benjamin Franklin discovered som
thing like that. Colonel Dunwoody, Of
old Signal Corps, is credited with the thee
Of three storm paths, one up the Allan
coast. another from Texas northeast,
other from the upper west across the Gr'
Lakes, and all converging near the mouth