ANNUAL MEETING AT NEVADA. 343 



England Meteorological Society. Such work should be at once begun in 

 our state. In three or four years we should be familiar with the behavior 

 of these storms, and this knowledge could be given to all. 



In 1893 the telephone will become public property, and it will then 

 be possible for county telephone services to be established, putting each 

 farm in communication with a county seat. Telephone service can be 

 rendered for a sum which will be utterly insignificant when compared 

 with the advantages which it will bring. Farmers can then be kept in- 

 formed of the markets, can sell their produce before leaving their homes, 

 and will be able to save much time which they now waste during the 

 busy season of harvest. This is all so apparent that it is needless to 

 discuss it further. In addition, there will grow up a system of harvest 

 storm warnings. It will be very easy for any county telephone system 

 to give its subscribers a general warning of an approaching thunder 

 storm, and to transmit that information to such other counties as may be 

 in danger. The exact details of this scheme may be kft to the director 

 of a state weather service to work out. It seems certain that this can 

 and will be done and there is no more reason that this should be done by 

 the National weather service, than that the Congress of the United 

 States should concern itself with the building of a wagon bridge across 

 the Gasconade river. 



PAST WORK OF THE MISSOURI WEATHER SERVICE. 



The rain charts which accompany this paper show the average dis- 

 tribution of rain for each month and season, and for the year. They em- 

 body our labors in this direction from Dec. 1877 to Dec. 1887. In ad- 

 dition, the Director has made a magnetic survey of the state, which for 

 five years, required all of his time during the summer, and a large part 

 of the leisure time of the remaining portion of the year. The time and 

 money expended in this and in general weather service work, if paid for 

 as they are valued by others who employ those services, would be not 

 less than fifteen thousand dollars. Personal friends have also rendered 

 additional aid in carrying the financial burdens, and the cheerful support 

 which the observers have rendered, has been a source of pleasure from 

 the beginning. 



But the time has now come when it would seem that the state 

 should be invited to assume the, to it, slight burden of maintaining the 

 weather service. A sum of two thousand dollars per annum with ad- 

 ditional provision for printing the reports, will suffice, until the time 

 comes to develop the system of harvest warnings herein mention d. 



