2<S4 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tlio biiieau maintains marine oontors at 2^ seaport towns on the 

 ocean antl (Jiilf coasts and 11) on the (Ji-eat Lakes, at which points 

 meteorok)gical charts and supplies are distributed to the cooperating 

 vessels. At New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and New 

 Orleans assistants are specially assigned to visit vessels, instruct the 

 observers, make comparisons^ and furnish general information. The 

 official at Seattle has supervision over the meteorological work of all 

 vessels entering Puget Sound. 



The following are extracts from letters commendatory of the 

 charts: 



jNIi-. V. le Toumelin, of the French steamship Cacique: 



I have been sending reports five years, and am too glad to receive your charts 

 and rely on them. 



Capt. AV. A. Haughton, 11. N. 11., commander of the steamship 



Persia : 



I can not express to you how valuable these charts are to a seaman, and beg 

 to compliment you on the production of such valuable aids to safe navigation. 



Acknowledgment is due to the meteorological services of other 

 countries for furnishing reports on ocean meteorology and other 

 special data. The bureau is also indebted to Mr. H. C. Thomson for 

 valuable information relative to the fogs of Newfoundland and the 

 higher latitudes of the north Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Thomson has 

 made a stud\^ of the subject in connection with the contemplated 

 establishment of a railway through Newfoundland and a northern 

 steamship route to Europe. 



VESSEL WEATHER SERVICE. 



On April 1, 1912, the bureau inaugurated on the Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts a vessel weather service on 30 vessels sailing between New 

 York and New Orleans and points in the West Indies and South 

 American ports. This special service on 23 of the vessels was placed 

 under the supervision of the official at New York and on 7 under 

 that of the official at New Orleans. The vessels were equipped with 

 aneroid barometers, and the observer on each takes two observations 

 daily, one at 7 a. m. and the other at 7 p. m., seventy-fifth meridian 

 time, when the vessel is 75 miles from the port of departure or port 

 of entry, and radiographs them to the nearest wireless station on the 

 coast, from which point they are sent over the land lines to Wash- 

 ington. For this service the observers are paid 50 cents for each 

 observation. The transmission of the messages from the vessels and 

 their transfer to the land line stations is done without cost to the 

 bureau, through cooperation by the naval wireless, Marconi, the 

 United W^ireless, and the United Fruit radiotelegraph service, to 

 which companies thanks are extended for the many courtesies shown. 

 The steamers cooperating in this work are operated by the United 

 Fruit Steamship Co., the New York & Cuba Mail Steamship Co., the 

 Mallory Steamship Co., and the Panama Railroad Steamship Line. 



Vessel weather .service has also been started on the Pacific coast on 

 vessels of the Nippon Yusen Kabushika Kaisha, plying between the 

 Orient and points on the Pacific coast. The Japanese Government 

 offered to take up the work free of cost, except for land tolls, and 



