DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 79 



-admirable scheme for many reasons, principally because the location of a 

 City Water Works Pumping Plant usually affords an ideal location for the 

 exposure of the thermometers and rain gauge and secondly, because there 

 is always someone on duty at such a station day and night throughout the 

 year whose time will permit of a short diversion lengthy enough to make 

 an observation carefully and promptly. Finally, by making a business 

 arrangement with the municipal authorities my office is reasonably assured 

 that the work will be carried forward properly and, additionally, the ser- 

 vices of the men thus secured are always intelligent.. From the stand- 

 point of the municipal authorities the arrangement has its advantages, 

 because it secures for their city a meteorological record from reliable and 

 accurate instruments and the work is carried on under the competent super- 

 vision of the U. S. Weather Bureau, making it comparable and homogene- 

 ous with all other work of this kind in the U. S. The record to the mu- 

 nicipality is very valuable in many ways and supplies information for cur- 

 rent and reference use that is coming into demand more and more every 

 day. In fact, the meteorological records now being accumulated are being 

 used in so many ways that there is hardly any branch of modern business 

 that does not consult them at one time or another. 



Recently the U. S. Weather Bureau officially changed the designation 

 of these stations from ''Voluntary Observers Stations" to "Cooperative 

 Observers Stations," thinking that the term was more comprehensive. 



In the distribution of forecasts and special warnings we have made a 

 decided advance, owing to the wide and general increase of farmers' tele- 

 phones. We now have an arrangement with the principal Telephone Com- 

 panies of the state whereby our forecasts are distributed, without cost, 

 to nearly all of their various exchanges before 11:00 a. m., each morning. 

 By advertisement in their directories and otherwise their telephone sub- 

 scribers are advised that by calling up "Central" any time after 11:00 a. m. 

 they can secure the weather forecasts for "tonight and tomorrow." At 

 present over 43,000 telephone patrons are thus supplied with forecasts and 

 I hope to be able to perfect arrangements during the coming year whereby 

 every farmer who has a telephone will be able to secure the weather fore- 

 casts by simply calling up his "Central." 



The Weekly Climate and Crop Bulletin has been published during the 

 planting, growing and harvesting seasons as in the past and continues to 

 meet with the favor of the public generally. We have a weekly mailing 

 list of about 1,300 of these bulletins, which is greatly extended and ampli- 

 fied by the metropolitan newspapers and a large number of the smaller 

 weekly and semi-weekly newspapers. We consider the information very 

 reliable. It is obtained from a corps of about seven hundred correspond- 

 ents who report weekly to this office. Their reports are mailed so as to 

 reach the Grand Rapids office by Monday noon and the Bulletin is issued 

 to the public Tuesday noon. 



The monthly and annual publications contain statistical meteorological 

 data, reported by voluntary observers and regular Weather Bureau Stations 

 and have been published in the same style and form as in previous years. 

 The data is all displayed in detail and tabulated homogeneous^ with re- 

 ports published in the other states in the Union, so that it can be readily 

 compared with any other report issued in any other state. These monthly 

 and annual reports are very widely sought for. 



C. F. SCHNEIDER, 



Director. 



