STATE WEATHER BUREAUS. 697 
season, the results of observations in temperature and humidity would be inval 
uable, because they would enable a correct forecast of their development to be 
made. 
The State Weather Service may be wholly volunteer and under the charge 
of a director or superintendent appointed by the governor, or it may be made a 
part of the duties of some officer now authorized by law, such as the surveyor- 
general, the superintendent of public instruction, the president of some State 
college, etc. The observer in each county may be a volunteer, or it may be 
made the part of the duty of some county officer to make a daily record and 
monthly report. Observations should be taken, if possible, in all State, county, 
and municipal offices and institutions, such as jails, asylums, hospitals, libraries, 
colleges, high-schools, and waterworks, and by toll gate keepers, surveyors, 
canal-lock keepers, etc. The instruments used should, when practicable, be of 
uniform patterns, carefully tested before use by comparison with known stan- 
dards, and should include at least one maximum and minimum thermometer, one 
dew-point or other hygrometer, and rain guage, all which, with a supply of blanks 
and stamped envelopes for one year, need not cost more than $15 per station. 
The director should be fully impressed with the importance of the work and 
should issue each month a "review of the weather," as obtained from the State 
observations, this review to be furnished to each county paper for publication 
and to each observer within ten days after the close of the month. The Chief 
Signal Officer will furnish sample forms, instructions for taking observations, 
price-list of standard instruments, and give any information relative to this sub- 
ject which the experience of the Signal Service may afford. Systems similar to 
the above are now in successful operation in Missouri and Iowa, and will soon 
be organized in Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska. When all the States 
east of the Rocky Mountains have their separate weather services, and those 
co-operate with the Washington Bureau, the resultant accumulation of meteoro- 
logical data will be invaluable. For the benefit of our legislators a specimen 
'^ act" on the subject is given below : 
An Act to establish a central station of the Iowa Weather Service and for the 
appointment of a director thereof. — Laws 17, General Assembly, State of 
Iowa, chapter 45. 
Section i. — Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa, That 
there be and hereby is established at Iowa City, a central station for the Iowa 
Weather Service, with Gustavus Hinrichs as director thereof, and in case of his 
death or disability his successor shall be appointed by the Governor. 
Sec. 2. — The duties of said director shall be to establish volunteer weather 
stations throughout the State and supervise the same ; to receive reports there- 
from and reduce the same to tabular form, and report the same quarterly to the 
State printer for publication in the form of the Iowa Weather Reports. 
Sec. 3. — That the State printer be authorized to print 2,000 copies of the 
said Iowa Weather Reports quarterly, 1,000 copies of which shall be distributed 
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