WEATHER BUEEAU. 183 



Sand Key can also send and receive messages by flash light (Morse 

 code). Each station, immediately upon sighting a vessel, sends a 

 message to the owners and the maritime exchanges. All the sta- 

 tions cooperate with the Life-Saving Service in rendering assistance 

 to wrecks and vessels in distress. 



Cape Henry has 89 correspondents on its list, the telephone being 

 used in reporting to Norfolk and Newport News. That office also 

 cooperates with the Maryland Pilot Association, and such vessels 

 as do not burn night signals are reported each morning by the pilot 

 boats. All naval vessels are reported to Norfolk, and in some cases 

 to the Navy Department at Washington. A daily list of vessels that 

 pass is sent to the press in Norfolk. The office is kept open day 

 and night. A flag is dropped at noon each day, giving the noon 

 hour to the pilot boats and other vessels in the offing. A new code 

 for communicating with tugboats of the Baltimore Chamber of 

 Commerce that may be in the offing went into use in October, 1909. 

 For night signaling purposes an acetj'lene plant will shortly be 

 installed at Cape Henry. 



During the year Block Island reported 15 passing vessels, Jupiter 

 542, North Head 1,643, Point Keyes 1,131, Port Crescent 334, Sand 

 Key 1,552, Southeast Farallon 199, Tatoosh Island 2,308, and Cape 

 Henry 19,755, making a total of 27,539 vessels. Often each message 

 is sent to from three to six different interested parties, thus making 

 the work enormous. In addition to this. Cape Henry reported 12 

 wrecks, and 725 vessel orders were received and delivered. 



Only two complaints were made of poor service, and upon investi- 

 gation they were found to be due to the fault of the vessel captains. 



As an instance of the efficiency of the service, the observer at 

 Point Reyes Light noticed that a vessel, the Charles Wilson, off the 

 point, was rapidly drifting shoreward and was likely to be dashed 

 against the rocks. He at once signaled the vessel, notified the San 

 Francisco office of the Weather Bureau, and hoisted the distress 

 signal and the signal " want tugboat." The steamboat Dispatch 

 recognized the signals and went to the assistance of the helpless 

 vessel. 



Letters of commendation of the vessel-reporting service were re- 

 ceived from the maritime exchanges at New York, Philadelphia, 

 Baltimore, Norfolk, and Newport News. I will quote one from New 

 York, others being similar in their nature : 



We wish to express our appreciation of the valuable services rendered by 

 the Weather Bureau stations iu reporting to us the movements of vessels, par- 

 ticularly the Cape Henry (Va.) and Jupiter (Fla.) stations. The observers at 

 these stations are very capable men and fully understand our needs in the way 

 of prompt and accurate reports of vessel movements. 



LIBRARY. 



The additions to the library during the year numbered 1.291 books 

 and separate pamphlets, all of which have been catalogued under 

 author and subject. The total strength of the library is now well 

 over 30,000 volumes. 



The more important meteorological contents of about 100 scientific 

 periodicals have been regularly catalogued under author and subject. 

 As in previous years, select lists of the current additions to the cata- 

 logues of both books and periodical literature have been published 



