Storm-drum.
A signal. a. A painted canvas drum, distended by hoops. b. A semaphoric device of Admiral Fitzroy, consisting of a hollow cylinder and cone, either of which, or both simultaneously, may be suspended from a mast or staff; their positions denoting the probable direction of the wind in an approaching storm. Thus: Cone point upward, to the right of the staff, northerly gale. Cone point downward, to the left of the staff, southerly gale. Cylinder above: expect dangerous winds from both quarters successively. Upright cone above cylinder: dangerous wind expected from north. Reversed cone below cylinder: dangerous wind expected from south. It took some time to inspire the sailors with confidence in the storm-signals of Admiral Fitzroy, but in 1864 it was found in England that fifty per cent, at least, of all the storm-warnings had proved correct, and in 1865 that seventy-three per cent had been fully verified. In France, during the years 1865, 1866. out of one hundred warnings sent, seventy-one were realized the first year, and seventy-six in the second year; and out of one hundred storms which occurred, eighty-nine were signaled during the first winter, and ninety-four during the second. The North German “Seewarte” mentions that out of thirty stormwarnings hoisted at Hamburg, ninety-four per cent were correct. The system in the United States is gaining the confidence of navigators, and is yearly growing more correct. A number [2409] of disastrous storms have been predicted with marvelous precision from Washington, and our daily weather-forecasts very seldom fail to express the general atmospheric conditions. and usually fore-announce the changes to within an hour or two of their occurrence. |
| Storm-glass. |
