Evening star., 1941-12-07
Bp Thomas E. LeuiS,

North American New spa per AIldnCe
This is a story about Americas boss
weather man-that almost anonymous
person everybody talks about and reads
about but never knows.
Well, you ought to know him.
Let's begin by Tipping back the seasons
l8 years. The time is 1923, the place
the turbulent air over the Zuider Zee,
not far enough away from comfort from
the North Sea.
Lightning is playing no favorites. II
has stabbed at all the gas bags taking
part in the Gordon Bennett international
balloon race. But it has hit only three,
so the death toll is limited to five.
In the basket Of a balloon still up is a
young United States naval Office named
Francis w. Reichelderfer, who. earlier in
the year, had placed second in tie ma
tional balloon race, which started from
indianapolis.
Lightning was flashing and thunder
crashing all around his balloon. One
moment the balloon pops upward like a
cork from a champagne bottle, the next
it drops as if conked on the top by a
circus roustabout's sledge.
Finally, by a combination of skill and
luck the balloon lands in turnip patch.
And because of the grace of the fates
that day you have been able recently to
observe the activities of your Weather
Bureau being popped up, hereabouts and
elsewhere.
If you think this an odd way to begin
a story about what your Weather Bureau
in Washington and along its far-fung
network is doing for you and national
defense, rest assured it's no stranger
than the career of the young Navy bal
loonist who became its chief.
He joined the Navy. saw the world,
then was appointed by the President
to chart it
Reich went into the Navy as an en-
sign, an Indiana-born science major
fresh out of Northwestern u. during the
World War. He was member of the
Navy's first aerology class, and, within a
few brief years, was Of that small hand
full of men in the whole world (then and
now who was and is both qualified
IitdN ltl lIldll-dIl Vail JIdllCJ anu llSIlltl
than-air (airship) pilot.
He established the Astrological school
at Norfolk. then became Astrological Off
Ger Of the l.. A. for three years, and later
aerOlogist of the Bureau of Aeronautics.
While there he was responsible for a
great many new aerological instruments,
and was one of the first to encourage use
<r tI,1 al
weather chart analysis.
The recent seizure of the Norwegian
weather-radio ship Busko off Greenland
by the Navy indicates the importance of
meteorological reports to a nation at
war.
Generally speaking, weather in this
hemisphere moves from west to east
Knowing this, you can realize how vital
to fighting nation is weather informa-
ton from the direction from which il
blows-informat ton, incidentally, which
isn't so readily available as in times of
peace.
While our Navy and the Weather Bu-
reau are keeping as secret as possible
weather information from east of longi-
tude 65 roughly on a line with Ber-
muda), nearly every activity of the
Weather Bureau these days ties in, in
some phase or another, with national de-
fense.
Perhaps its most important national
defense function is the preparation
daily of basic data from which the Army
and Navy get up the daily weather maps
used in planning military operations
But that's only a start.
The marine weather advisory service
a part Of the bureau, warns marine chip