The Peoples' Voice (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 1909 Page: 3 of 10
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HERE la now nearins
completion In the
mountains of north
ern Virginia a weath
forecasting out
post upon which the
United States gov-
has exnended thou
dollars
rO^ZaUOt OF "£V
> %^>ATORV
the /vtw
Laboratory
AT riOUHT
weather
THE KITE
-QND BALLOON MOUSE
w V
■ j.
ernment
tsands of
during the past
two years and
which is unique
In the world
This institution,
known as the
Mount Weather
observatory is
•one of- the most
Important under
the government
and when its new
buildings are fin-
ished and its
equipment fully
Installed this au-
tumn so that the
scientists can en-
ter In earnest up-
on their novel in
•vestigatlons it is
believed that this
experiment sta-
tion above the
■clouds will con-
tribute more than
any other tactor to increased ac-
curacy In weather forecasting. The
new Institution is very different
from the ordinary weather observ-
atory to be found in every one of
•our large cities, and it is even dis-
similar In scope and function to
the headquarters observatory of
the weather service at Washing
ton. However, the new observa-
tory will, through the exploration
of the upper air contribute greatly
to accuracy in weather forecasting
In general and will especially point
the way to new development In
what Is known as long range fore-
•c listing.
The project of this weather bureau station
for upper air exploration is not a new one
though the institution In its present guise, and
particularly Its home, now ueiring completion,
are of comparatively recent Inception. Some
years ago the scientists at various United
States weather bureau stations and at the Blue
Hill observatory near lloston, took up the
-Study of the best methods for lilting self-re-
cording Instruments high above the earth's
surface. Up to that lime all human knowl-
edge of Ihe conditions of temperature, pres-
sure, humidity, wind velocity and direction and
■other Ingredients of the weather had been
based upon observations made at or near the
surface of the earth. Spurred by the necessity
for a better knowledge of temperature and nth
•or conditions at great altitudes, the scientists
first took up work with ingenious forms of
kites, and this was supplemented In 1904 by
the use of specially designed balloons as ve-
hicles for carrying the thermometers and other
instruments to heights that could not be
reached by any other inear.3.
Finally the United States took
among the nations of the globe
wiih a project for a special observ-
atory designed lor and devoted al-
most exclusively to aerial research.
A piece of land was secured In an
isolated part of the Blue Ridge
mountains in Virginia, and work
was Inaugurated on an establish-
ment that Is expected to do much
to meet the future needs of me-
teorology and will play a most
prominent part In ultimately en
abiing long-distance forecasting—
that Is, the forecasting of a type
of season rather than the mere
prophecies from day to day, such
as are now given out. Unfortu-
nately however, the weather bu-
reau was greatly retarded in this
new line of work by a disastrous
lire which occurred at the newly
•established observatory on the
morning of October 23, 1907, and
which resulted In the total destruc-
tion of the main building, contain-
ing laboratories, ofllces, etc.
The whole project for this upper air explora-
tion station represents a scheme so new and
freighting teams that
found hard climbing on
the steep mountain road
that was specially con-
structed to give access
to this outpost. More-
over, the bricklayers and
otlW artisans who have
gone from Washington
to construct the new
buildings had to content
themselves with board-
ing places miles away
from their scene of em-
ployment, for there are
no habitations, other
than those of the weath-
er bureau officials, with
in some miles of the ob-
servatory.
This isolation which,
as may be surmised, has
had Its disadvantages
Is exactly what the
government wanted for
Its observatory. There
Prof. Alfred J. lienry of Washington,
the executive officer in charge at Mount
Weather. More than 25 kites are con*
stantly kept on hand. Including the
models used by all the various foreign
governments that have undertaken sci-
entific kite flying. There have lately
been added to the equipment several
specially designed kites for use in the
high winds which prevail during the
winter. The ordinary kites will fly In
wind with a velocity of ten rallea
per hour, or more, but are not adapted
to use when the wind exceeds 25 miles
per hour. However, the new style emer-
gency kite at Mount Weather, weighing
eight pounds, and having a lifting sur-
face of 68 feet, has made successful
flights more than a mile 111 height when
the wind was blowing a gale of 46 miles
per hour.
Fewer balloons than kites are on
hand.Jor the reason that balloons are
used only when the wind Is too light to
permit of kite flying Originally small
rubber balloons were used at Mount
Weather, hut latter-
ly there have been
adopted spherical
balloons of var-
nished cotton cloth
which have a capac-
ity of 905 cubic feet,
and cost several
hundred dollars
apiece. Kites have
been flown at Mount
Weather at the re-
markable altitude of
23,000 feet, and cap-
tive balloons are
frequently sent to a
height of several
miles. The weather
bureau officials are
Just Inaugurating
particularly Interest
lng experiments
wherein small rub-
ber balloons carry-
ing self-recording In-
BREAKS COLD IN A DAY.
This prescription is one of the very
best known to science. The ingre-
dients can be gotten from any good
druggist, or he will get them from hia
wholesale house.
Mix half pint of good whiskey with
two ounces of glycerine and add one-
half ounce Concentrated pine com-
pound. The bottle is to be shaken
each time and used in doses of a tea-
spoonful to a tablespoonful every four
hours. The Concentrated pine is a
special pine product and comes only
in half ounce bottles, each enclosed
in an air-tight case, but be sure it i3
labeled "Concentrated."
A Kneeling Proposition.
"Pony" Moore, the once famous min-
strel, is dead at the age of 80. He
was one ol the last of his kind.
"Moore," said a veteran Chicago
manager, "used to make up his jokes.
Once, when he played here, he had
hi.- toes run over, and limped on that
night with a foot that resembled a
white pillow.
Ah's viz tendah-hoofed as Lizo
Johnsing,' he said to the audience,
with a chuckle. Yo' know 'bout Liza?
Young Calhoun White, he sez to her,
proposin':
Whaffo' you make a face like
dnt when I propose, Miss Johnsing?"
Well, Cal," says Liza, "Ah kain't
give yo' off ah propah consideration
le&s'n yo' takes yo' knee off'n mah
co n." '"
Boy's Essay on Clothing.
Here is an extract from an essay,
written by a boy in a London school*
"Clothing is an article which every-
body should wear The least of this
article is worn by savages or natives,
which is a piece of cloth or a few
leaves or feathers round the waist, in
cold countries, same as Eskimos, the
people wear more clothes than we do,
count of the icy cold out there. They
can skate all the year round, except
about one thaw there is in summer.
If they walked about like natives they
would catch cold directly and die of
bronkitis. We put clothes on which
are nearly like our bodies, some have
caps, coats and trousers, but women
| and girls wear hats and frocks to tell
I who they are."
Their Intent.
| "You seldom see a fire escape on
i churches."
"Rut, come to think of It, that Is
what the whole building is for."
Getting whipped when a boy hurts,
but It doesn't hurt half as much as
ihe wearing (Hit process that he ex-
| periences when he is old.
WHEN YOI'lt JOINTS ARE STTFP
I and muscles sore front cold, rheumatism or neural*
] ui;i; when you sll|>. strain or bruise yourself
Perry Davis" I'ninkiller. The home remedy 7u year*.
Kvery man has his gift, and the
•ools go to him that can use them.—
C. Kingsley.
i§
v TCgaftg
"in.
untried that It was feared for a time that
there might be a difficulty In obtaining the ap-
propriations necessary for the rebuilding of the
structures needed, but this did not materialize
and now the officials are ready to take posses-
sion of a new home that is much more com-
plete and pretentious in every way than were
the old quarters. More than $100,000 has been
expended upon the buildings of this lofty sen
tinel post—the one and only Institution among
the weather bureau's 200 stntion In all parts
of ihe country that Is devoted especially to re-
search work. Ilest of all, most of the new
buildings are of the latest approved fireproof
construction, so that the safe-keeping ot' the
valuable instruments and the Invaluable re«-
ords to be obtained is well assured.
The restored Mount Weather observatory oc-
cupies the same site as the old. namely the
tract of 77 acres purchased by the government
In the autumn of 1902. As has been said, it is
in a decidedly isolated locality, some 20 miles
south of Harper's Ferry, and 47 miles in a di-
rect line from Washington. Situated at an al-
titude of 1,725 feet above sea level on the very
crest of the Hlue Ridge mountains it overlooks
to the west the entire Shenandoah valley from
Strasburg to Harper's Ferry, while to the east
all that portion of Piedmont, Virginia, between
the Hlue Ridge and the Hull Run mountains, is
in full view. This extenKlve sweep of vulleys,
mountains and plains affords rare opportuni-
ties for Ihe study of storms, but the construc-
tion of large buildings on this somewhat Inac-
cessible site probably presented more puzzling
problems for builders and contractors than
have been Involved In any other governmental
undertaking of the kind. Mount Weather, as
Uncle Sain has christened bis mountain peak,
Is six miles from the nearest railroad station—
that at Hluemont, Virginia. All tho building
material had to be transported to the observ-
atory r!te by means of six and tight-horse
AUTOMATIC WEATHER RECORDING APPARATUS
are a number of reasons for this. In the first
place, the study of the upper air, demanding
as it does, the use of kites or balloons, re-
quires a locality with a high average wind ve-
locity—one where sometime during each day
there is a strong possibility of having a wind
ot at least eight or ten miles per hour. It also
calls for a location ten miles or more away
from cities and electric light wires, since In a
populous section loose wires falling down as
the result ol accidents to kites or ballons In a
storm, would prove very troublesome, and even
a source of danger. Resides, the surrounding
country for 15 or 20 miles should be compara-
tively open so that lost kites and the costly In-
struments they carry can be readily recovered.
Secondly, magnetic work of the most impor-
tant character is a feature of the operations
of this laboratory, and this requires a location
remote from cities. Thirdly, solar investiga-
tions which are likewise Included in the re-
search work call for a place away from the
smoke and dust of cities and above the haze
of the valleys. Fourthly, the physical labora-
tory which Is a part of the Institution, must be
free from the disturbing Jars of heavy traffic.
Added to all these specifications waB the sup-
plementary consideration- that It was desirable
to have this very important part of the weath-
er bureau's work done as near as practicable
to Washington, in order that the central office
may be as closely In touch with It as possible.
The varied requirements made It no easy task
to find an Ideal site for the new Institution,
but Ihe domain finally discovered in the Old
Dominion seems to have i.roven Itself pos-
sessed of exceptional qualifications.
One of the principal buildings in the group
of new structures recently erected at Mount
Weather is the physical laboratory. This is
a thn-e-story structure of stone construction
throughout, and with Immense plllnrs of solid
concrete supporting the portico The whole
building Is to be given over to scientific pur-
posts. Departments for the testing of instru-
whlch will serve
^•'^AFFIXING
RECORDING INSTRUMENT
TO KITE BEFORE FLIGHT
ments and the invention and con
struction of all forms of apparatus
will be conspicuous features. The
third floor of this $30,000 building
will be given over to spectroscopic
work of the most Important char-
acter A short distance from this
laboratory building is a handsome
frame dwelling of the type usual-
ly found iu residential suburbs.
Since the fire this has served as
living quarters for practically the
entire staff of Mount Weuther, but
when work at the observatory is
on a permanent status it will be
converted into a two-iamily resi-
dence for the use ol a cou-
ple cf scientists who will stm
bring their families t.o the
mountain top.
The main observatory and
administration building
in a sense as the keystone
of the Mount Weather group, will cost $15,000
and is a three-story structure of fireprool con
struction. The first story is con-tnir ed of
solid concrete, while the upper sti . h n-- .1
racing of brick, backed with terra cotta. Alike
to all the buildings at Mount Weather the
whole construction and especially the fittings
of windows and doors has been planned with
especial care In order to afford protection
against the high winds that sweep over the
mountain In winter. The first floor of the main
building Is to be given over to offices, while
the second and third floors will he occupied
for the most part by living rooms for the sci-
entists. Beyond the administration building in
the most isolated part of the grounds are two
buildings from which the visitor Is barred If
he carries a watch, or offers a disturbing in
Ilucnce of any kind. These frame structures
constitute the magnetic observatory, and con-
tain many delicate instruments.
One of the most important acquisitions of
this scientific community amid the mountains
is a new central heating and power plant. The
power house, of stone and concrete construc-
tion, cost with Its equipment more than $15,-
000. It contains a 45 horse power engine, di-
rectly coupled to n 1:5 kw. generator which
supplies the current for lighting and heating
the buildings; operating the machinery In the
laboratories; producing the hydrogen needed
to Inflate the balloons; making liquid air; and
operating the great reel upon which Is wound
the wire that holds captive the kites and bal-
loons that are sent aloft with recording in-
struments.
The stone and frame building which served
as a power house In the early days of the
Mount Weather observatory is now used as a
kite and balloon house, and Is the headquar-
ters of the five men who devote all their time
to aerial work under the general direction of
William R. Hlalr, and with the supervision of
fe.7#' '
AM, UP-TO-DATE nOUHKEKPEn!
ITae 11.■«I CroM Ball Blus. It m&kea cloths,
I clean and sweet as when new. All grocers.
The less a man knows about wom-
en the more he thinks he knows.
*rrv
1 flBQ . Mwirnm.-aiaiiiwii nwnna—
AFFIX IMO RECORDING
INSTRUMENT TO B/U LOON
fitrum«nts of especially light weight are be-
ing liberated and allowed to make their own
way in the upper air currents. By this way
records at elevations of from 30,000 to 50,000
feet will be obtained .
On the kite and balloon field at Mount
Weather is a reel house or circular tower
mounted so as it can be rotated. Its double
doors may thus be made to face in any direc-
tion and this facilitates kite flying, no matter
what the direction of the wind. The interior
of thix jevolving tower is largely given over
to the three horse power electric motor and
the monster reel of forged steel carrying the
line upon which the kites are flown. Tho ter-
rific strain involved in kite flying in high winds
served to break in quick succession two cast-
iron drums which were installed, one after an-
other, at Mount Weather, and each of which
gave way under the pull of 20,000 feet of wire,
but now the kite flyers have installed a forged
steel drum capable of carrying 50,000 feet of
piano wire line, and believe that they are pre-
pared for all emergencies.
THE SWEET TOOTH VINDICATED.
Sweetness is to the taste what beauty is
to the eye, affirms 1 vr Woods Hutchinson—
nature's stamp of approval and vindication of
wholesomeness. Sugar, says this authority, is
one of the most universal flavors of food-
stuffs known. One-half of our real foods taste
sweet or sweetish. About one-third taste salty.
Not more than one-tenth taste either bitter or
sour. The experience of millions of years,
reaching far beyond even our arboreal ances-
tors. has taught us beyond possibility of for-
getting that, while there are hundreds of
things that taste salty which have no food
value and scores of things that taste bitter
that not only have no food value but are even
poisonous, and thousands of things, like leaves
and sawdust and cocoanut matting, which
have no food value at all, there are compara-
tively few things that taste sweet which are
not real foods. A very few of these sweet
tasting things, while real foods, are also poi-
sonous, but these wo soon learn to detect and
beware of —Current Literature.
Positively cured by
these Little Tills.
iiTlE
VER
PILLS
in the Mouth, ('out®
mgue, Pain in tlia
, TO It PI D LIVER.
CARTERS
ITTtE
VER
PILLS.
They regulate tin; Uowels. Purely Vegetable.
SMALL PILL, SMALL DOSE. SMALL PRICE.
Genuine Must Bear
Fac-Simile Signature
REFUSE SUBSTITUTES.
V *■
The Utmost in Stencils
How To Secure Them Free
Write for booklet, of «!••■!* Wall l^rorBlloat con -
taining stencil designs for Period dime
In roll i rs full of Information and Ideas ionisers
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rh<- iiook—with two room design* In
color tellv whjr Alabastlnn I s best for wail deco-
ration and how t<> seeure the ( laulr fltraelMKrv*.
Write today for ihe twobooke—encloeel-oenl
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|)mritl>r Itrand'lllr l>r. , liram! Itaplda, Slrl .
$ A
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CURE
ni ttst Ktsran tor (ougks^%os
It will instantly relieve that racking cough.
Taken promptly it will often prevent
Aithma, Bronchitis and serious throat and
lung troubles. Guaranteed safe and very
palatable.
All Drugguta, 25 centa.
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Allan, John S. The Peoples' Voice (Norman, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, December 3, 1909, newspaper, December 3, 1909; Norman, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc118293/m1/3/?q=music: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.