The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-10-27
WORlD.WFATHFR
SERVICE STATION
Proposed Project For the
Baffin Bay Court
PLANS ARE STARTED
internationally Owned and op-
Grated Plant For 0bserva-
tions Will Be Planned
LAssoclated Press pispatch. !

Washington, ID. {. October "a
An internationally owned and oper-
ated, wireless station and weather
observation station on the shores OF
Baffin Bay. to supply dSta, for the
worlds weather services, has been
proposed, and steps are being taken
10 Ingure its installation.
Baffin Bay is pretty far north, as
a glance at a map OF the top of our
continent will show, cold winds
blow cheerlessly much of the time,
ice and snow hold sway over the
land and sea for a good portion OF
1.-THE year, and the lite of those stat
! except by radio, would not be OF the
easiest: but the value Of their ser
vices to the world would be ines
timable, il is said.
/ Officials OF the United States
| Wheather Bureau are enthusiastic
over the proposal and will urge the
participation of the government in
the cooperative scheme. They point
out the valuable work Of the inter
! national wheather observation
station on the lonely little island OF
kJanMayen, OF the southeast coast OF
Greenland, where reports are sent TO
all the European government me-
Theological services, as well at to the
bureaus.
EkeroId In This Country
DR.. v. Bjerkus Ekerold, a Nor
wegian scientist and meteorologist
Through whose efforts the Man Ma
ven station was erected, has been IN
| this country and Canada for some
time in the interest Of the proposed
Baffin Bay station.
| The great value to this country OF
/ such a station is shown by observ-
ers in the fact that they are often
Handicapped by the sudden arrival
OF unforeseen weather changes or
iginating in northern Canada, where
there are few stations. Thousands
OF miles Of the continent, up to the
Artic Seas, hold no observation
posts nor means of messaging OBJ
seryations il any were made. The
northernmost weather station In
Canada is almost forty degrees from
the northern edge of the continent,
which puts il far south, close TO
the international boundary line.
Consequently, officials said, much
weather which originates in that
vast stretch of land is unobserved
until il is right down upon us. For
this reason, ii was added, cold
waves often bear down from the
north in winter and our weather
bureau can give only scant warning.
A Recent Example
A recent example OF this sudden
and unforesee change occurred in
a series OF show ers that ended the
long country wide drouth that grip
ned the country during August,
September and early October. Con
tinued dryness was predicted Tor
some DAYS because conditions were
sluggish and no changes were OBJ
served within the scope or the re-
porting stations. Between two days,
howeFer, sudden showers swept
down from the unchartered regions,
freshened up the entire Atlantic
seaboard and the Southern states,
uuencher destructive forest hres IN
Canada and brought an end to the
drouth. s..
IF there were more stations far
Their north, it was said, the change
could have been forseen far ahead
of its actual arrival, instead OF
about two days or less, and farmers
and others to whom wheather con-
aitions are important could have
had longer warning to prepare.
If must be explained that through
general interchanges, the wheather
observations OF nations are made
available to all other countries hav-
ing weather services, and TO whom
the data are important. Canadian
stations therefore make observations
which are as important to this coun-
try's weather service as though
those stations were owned by the
United States The Baffin Bay
station would be financed and OPP
Grated by the countries of the north
ern hemisphere to whom the data
would be OF value when reported by
wireless. .