Weather signals.
(q. v.), the originator of the signal service of the
United States, also invented and organized a weather signal service, which has been the means of conferring great benefits upon agriculture and commerce especially.
This system, as arranged by
General Myer, was established by Congress in 1870, and for twenty years was a part of the signal service of the United States army.
The Fifty-first Congress passed an act providing that while the signal service should remain as a branch of the army, the forecasting of the weather should become one of the duties of the Agricultural Department and be conducted by a special bureau.
This law went into effect on July 1, 1891, and all the duties connected with the system of weather signals were transferred to the new bureau.
The first chief of the bureau was
Prof. Mark W. Harrington, of
Michigan.
Simultaneous weather reports from simultaneous observations, taken at different places are transmitted to the bureau at
Washington.
Three of these simultaneous reports are made in each twenty-four hours, at intervals of eight hours; and warnings are given by signals, maps, bulletins, and official despatches, furnished by the bureau, three times a day, to nearly all the newspapers in the land.
So thoroughly is this work done, by means of the telegraph, the perfect organization of the system, and the discipline of the operators, that it is estimated one-third of all the families in our country are in possession, each day, of the information issued from the weather bureau.
Fully 90 per cent. of the predictions is verified by actual results.
