The Washington herald., 1911-07-23

That the charges against tn
workings of the United State
Weather Bureau by James Berry,
former employe, is tempest in
teapot. and that Berry is a "dis
gruntled fanatic, deposed for gooC
and sufficient reasons from the of
flee of chief of the division o
distribution" were the opinions ex
pressed by Prof. Willis l.. Moore
chief of the Weather Bureau, yes
terday.
Prof. Moore said that on accoun
of this being period of hysteri;
for investigations" Mr.. Berry ha
taken the opportunity to satisfy a,
ancient grudge against his formel
chief and is trying to make a mat
ter of personal revenge and ha
tired" one of official investigation.
MADE DIFFERENCE.
According to Prof. Moore's state.
ment, Mr.. Berry had no fault to find
with the Weather Bureau until he lost
his job, and the weather chief indicated
that Berry was getting off easy when
he was simply deposed, and nothing
more was said concerning the manner
in which he had filed the Office OF chief
of his division.
You cannot make my denunciation
of Mr.. Berry too strong" said Prof.
Moore, yesterday Il believe Mr.. Berry
has consecrated his life to the work of
my personal undoing
LAS for his charges with regard
TO the hiring of special observers, 1 am
entirely within my province in taking,
or trying to take such action. Five
thousand dollars is placed at my dis
posal in the appropriation bill from
which the Weather Bureau draws its
resources for the employment of such
special observers"
Prof Moore issued a formal state
ment of his position, which follows:
Makes Explanation.
''As to the charge made by a former
employe of the Weather Bureau, who
was deposed from his position as chief
of division, that I have employed, or
attempted to employ. experts for the
taking of special observations contrary
to law, I would invite your attention to
page of the appropriation act for the
support Of the Weather Bureau for the
period ending June 30, 1911,' which ap-
preparation was in operation at the time
Of my correspondence relative to the
employment Of certain special observers.
In the third line on this page appear
the following words:
And for pay of special observers,
none of whom shall receive more
than $25 per month
Under that authority the bureau en-
ploys over 1000 specia, observers, who
perform service not in direct connection
with a reg liar meteorological station.
For many years before I came to the
head OF the Weather Bureau. and ever
since then, chronological observations
have been taken at the central office in
Washington.
I'm March, 1911, Rev. F. L. Odenbach,
of ST. Ignatius College. Cleveland, Ohio,
was offered employment as a special OBJ
server in the taking of chronological OBJ
servations. He declined the employment.
and not a dollar of money has oeen paid
to him by this bureau. However, I am
free to say that had he accepted should
have employed him, as I believe such
employment. with the approval of the
Secretary of Agriculture, to be entirely
within the law. In my hearings before
the House Committee on Agriculture for
the fiscal year ending June 80, 1912,
made clear the intimate relation between
seismology and atmospheric phenomena,
and at the bottom Of page twenty-three
explained that I wished an increase in
our appropriation for the purchase of
instruments. so that installation Of seis-
mological apparatus might be made out
side of Washington.
No Word of Objection.
During all Of these hearings. which
extended over several pages, not a word
of objection was made to the granting
of the appropriation for chronological
work. and when the hearings were over
tho chairman Of the committee, both
through the disbursing officer of the De-
partment of Agriculture and to me per-
sonally, called my attention to letter
that he had written to me the previous
year. in which he expressed the opinion
that we already had ample authority for
the taking Of chronological observations
without specifically inserting the word
'seismology' in the bill
by custom, which began many years
before came TO the head of the Wealth
er Bureau, chronological observations
were considered a part os the duties of
a meteorological station. >ard up to the
present time no ruling has been made
against such an Interpretation. I, there
fore, was fully justified. both by law
and by precedent. In endeavoring to IN
stall chronological instruments at our
stations outside of Washington. and in
employing special observers to make
readings from them. but in point OF fact
no salaries ever have been paid for the
employment OF such observers or In the
purchase OF instruments for their use"