El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-11

around it. The wire. I am told is so
strong that single strand OF it Will
support zoo pounds. You could fasten
Two Of those wires to the ceiling of
the east room Of the white house and
president Tart could swing upon them
and be safe from falling Nevertheless.
the wire is not as thick as q daruinE
needle, and it is SO flexible that you
can tie 1t like string
Balloon Investigations.
In addition to the kites. Uncle sam
mas now system Of balloon recording
OF the weather He makes balloons Of
dltIerent kinds and sends them up at
the various stations over the United
States TO bring down records Of the
upper air These are sent Up from day
70 day, and the results are telegraphed
an over the country. 1t is partially from
them that our our weather forecasts
come. These balloons are filled with hy-
QrOgen Of a quantity which is diffiCu1t
TO obtain. Indeed there are only one
or two places in the country where il
can be had. The result is that the gov
eminent makes its own hydrogen, and
II has a great machine for the pur-
pose here at Mount Weather HydrOgeu.
you know, is one of the gases which
form water The other gas is oxygen.
The oxygen has to be taken out and
only the pure hydrogen left This is
done by means OF electricity the ma
cnlne for the purpose having been i'm
ported from Switzerland The hydro
gen is stored in little round cylinders,
each about as thick and long as the leg
OF the average man. The cylinders are
sealed so that they are absolutely tight
and are shipped by freight TO the vari-
Gus weather stations
Returning to the balloons. many Of
those which are now being sent up are
equipped with parachutes which extend
ABOVE them As the balloon rises into
the upper air il finally reaches an ats
tude az which IL bursts. 1t carries with
It. one Of these boxes containing the
fine instruments This is attached to
Lhe parachute and Tor this reason IL
falls so gently that the machinery is
not injured. Attached to the box and
also TO the box kites are pieces Of
pc given TO any one who Will send the
box to the nearest weather station. For
this reason the farmers watch for the
Kites, and carefully take them to the
scientists when they fall
Fifty 3IlIlion Dollars a Year.
1t is estimated that the weather bu-
reau saves to the people of tile United
States something like $4,000, 600 a year
This IS 90 cents for every man woman
and child in the country. II foretells
the storms, prophecies the advent of
feat and cold, and gives you warn
ms or the cyclone or hurricane long
before it comes Last year we had a
number OF hurrl canes, and the wear be-
fore the air of certain parts of the coun-
Try was f1'-l of them. July D 1909. the
GalF eSrOn hurricane occurred About
month later another great storm
struck the mouth of the Rio Grande.
and In September there was third
on the Louisiana coast Just about q
month a%eer that a hurricane was felt
at Key West All OF these were very
dangerous, but owing to the warnings
OF the weather bureau no lives were
lost. Indeed. il is said that by the adj
vice Of the bureau, 5000 WOrkmen were
taken off the Florida East Coast rail-
road, then being extended and there
by saved from injury and loss Of life
a great saving was made through
similar warnings at the time of the
Hoods on the Missouri and Mississippi
during which something like $4,000. 600
worth OF damage was done These
Hoods caused the OVERLOOKING of a
million acres of farm lands and a loss
IN crops Of more than S. 000 600 Never
theless, secretary Wilson states THAI
the warnings Of the flood saved prop
erty TO the value of a million dollars
or more.
FOreeastIng the Weather.
During my stay here at Mount
W Gather I have been talking with DrO-
fessor A. j. Henry. the superintendent
Of this station, and with the other SCI
ent-sIS mere as to weather forecasts and
as 10 the experiments they are ma king
along such lines. Professor Henry tells
me some remarkable things about the
Winds and the changes which thew have
according 10 their altitude These in
lesuSauonS are important in view Of
the aerial flights now being made In
order 70 get the percentages $500 Obser-
vauons have to be taken Of the winds Mt
various attitudes. resulting In tables
OF value. The subject IS too complicated
70 discuss In a popular way. except to
say that there lis an enormous differ
ence in the winds according to the
layers or distance above the earth and
that each great storm is a combination
OF many winds moving this way and