WEATHER BUREAU. 55 



to sixteen hours in advance of the coming of the storm, and 

 then we communicate by telegraph, by messenger, and by warn- 

 ing lights and flags directly with the masters of vessels. It is a 

 notable example of the utility of the new West Indian weather 

 service and of the wisdom of Congress in continuing as a per- 

 petual instrument of peace the service organized to meet an 

 emergency of war that the Galveston hurricane was detected on 

 September 1st, 1900, at the time of its conception in the ocean 

 south of Porto Rico and that the new system of West Indian 

 reports gave us such complete simultaneous data that at no time 

 did we lose track of the storm and everywhere as it progressed 

 northward, such full information was given that notwithstand- 

 ing the extensive commerce of the Gulf of Mexico, little or no 

 loss of life or property occurred upon the open waters of the 

 Gulf and the destruction at Galveston was many times less than 

 it would have been without the premonition that was given, and 

 the activity of the Bureau's officers in urging people to move 

 from the low ground of the city to its more secure portions. 

 Again, as this storm recurved and passed over the Lake region, 

 the storm warnings were so well distributed that, notwithstand- 

 ing the energy of the storm was so great that few vessels were 

 staunch enough to live through its fury, shipping remained 

 safely in harbor and there was not a life lost. These are some 

 of the utilities of which the general public is not thoroughly 

 informed. 



When a marked cold wave develops in the north plateau of the 

 Rocky Mountains and, by its broad area and great barometric 

 pressure, threatens to sweep southeastward with its icy blasts, 

 the meteorological stations of the Bureau are ordered to take 

 observations every few hours in region immediately in advance 

 of the cold area and to telegraph the same to headquarters. By 

 this means every phase of the development of the cold area is 

 carefully watched, and when the danger is great each observatory 

 in the threatened region becomes a distributing center, from which 

 warnings are sent to those who have produce or perishable 

 articles of manufacture that need protection against low temper- 

 atures. In such cases the system of distribution is so perfect 

 that it is not uncommon for the Bureau to distribute 100,000 

 telegrams and messages inside the space of one or two hours, so 

 that nearly every city, village, and hamlet receives the informa- 



