282 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SMALL-CRAFT WARNINGS. 



A new w.irninn; for tlie protection of small craft, such as those 

 enirafCinl in fishing, towinir, motor boating, and yachting, from danger 

 from moderately strong wind was designed during the year, and 

 nine small-craft cooperative stations were established. A red pen- 

 nant, displayed during the day only, is flown to warn these interests. 



STATION WEATHER MAPS. 



The policy of publishing the commercial weather maps in the daily 

 papers in order to give the reports and information furnished by 

 the Weather Bureau wider distribution than obtainable by any other 

 means has continued during the year. At its close there was a net 

 increase of 20 papers publishing the map, as compared with the num- 

 ber for the previous year. The commercial map is now published at 

 lOG cities and towns, in 147 papers having a total daily circulation of 

 2,904,704. This large distribution is entirely without expense to the 

 Government except for the preparation of the original casts, and 

 means the placing of weather information before the reading public 

 at a great saving of funds that can be utilized in the extension of 

 the bureau's work in other directions. 



Daily weather maps are issued direct from 59 stations, with a total 

 daily circulation of 20,550. Since the publication of the commercial 

 map was begun, the station map has been discontinued at 51 stations. 



Glass weather maps were installed during the year at Chicago, 

 Evansville, New York, Tampa, Peoria, Fort Wayne, and San Antonio, 

 and are now changed daily in 59 places at 45 stations. The usual 

 points of display are cotton exchanges, fruit and produce exchanges, 

 chambers of commerce, boards of trade, maritime exchanges, and 

 customhouses. The high value attached by commercial organiza- 

 tions to this elaborate means of portraying general weather condi- 

 tions is evidenced by the following extracts from letters received : 



From the secretary of the Tampa (Fla.) Board of Trade: 



I have not written you before to acknowledge the receipt of the large glass 

 weather map, which has been installed on the first floor of the board of trade 

 building, as I desired to wait a week and see what interest the public took in 

 this excellent method of showing the weather of the United States daily. I 

 expected in the winter time when we have 10,000 tourists in Tampa that the 

 map would be surrounded all day long by our friends from the North, but I 

 did not expect such an interest in it during the summer time. The map is so 

 attractive that it commands attention, and it is located just back of a plate- 

 glass window, and each day there are hundreds who stop to study the weather 

 conditions as stenciled on the map. 



I wish to assure you that the board of trade appreciates your efforts to have 

 this map installed here; and I also know that the public appreciates it and it 

 will go a long ways toward acquainting the public with the maps in the papers, 

 as the weather map is done in colored chalk. 



From the secretary of the Savannah (Ga.) Cotton Exchange: 



Pull information of the weather that prevails all over the cotton belt and 

 the forecast of what may be expected to come is not only valuable information 

 but is highly important to the trade; we are very anxious about the forecast, 

 and the large glass weather map is now the most popular point of the exchange, 

 f.nd the map is surrounded by a crowd while it is is being made up. 



From the secretary of the Evansville (Ind.) Business Association: 



The large glass weather map is a great attraction, and it has proved so in- 

 teresting to a great many of the business men that they come to the associa- 

 tion rooms daily to ob.serve the weather conditions throughout the country, and 

 also to carefully study the map. 



