28 THE CLIMATOLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



stationary temperature, and three white flags, one with a 

 blue ball, one with a blue crescent, and one with a blue star 

 denoting general rain or snow, clear or fair weather, and 

 local rain or snow. These are not displayed by the gov- 

 ernment but are recommended for use, and responsible 

 parties willing to display them regularly will be furnished 

 with daily telegraphic reports from the signal office for 

 that purpose. 



In the preparation of the daily weather bulletins a num- 

 ber of charts must first be made out and when it is consid- 

 ered that several hundred stations send in their reports 

 it is not surprising that a large force is necessarily em- 

 ployed at the main office. Seven graphic charts in all are 

 prepared showing the barometric pressures, the tempera- 

 ture, direction and velocity of the wind, moisture in the 

 air, etc., at the various stations throughout the country. 

 These charts then pass into other hands and the bulletin 

 giving a synopsis of the weather throughout the coun- 

 try is prepared and the indications are made out and tel- 

 egraphed to all the principal cities in the United States. 

 The per cent of verifications of these indications has 

 averaged a little higher than that of the storm signals. 

 In addition to these telegrams there are the Farmer's Bul- 

 letins which are printed and sent to the smaller places by 

 rail. In this work some forty railroad companies assist in 

 distributing two-thousand or more bulletins daily ; these are 

 posted in conspicuous places by station agents, postmas- 

 ters, etc. 



In 1873 General Myers, chief signal officer, attended the 

 Meteorological Congress at Vienna, a gathering composedof 

 the officers of the various national weather bureaus of Eu- 

 rope, and representatives of scientific organizations. On 

 this occasion he submitted a plan for united work, whereby a 

 simultaneous record of meteorological conditions in differ- 



