New York Weather Bureau. 13 



The information called for has been gratuitously furnished in so 

 far as it was obtainable from our records. In this and other 

 directions the correspondence of our office is very large, and much 

 of it is of a character requiring special research. More than 

 40,000 pieces of mail matter are sent out from our office annually, 

 generally under the frank of the U. S. Weather Bureau. 



The routine work of the central office includes the examination 

 and repair of instruments issued to voluntary stations; the crit- 

 ical examination and reduction of reports rendered monthly by 

 more than 100 observers; the preparation of tables and charts 

 for publication, beside the extensive system of observations car- 

 ried on here. In order to accomplish these necessary duties we 

 have been obliged to restrict our field of work, especially in the 

 direction of climatic invesitigation to a degree which I regret; 

 but larger results cannot be expected unless another assistant 

 can be employed for at least half of the year. 



It was hoped that a monograph on the climate of New York, 

 which was published in our annual report for 1893, might be re- 

 issued in a thoroughly revised form by the incorporation of the 

 large mass of data recently accumulated from all parts of the 

 State; but lack of time has made any material progress in this 

 direction impossible. Meanwhile, a very large demand has 

 nearly exhausted the first edition ; and, in view of the urgent re- 

 quests for the report which come to us almost daily, it is deemed 

 necessary to reissue it at once, as a portion of the present annual 

 report, although without the desired revision. 



A consideration of the character of requests for the data con- 

 tained in this monograph is instructive, as showing the variety 

 of interests which are practically affected by weather and climatic 

 conditions, beside confirming views which I have previously ex- 



