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Show OHt WEATHER MAN. Observer Titzmaurice Tells the Times How the Weather Eeports are Manufactured and Eecorded- ACCOUNT OF IUSTBUMENTS USED- The Salt Lake City Station is One of the First Order Offices in the United State3. High up in the northeast corner of the Wasatch building Bits observer P. II. Fitzmaurice. lie is tho man who makes daily observations of the clouds, rain, snow and the elements which constitute con-stitute the weather that descends upon Salt Lake. Mr. Fitzmaurice has had charge of tho station here for over two years and in him the weather bureau recognizes a trustworthy servant. The first signal service station established estab-lished in this city was on March 19th, 1874, with S. W. Beall as observer. At that time the office was located at the southeast corner of Main and First South streets, and on June 29, 1870, it was changed to its present quarters. Salt Lake has been a station of the first order since last June and ranks among the twenty-six first order offices in the United States. Such stations bave in operation self-registering instruments for continuously recording wind direction direc-tion and velocity, rain fall, temperature and baromotic pressure and the amount of sunshine. Tore are between twenty-five twenty-five and thirty sub-stations in the territory terri-tory managed by voluntary observers. They receive instruments from the chief signal office through the observer in Salt Lake and render reports monthly to the bureau in Washington of temperature tempera-ture and rainfall. A reporter vlsitod the Salt Lake station sta-tion last evening and was taught something some-thing about the use of the complicated instruments he saw in the room. Two observations are made daily and wired to Washington.' The observation consists con-sists of barometer reduced to sea level, temperature, direction and velocity of the wind, state of weather, amount of precipitation, amount and kind ' of clouds, dew point, in the morning the minimum temperature, and in the evening even-ing tho maximum for the day. After the observation is reduced by the observer ob-server the report is sent in cipher telegram tele-gram to the office of the ohlof signal officer. The reports from the different stations throughout the country are entered en-tered and chartered at 8 a.m. and 8 p. m., seventy-fifth meridian. . From these statements the indication officer deduces the indications which are published and sonc throughout the United States each day. In order to see the principal instruments instru-ments used in weather manufacture a trip was made to the rooi of the building. build-ing. Five contrivances exposed to the the air occupied positions and were doing their work without threatening threat-ening to go on a strike. One is a wind vane which shows the direction of wind and Is connected with an arrow close to the colling In the office below. Should the observer desire de-sire to take a ride In his balloon and see how tho Goodwin pilgrims are pro- Sressing all he would have to do would e to glanco at the revolving arrow overhead and if everything was favorable favor-able jump in the basket ana sail off. The sunshine recorder is set at an angle corresponding with the latitodo of the station. The recorder consists of two hemispherical ropes of brass joined together. On each side there is a tiny aperture where the sun enters and leaves a mark on paper photographically photographic-ally prepared. The slide is movable and each day a record is made of the sunshine. On the last night of each month the paper is put in the instrument instru-ment to obtain tho record for the ensuing en-suing month. Monntod on polos the instrument shelter is made In the shape of a three-foot three-foot oube, the sides of open lattloe work and the top and bottom of tightly matched boards. The shelter contains dry, wet, maximum, minimum ther-mo ther-mo rue tors and a thermograph or self-recording the thermometer. The -latter is attached with an instrumout in the the oflioe and the essential or thermo-metrio thermo-metrio part of it Is a coppsr bnlb which Is (tiled with also hoi. A the temperature tempera-ture nhaoges, increasing or diminishing diminish-ing the volume of alcohol, the curvature of this crescent-shaped bulb ohanges. The rnotio-i of the free end is transmitted trans-mitted by a oom pound lever to the marking pen. The instrument is selup or the sheet renewed at 9 o'clock Monday Mon-day mornings and the pen registers within 1 degree. , . Near by the instrument shelter Is the rai-i and snow gauge. Tho lutter consists con-sists of a collector, receiver and the overflow. The ooileotor1 is funnel-shaped funnel-shaped aud eight inches in diameter at th top; the receiver it cylindrical 2 inchos in diameter and Is twenty inches deep; the overflow is six inches in diameter di-ameter and twenty-two inches deep. The snow gauge consists of a cylinder eight inches in diameter and twenty inohos deep. That machine over yonder with four cups chasing each other like a merry-go-round is the anemometer, and measures the velocity of the wind. This instrument consists of four metallio cups in the form of hemispheres attached to two arms, which cross each other at right angles and are supported so as to turn freely about a vertical axis. The axis carries au endless screw, which gives motion to a series of wheels that register the wind's progress up to !K) miles. The anemometor is connected with a self register in the office, where the velocity is electrically recorded. This self-register consists of an electro-magnet, a clock movement, and a drum. The latter is revolved bv the clock throucrh equal spaces In equal times, and is covered cov-ered with spaced paper, on which the point of a pencil is pressed. When the mile posts, located at the mile points on the outward dial of the anemometer, close the electric circuit by pressing upon the closing spring, which is done whenever a mile of wind has been completed, com-pleted, the circuit is closed and causes the electro-magnet to move the pencil and record a mile. One of the most useful instruments in the office is the barograph, or self-registering self-registering barometer. It consists of a cylinder on which the recording paper is wound, revolving once a week by means of a clock work contained inside, in-side, a series of metallic boxes, eight in number, screwed together and exhausted exhaust-ed of air, a compound lever by means of which the motion of top of metallic boxes is transmitted and magnified about forty times to the marking pen. A new sheet of paper is put on the cylinder cyl-inder each Monday morning when the clock work is wound and the instrumout instru-mout starts to record the pressure of the atmosphere. |