Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1914 — Page 2

FORECASTING STORMS, FROSTS AND FLOOD

* «■■■* ONTEREY, Colic, Dalmatian, I I seaman, ensue, dubbed.” Lb**s4 Why, certainly, help your- ' se 'E gl a( l to know you, sir, 7 or anything else you wish. That’s about what you would say to anyone who stepped up -to you on the street with a knowing air and delivered himself of the above quotation. There would be just a chance that he was kidding if he pulled it verbally, but if he sent it to you via Wireless — well, there would be but •ne answer, “bughouse.” At least that would be your natural surmise, and you little know how wrong you would be. For instance, the government weather bureau at Washington receives just such messages every day in the year. And the weather bureau men know that these apparently “dippy” messages are really an important part of a great and intricate system which Uncle Sam supports to tell the people of the United States what the day ie going to bring forth in the matter of weather.

As a matter of fact, “Colic, Dalmatian,” etc., when translated, signifies that the steamer Monterey is saying that at 7:00 a. m. on the seventh of the month, she is in latitude 22 degrees 52 minutes; that the barometer is 30.04, temperature 80; that the wind is northeast, blowing 14 miles an hour, and that the sky is clear. Rather an original and unique way of saying it, is it not? It is a mighty slick little organization, this weather bureau of the department of agriculture. It keeps a small army of experts busy from seven o’clock in the morning until midnight every day in the year keeping track of just what Old Man Weather is up to, cataloguing all hie idiosyncrasies and doping out what new caper he is about to cut up. No ghost of an atmospheric disturbance, no storm wraith or cold wave apparition can stalk abroad in any cranny of the states, nowadays, without being instantly pounced upon by the nearest bureau, and its wouldbe secret maneuvers spread broadcast to other stations that they may expect its coming and set in motion their machinery for doping out the exact time of its appearance. It was only comparatively recently that the efficiency of the weather bureau was enhanced by an arrangement between the department and many of the big ■teamship lines to send semi-daily weather reports from vessels at sea beyond a distance of 75 miles from port

» Many people have an idea that there is something mysterious and occult >bout the work of the weather bureau In forecasting the coming of storms, frosts and floods. Not a few think that the observers must necessarily get their data by reading the planets, the stars and the moon. As a matter of fact the forecaster of the bureau foretells the coming of disturbances in a businesslike way, very similar to that in which a man who has ordered a shipment of goods would estimate the date of its arrival.

Suppose a business man fed ordered a carload of pineapples from the Hawaiian islands. He would know the average time it would take the steamer to make the trip to the Pacific port, the average time for unloading and loading into refrigerator cars, and the average number of days to be allowed these cars for their trip across the continent to New York. His estimate, however, would be subject to error, because the steamship might be delayed by tog, or the cars might meet with' an accident.

Storms, like pineapples, as a rule do not originate in the United States. They come to us, some from the Philippines, Japan, Siberia, Alaska, Canada or the Gulf of Mexico. The weather bureau gets cable, telegraphic or wireless notice of a foreign storm. Station after station, or vessel after vessel reports the storm’s arrival in its neighborhood, so that the general direction and rate of progress can be determined very early. In fact, the

EXTRAORDINARY DISHES

Mrs. Dan Cranford, whose book, "Thinking Black," has created considerable controversy, mentioned some extraordinary Central African "dishes" in the course of a recent lecture. These included stewed elephant's trunk, roast rhinoceros foot, boiled hippo tongue (stewed 48 hours to snake it tender), roast wild donkey, •tewed monkey, roast water rat, tall sad all, and the luscious

arrival of some storms can be foretold ten days in advance. The forecasters watch for the region of low barometer, which is the storm center around which the winds blow. This wfiirl or edd/ moves bodily forward with the general-eastward drift of about 650 miles a day in our latitudes. As the lines of equal pressure (Isobars) around the low center crowd closer together, the winds attending the storm Increase in force. The forecaster determines the direction of movement of the storm and its velocity. When weather disturbances are reported, the forecasters know from experience about how long it takes them to reach our Pacific coast, and then how long after they will reach the Atlantic coast For example, if a storm coming from Siberia drifts eastward around the North pole and reappears in Alaska, it should appear in Washington and Oregon in about two days; should get to the great lakes in six days and to the Atlantic coast in seven or eight days.

Unexpected conditions may delay storms or divert them from the straight track just as a refrigerator car may be thrown off its schedule or be shipped by accident on a wrong road. Some of these storms deplete themselves by running into regions of high barometer which are of greater magnitude and extent than the storm itself. Some of them, however, travel completely around the world. To keep tab on cold waves that come into the United States from Canada and Alaska, the! weather bureau studies the Canadian weather reports. England sends reports from Iceland,4he British islands and continental Europe, and daily reports come from St. Petersburg on the conditions in Russia and Siberia.

The same businesslike system used

LOTS OF BUYERS LIKE THAT

Man’s Complaint That He Never Gets Quits What He Wants Is a Pretty : General One.

"I never buy what I want!’’explained Trazzler to his friend, Ebsan. “Every time I buy anything, nb matter what, I hardly get home before I think of something else that I need worse and that I could have bought with the same or less money. Sometimes I can figure out three or four things I really need that the same money would have bought. "There is the library table that I have needed so long. The time for it never comes—yet I paid >lB for photographs the other day. I could have bought the library table for that money. I could have paid the laundry bill with that $18.” “There is truth in what you say,” murmured Ebsan sadly. “I went without a phone in my house for eight years and spent the money I could have used to pay phone rent in making monthly payments on an encyclopedia! Can you beat that? “Many a time I hurried over to the neighbor’s phone in my bathrobe and slippers when I could have had a phone right in my own bathroom, and so could have gone along with my ablutions while the boss complained over the phone abont my latest blunder.” “In your bathroom!”

"Sure. I never took a bath in my life without some one calling me on sope urgent matter. So my phone is

morsel, which a chief provided as a state delicacy, of a mess of thousands of white ants, frizzled in their own fat, like a sort of Central African whitebait. Also there was a special dish, much favored, of starchy boiled grass, "green and. glutinous.” Mrs. Crauford also told of the Central African “knuts." The young bridegroom wore a necklace of teeth and hairs of the elephant’s tail, and

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

In tracing the track of a storm is applied in determining the arrival of frosts. Flood forecasts are made in much the same way. Information as to the amount of rainfall at the head waters of streams that cause floods are covered by telegraphic reports sent by local observers. As this rain reaches the main channel, the height of the water in the channel is determined by successive gauging stations. Past records establish how much a height, say of 20 feet at Dubuque, lowa, will produce at Davenport, another station 80 miletudown the Mississippi. This plan is followed all the way down the river, and at each point full allowance is made for the effects of water from tributaries, and from additional and local rainfall. As a result of these observations in the recent flood, the people of Cairo had warning a week or ten days in advance. The Pittsburgh district can be given only 12 to 24 hours’ notice, because a flood is upon them within 24 hours after a heavy rainstorm. To carry on this work of forecasting storms, frosts and floods, there are established throughout the United States 200 branch bureaus, each with apparatus for measuring rainfall, wind, etc., and with a circulating system of information between them that twice every 24 hours swaps observations, each with the other 199. Briefly, forecasting of the modern school is resolved into watching the course of great disturbances and calculating their probable movements and the time it will take them to cover given distances. But then there is a good deal of the forecaster’s work more subtle than this. For instance, it recently has been discovered that there is a remarkable interplay between atmospheric phenomena in widely separated regions. The state of the barometer in Siberia in winter,is found to be related in an intimate way to the existence and progress of storms in the United States at the same time. And now the modern forecasters are reaching out into other continents for their storm warnings and prognostications.

in my bathroom now. I stopped payments on the encyclopedia and had a phone put in.’’ ~

“But it has turned out now that I need the encyclopedia worse than I do the phone. That’s the way it always ie. Every time I go to take a bath now some neighbor is stricken with paralysis or sdme other calamity and the family has to use my phone instantly. So I have to don my dressing gown and duck into my room while the family’s representative tells doctors, nurses and relatives about it” "Even so, why do you need the encyclopedia?’’ “To fill up the bookcase that Uncle Hitbottle gave me for Christmas.”

Banded Against Napoleon.

One hundred years ago Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia concluded the treaty of Chaumont, so called after the French town where the allied sovereigns then had their headquarters. Fearing the disputes might break up the coalition when its object—the overthrow of Nopolean—was all but accomplished, Lord Castlereagh, the British plenipotentiary, proposed to conclude a treaty among the four great powers which should bind them solemnly to one another, at first until the conclusion of the existing war, and then for 20 years afterward. The treaty of Chaumont, however, was soon after succeeded by that of Paris, signed April 11, 1814, by which Napoleon renounced his sovereignty.

a fur boa, which any West end lady would envy, of squirrel skins, gray and white, the toilet being completed possibly—for all European garments were fashionable —by one of Mrs. Dan Crauford’s skirts specially lent for the occasion.

Underworld Assurance.

"We have a number of blue laws X this town,” said the* police officer, warningly. "Blue!” exclaimed the elegant crook "My favorite color!”

HAS DONE GOOD WORK

RECORD OF THE “SAFETY FIRST" MOVEMENT.

Not Alone on -Railroad Lines, but Wherever Hazardous Work Is Performed, Employes Have Been Quick to See Its Value.

When the “safety first” adopted a little more than two years ago by one of our great failroad corporations, has reduced by nearly 22 per cent, the number of fatalities on its line, is it any wonder that nearly all the railroads in the United States and Canada have kept it up and made it a w’atchword among their employes? Not only on railroads but in factories and iron mills, and, in fact, wherever there, is hazardous work to be performed, no matter what the nature of it may be, the movement is spreading.

The business of transportation requires that more than ordinary precaution should be taken to safeguard operation from accidents, and while in all railroad operation the safety of passengers Ts the first consideration, the problems presented in protecting employes in many respects are identical, and in safeguarding the latter the safety of the public is also largely secured. It is really not a question of safeguard, but more of Intelligent caution constantly exercised. The aim of the “safety first” movement is to teach each employe a sense of personal responsibility not altogether for his own safety but also for the safety of his fellow employes. It teaches every man in the service so to safeguard the operation of the railroad that he works for that accidents of every kind shall be as few as human foresight can make them.

Workmen themselves are in a large part to blame for the many accidents when they do not exercise the care and caution required to prevent accidents. They should be taught to avoid carelessness at all hazards. Too many men in railroad service care nothing for the public’s interest or their employer’s; all they seem to think of is the least work, no matter how it is done. It is this class of men who are responsible for the awful statistics which ‘ show that one railroad employe out of every thirteen and one trainman out of every eight are killed in the United States every year.

The problem of personal injury is complicated by the multiplication of safety devices, for this average holds good even when perfect equipment is in use. Safety devices undoubtedly help, but it must always be remembered that the most important part of the train service is the man behind the steam power. It is the human element that counts most in railroad work.

It is the object of the “safety first” movement to reduce the number of personal injuries among railroad men by encouraging the spirit of co-opera-tion between the men and officials of the railroad companies. When rules are drafted by railroad officials for the safety of its employes, it is in the long run to the advantage of the employe to obey them, although it may seem at the time irksome.

State Railway Troubles.

Complaints have been made for some time past of the unsatisfactory financial management of the Belgian state railroads, and now the traffic management also appears to have broken down. From all parts of the country there are accounts of delayed passenger trains and of the detention of consignments of freight for three or four days, or even a week, because of the overcrowding of the lines. Various causes are assigned for the breakdown —discontent among the engine drivers, malingering in view of the fact that they receive full pay during Illness, the substitution of inexperienced men for the absentees, promotion'for political reasons, instead of by merit, and the inefficiency of the engines and rolling stock, or neglect to keep them in good condition.

Italian Starts Railroads.

The total mileage of state railways in Italy June 30, 1012, was 8,286. Although 14.5 miles were added during the year, the same number of miles of road was abolished.

Rocket More Like Plaything.

George Stephenson’s engine, the Rocket, weighed four and a half tons, while a modern engine weighs as much aS 100 tons.

SHORT CURVE ON HIMALAYAN RAILROAD

A SHARP LOOP ON AN INDIAN RAILWAY.

The railroad from Calcutta to Darjeeling, the summer capital of tha province of Bengal, Is an interesting engineering feat from one end to the other. Three standard gauges are maintained in three separate Sections; one of five feet six and one-half inches,

MEANS OUTLAY OF MILLIONS

What It Would Cost the Country's Railroads to Replace Wooden Cars With Steel, Ones. /■ That it will cost the railroads $614,619,10(1 to comply with the proposed federal law requiring them to replace their present wooden passenger equipment with steel cars is the statement contained in a bulletin issued by a special committee on relations of railway operation to legislation which represents all of the leading rail lines in the country.. The annual interest charge on this amount at 5 per cent, would total $30,730,955. According to the committee, the construction of wooden passenger equipment practically has ceased, rapid strides are being made toward fuHy equipping railways with either steel or steel underframe cars.

Reports received by the from 247 companies Operating 227,754 miles of track, disclose that between January 1 and July 1 of the present year orders were placed for 1,140 passenger equipment vehicles, including postal, mail, baggage, passenger, express, parlor, sleeping, dining and business cars, says the Railway Reporter and Traveler’s News. Specifications for 1,064, or 93.3 per cent., of these cars provide for all steel construction, while the remaining car® have steel underframes.

A table prepared by the comml(M shows that of 1,880 passenger equipment vehicles acquired in 1909 by the rail lines, 26 per cent, were built of steel, 22.6 per cent, had steel underframes and 51.4 per cent, were constructed of wood.

In 1912 the railroads purchased 2,660 cars for passenger service, and of the total 68.7 per cent, were of steel and only 10.4 per cent, of wood. A comparison of the number of steel passenger equipment cars in use January 1, 1910, and January 1, 1913, shows that there was an increase during that period of 1.055 per cent.

BIG FACTOR IN RAILROADING

Effective Work That Has Been Dons by the Master Car Builders’ Association.

That every railroad does not live unto itself alone is due in a large measure to the work of the Master Car Builders’ association. One could hardly imagine the chaotic condition in which we would find railroading had there been no association to do what has been done by the master car builders.

We all recognize the value of 1 the work of this association. Even the United States government through its proper department and officials, has shown that it appreciates the farreaching effect of what has been accomplished. The letters “M. C. 8.,” if they stand for anything, stand for just that which is opposed to chaos, and are synonymous with system, economy and operation.

Without the M. C.. 8. rules of Interchange, freight traffic would become a tangle impossible of unraveling; without M. C. B. standards, the expense of car maihtenance would be doubled; without M. C. B. recommended practice, not only would we be making no progress, but as railroads we would be going backward.

To Make Travel Safer.

A new device for greater safety of railroad travel has been tested by an eastern line and the test is declared to have been entirely successful. It is an airbrake system that can be operated with either pneumatic or electric control, and it can stop a train of 12 steel passenger cars and locomotive, all weighing nearly 1,000 tons, running with a speed of 60 miles an hour, within 1,000 feet, or the length of the train. Emergency application of high speed brakes now in general use would bring the same train to a stop in 1,600 to 1,800 feet. It is claimed for the new device that it can stop the same train going at 30 miles an hour in 200 feet.

“Yieldable Extension” Cars.

A western car manufacturer Is building “yieldable extension” railroad cars, which, it is asserted, will greatly lessen the danger to life and limb in railroad accidents; The cars are especially constructed, with a framework which is designed to yield and to a certain extent telescope under a severe shock, instead of going to pieces, while remaining rigid under ordinary bumps, such as would be received in every-day use by the coupling of cars or the sudden application of the emergency brakes.

one of three feet three inches, and on the 51 miles from Siligurl to Darjeeling, one of but two feet. It is on this latter section that the extremely sharp loop shown in the photograph is made, the curve having a radius of but M feet—Popular Mechanics.,

The ONLOOKER

by HENRY HOWLAND

GIOPIES I oZ WINTER

and neglected to be glad; Through the storm the doctors hurried, wearied from long lack of rest, Miny a weeping mother vainly clasped * dead babe to her breast; Through the city Death went stalking, striking down the young and old. And the gaunt cab horses shivered as they stood out in the cold. I met her in a parlor, where she lolled In luxury; “Ah,” she said, “this is the season that brings greatest joy to me; How I love to hear the creaking of the wheels upon the snow; What a joy there is in living when it’s ten degrees below! Springtime brings its fragrant blossoms, but I feel supreme delight ’ When the wind blows from the northland and the world is clothed in white.” By the curb an old man tumbled; at his side his shovel lay, And his poor, thin coat was fluttered by the wind that howled away; Pallid children crouched where sadness could not be induced to leave, In the hovels women shivered and forgot all but to grieve; Through the city Death went stalking, ■madly strlklag right and left Where the little, gloomy coal bins of *ll contents were bereft.

CANDID OPINION

There are no lamp posts along the straight and narrow path. Friendship goes out the window when envy enters the door. A wise man never pretends to know all about everything. Putting confidence in a cheap man Is an expensive experiment. The happiness that combs over a bar is always very brief. Since she cannot put her hands in her pockets it is a lucky thing for woman that her back hair needs constant fixing.

How, Indeed?

"Do you love your papa?” asked the minister. “Yes, sir,’’ said Willie. “And do you obey him?” “Yes, sir.” “And now comes the most important question of all. Do you honor him?’’ "How can I if he is the kind of a man ma tells him he is every little while?” .. V.

BLOWING SOME.

wind blew the blacking from his shoes without doing any other damage to his property.”

The Disturbing Poet.

•“There is no death," the poet said, "What men Call death is only sleep; The husband whom you mourn as dead But lies in slumber sweet and deep”

The widow heard the poet speak And wonder seemed to fill her eyes; A tear dried on her dimpled cheek. She sighed some very soulful sighs.

“Not dead? Not dead?" she said at last; “Ah. sir, why will you scare me thus? The courts have thrice within the past Objected to divorcing us.”

Did His Best

“But why in the world did the poor fellow wish to go about barefooted in cold weather? He ought to have known it would cause his death.” “Somebody once called him an eo centric genius, and he was trying to make good.”

Praise.

"What,” asked the proud young author, "do you think of my new novel?” "I must admit,” replied the heartless critic, "that you afforded the artist an opportunity to make some fine illustrations.”

Useless Bother.

“But haven’t you ever saved, up any thing for the rainy day?” “No, what’s the use? I expect to go to Arizona as soon as I find that I’m down and out here.”

I met him on ths corner where I saw his breath congeal. And he spoke from furs that covered him almost from head to heel; “Ah, but this is lovely weather! Stirs a fellow’s blood, you know; If I could I think I’d always havs it ten degrees below; Take a cold bath every morning, sleep out on ths porch at night— Nothing like it it you’re anxious to keep feeUn’ fit and right.” In the hovels people shivered, ch 11 - dren who were lightly clad Heard the frosted windows rattle

“Have you an Ananias club Un this town?” "Yes, sir. The president of it is a fellow who claims that durin g the recent storm here the