Lindsay Campbell
IX m&klng forecasts of the weather
the observer stationed on the shore
of the Pacific labors under the seri
ous handicap of having to deal with
an unknown quantity compared with
which our early struggles with alge
braic equations was an open book.
From north, couth and . east for hun-
Creds of miles the federal meteorolo
gist receives almost hourly reports
Of atmospheric conditions. "When " the ;
big etorm that Is making Seattle wet
ter than usual - starts moving . south,
the weather man in* the Mills building j
knows it. He receives word of Its ar-J
rival In Oregon, and the telegraph,
dashes the news : to him when the'
ttorm beglns s 4e disturb the tranquil
%.'t of northern California. The weather
tnan knows how fast the disturbance
la traveling and he knows how, much
room It requires for the exercise of its
ttrengthl He knows where the etorm
tras born and reports from Intervening'
points tell him whether or. not' there
ire opposing forces ready ' for action
which will repel the Invader before It
reaches here or send it scooting off In
tome other direction. He receives sim
har warning from east and south. He
Is ready for anything that "comes from
those three directions. His surprises
ill come from the ocean.
The JJnknown Quantity
The great Pacific Is the unknown
ftuantity in the weather equation.
tVhfn Professor Alexander McAdle
promises us a fine day for that auto
feioblle spin, and. Instead of being
tanned by the sun we are' drenched" to
the skin by rain of the "cats and dogs"
rarlety, we must not blame the weath
tr bureau man. The rainstorm ' came
from far out on the Pacific, where
If other • Nature maintains a laboratory
tor the manufacture of fog,- heaV rain,
Wind and [ cold. * .The first thing the
professor, knew about It, was when .the
battering rain on the ,wmaow .;. of »hls
hotel told him that the Paciflo \u25a0 had
tent him another surprise. To a man
to much in earnest ias 'Mr. McAdle,. tb:
a scientist so devoted. to his work and
lo methodical In his calculations, - thf^
laboratory Is a constant
source of anxiety. If you realize this
will havef no dlfflculty } In ; picturing
tls delight at the; prospect, j now In
light, of ; opening^ up j regular 'communi
cation with the sourb'e .• of - surprises, .
thus eliminating * the unknown quantity .
from his calculations " and , -making
ireather; forecasting an • exaot
or as nearly exact as anything can be
into • \ which the elements rof - nature
enter. :\u25a0.- ;-\u25a0" ",-\u25a0:\u25a0 -
This is In a fair way of accomplish
ment as \u25a0 the result ; of the adoption •by
the merchant J marine jon the Paciflo of
the wireless 'system . Of communication.*
The ""general^adoptibn" Is still f to ;ithe_
future, "'. but' Is assured Just the same,
and In contemplation Mr. McAdle Is al
ready, tasting the sweets of a life^wlth-,
out surprises, the Joy of ' being a
prophet with a elnch. : • " . ."
As evidence of the government's
faith In the coming general use of
wireless of ships at Sea on the Paolflo
the navy; department has issued an
order; that wireless stations between
southern California and ' Alaska ' send
broadcast every eight hours such'lnfor
mation concerning floating obstruo
tlons to navigation as \u25a0 may be afforded
by the branch hydrbgraphlo offlce.\ The
hydrographio office has been ordered ' tb
keep the wireless stations posted. The
wireless '"\u25a0 stations, 'all "of which are
under navy control, have "been ordered
further to answer any wireless . re
quests for ; such •\u25a0 Information at 'any
time and ; to give such messages > prece
dence of all ordinary; business. At ' this
writing ] the > navy maintains , numerous
wireless stations along this coast. The
merchant marine } has only one '; steamer,
the President, equipped with' wireless
.apparatus. .-... ; :; ;' \-^[.. '" .. ;i .'\u25a0:,',;' :\\-^
Ever since the child of Marconi's
genius began to give promise of.attain
ing ;i.;_a ;'£usef ul; , .' maturity; '.' Alexander
McAdle has watched Its; derelopment.
First <It \u25a0 seemed - too f good vto be ; true.'
When he began to read , In Friday's
paper that - "the l liner ' Pneumatic an
nounced :- today in , : a ' wireless v message
; from raid-Atlantic that she would reach
• «uaranUne e» : Sunday,-' afternoon*" Ko-
Adie's Interest } increased. ; "If "^they can \
7 tell when-; they expect ;" to > arrive," Ihe
' soliloquised, ."they could tell ) ho w r the
weather was where they were j and If ;
they can do that on the Atlantlo they
* can do it on the Pacific." , ; \u25a0 :
To the: weather" bureau belongs \u25a0 the
credit of first disturbing the local at
mosphere with wireless messages. The
first wireless stations , were ' established ,;
', on the V Farallon Islands f and \\ Point
"; Reyes \ wireless .' was adopted f -Vm f. a|
- means of communication ' only /after a
series of mishaps to the cable, which
the ;, weather : bureau /tried ; to ; maintain '\u25a0.
' between' its station •on the T Farallones %
' and ' the mainland. . Before \u25a0 the I new.
\ "line" • had \u25a0 beei J in ': operation ;
'; . very long / thY United \ States ; navy } as-1
- sumed [ control •of fall;; wireless stations ; .
throughout the '* country, ,- and ence more ; \u25a0
. MbAdie sat' back and waited, v. :\u25a0 -
: Services \u25a0 of - Inestimable \ Value
The value in dollars and cents of the ;
United \u25a0 States .weather : ; bureau seiry
; Ice, although lnoaloulable, is hardly
appreciated by t 4 majority of . people. !*
•. That . It ' has a commercial ; value I at , all \u25a0
.:\u25a0 may be news to most of those to whom
rain simply means a visitation that ne
. cessitates the carrying ef an umbrella;
cold, the oocasion \u25a0 for wearing an over
coat and heat, a , discomfort ' tb be al- ,': :
leviated by scantier attire and the lib
eral use of lee. \u25a0 \u25a0--
vfTo ' farmers, -merchants, ship) owners
; and c many others ': the;, weather bureau
i has ; become a . oenrenlenoe as necessary \u25a0*
Aas the telephone and much more reliable.
60 perfect Is the present system, of ob
: servatlon .. throughout the country! that!
the weather man's diagnosis is I usually
correct and most ofjhu 1 prophecies e4mej
true. If he makes a mistake
is quickly eirpotea, ; siifl /^this : and 3 the',; ;
! fact Uhat ;wlth\; U»ef realization \u25a0 of his -
error is frequently assocLted V, some
';\u25a0 business lose or personal : . disappoint-" - *
. ment are responsible for the undue
attention erroneous ; forecasts attract. '\u25a0'<
In i spite £\u25a0 of ; the : '^weather ;. prophet"
\u25a0 Jokes and the meteorologist's occasional it
; mistakes, businessmen, ' '. unsentimental ' \u25a0
;logiclansV- ? wh'oseXliwttov ; .ls;i^re'Bulti f# .-\
i treat ; the weather bureau seriously and
acknowledge . the - federal : meteorologist ;|
as'an' ; lndispensafele^advlser.\;-' \u25a0';\u25a0' :j'\ r >^:?%
"I see the er^rm 'signal ". hoisted. -Will ;
it be safe to" leave my 'ship at such
;'suclra Wharf r'j* ship'bwner 'telephones \
to -Mr. McAdle,; S.
•Tour ship will be an rttht where «h«|
Is," replies lioAolo:': ;.
Or,
\u25a0 "Better hare her moored wen ;^si'*_^i|
> Mission bay and better hare : tw« an- \
chore down.? •-«
."WiU It beaU right to discharge gen- *r
oral cargo on an open wharf this mora
i Ing?" phones in • a stevedoring nraC?^;
' - : * , : T>on*t jdlsobar ge \ more \ thanlyou losait
haul' '*#i* J, bjr^ • $ • ; elbbk,''| advises . the &
weather, man/ ,
"Fleet ils t rekdr to start • for Magda-
j * iiow|s ' : the] weather outsider* if
says a veice from the ; navy yard.
WIRELESS
AND THE
WEATHER
PROPHET
: The ; fleet -\u25a0 postpones its \u25a0 departure a
couple ' of day s, \u25a0 starts o u t when the
wind '-\u25a0. has changed direction -or > do- ,
creased Its force, reaches destination
Just as quickly and saves the extra coal
that ; would ; have been consumed buck
ing the head wind.
-; "We want to ; ylsitV the \u25a0 San .< Joaquln
valley; is this a good time?" queries
somebody on pleasure bent. -
: McAdle ' tells .. them Just what to • ex
pect In the way o f . weather and by? tak
lng his advice the visit may be made
under \u25a0 the c most * favorable . clrcum-
' • . - - . --^ /
f * The questions answered every, day by
the .weather bureau officials coyer a
{ wide •scope, but furnishing special in
formation forms - but .\u25a0'* small \ part •" of •
the d.ay's work. There > Is the receiving
of reports : from outlying territory., and \
' the "« furnishing / of ' information* tb [other
stations. i^There ' are! the J daily forecast;
arid f the .warning . signals; whereby, .the
.shipping world, the building trades, the
farmer, the frujt^ grower land those in
terested -in ether ~ industries aff eoted by
: rain. wind, heat ; or [ frost are given no
tloe to prepare for trouble.
Can Predict to a Nicety
-What will, tt mean; td the wtather
; bureau servloe when wireless 'has been
installed \u25a0on most of < the on ,
the. Paelflbr^l^asked Mn MoAdle;«M>
other day. \u25a0
J^ThiVf ederal ; meteorologist pointed to,
the"' bureau's s map of \u25a0 the : United States
and. said: \u25a0 :-.\u25a0 - > \u25a0,>\u25a0 .\u25a0\u25a0 . .
The first weather; bureau stations
were established at Milwaukee and Chi-'
|forlEDfttio^^f|ppToaoh^^^^^u^^
j^^^tectlonto^]sh^inlff«n|th«^^
Ukes. \u25a0\u25a0 Tklsi'- irsji the>- *egttnini]of \ the
,Tli^ San JPrandscq Stuidax Calk
weather service. It proved valuable
from the !- start " and was extended tb •
, Cleveland. It " has grown north, south,
east and west ..until now the. whole
country iff under constant trained . ob
servation' and 10 perfect is the system
that •'• the observer in V San Francisco
could -make : the forecast f or-New Tork
or vice Versa. As the weather • service
of \ today compares with that ; first i lim
ited \ line .of observation .between Chi
cago and Milwaukee, so will the weath
er service of a few. years-* hence com
pare- with that i of today, and 'the* Im
provement will be made possible
through the .adoption -of wireless on
:the"= Pacific."' L "vY : \u25a0 :
ByJthe wireless reports from ships
at sea the meteorologist ashore will be
able \u25a0to : keep \u25a0 tab on the rivers of ' air
; air the ;way around the world Instead
?of only in the limited area'riow'covered
by! the; land 'stations. From : obserya- ,
tions! on' land much; has been' learned
'of the habits of : the "highs" and "lows,"
enough to insure a valuable degree of
accuracy in r f^recasting. ;itis the hope
of y the;; meteorologist that .when \u25a0 wire
less: makes !It possible to follow the
procession of "highs" and Hows" he
will' learn ? nature's rule governing the
movement of these - areas of ' pressure
.and ) temperature and : be > abl e to make
/for ; himself and : for thelbeaeflt of man
" kind a [weather /schedule. "of [ scientific
. aeouracy.V • \u0084 — ' . ... \u25a0\u25a0 \. -v-Vj-.
[ When ;> this \ time comes the weather
} iei^icei' will; have i more than 'doubled its
\u25a0; present . financial lyslue , to the^ business
of. the^ country and the "danker of .^travel
by sea will <be substantially decreased.
vj So, as i j a^cold ' blooded , business propo
sition, wireless promises to add in an
Important 'to the weal th of • the
nation, •- and* the ~ more ships that . are
equipped with this mysterious, dis
tance defying devico for communica
tion the sooner will this consumma
tion be achieved.
The Pacific Coast steamship company
was the first commercial Una on the
Pacific to add wireless to its ships'
equipment. Tho liner President was
the first talking merchantman. The
Governor, : sister ship to the President.
now on its way here. Is similarly
equipped and Is bringing wireless out
fits for oth«r vessels of the company's
fleet. These ships alone will Insure the
weather bureau fairly regular reports
of off shore conditions, but they will
Invade the region. of surprises only for
a " limited distance. The Harrlman
steamers .on the Portland and Ban
Francisco runs are to be equipped with
wireless. The ships of the army's fleet
of transports all carry - wireless ap
paratus. The new liners now under
construction for the Toy© Klsen rit.^n
are to be equipped with wireless. Tho
Paciflo Mall and other trans-Paotflo
lines will follow suit. The ships ef
the navy are already equipped.
..The navy department has not watted
for the merchant marine to adopt ft^
new; invention, but by furnishing x m
steady supply of valuable Information
by wireless is ! holding out a practical
incentive to Its general adoption, The
Information .supplied by the naval
wireless stations on this coast is In
valuable to shipping, but to benefit
by it the ships must be equipped with
the^ necessary apparatus. With the
air., constantly filled with valuable In
formation It will not be long before
all 'vessels .will- be equipped not only
to receive* it but to reciprocate by
Sending- back reports of conditions at
sea.
It Is not unlikely that congress,
which, like all great bodies, moves
slowly, will do Its share toward se
curing, the general adoption of wireless
by requiring all vessels carrying pas
sengers to be equipped with the ap
paratus for receiving and sending mes
sages; and when wireless becomes *as
common v passenger licenses UcAdlo's
dream will have coma true. Improve
ments arc beins made dally In the ap
paratus and the scope oJ communica
tion's* gradually widening : It la rea
sonable to suppose that the improve
ments will ' keep " pace with the t In
crease i ln-, numbers of vessels equttjfced.
and 1 that by ...the ;, time witness
Isinigeneraluse'on the .Pacific* the dia
tance limit 'will have;, so extended that
the 'bureau on tho Mills build
ing f will 'i be : able ito .* up" nearly
any f section of . the oceaa , and get \u25a0 a
speedy answer.