50 



THE REPORT OF THE 



No. 33 



minute schedule during the prevalence of an east wind, so that no opportunity 

 of securing records of western drift would be lost. Inflation was for a minimum 

 buoyancy as far as possible. We desired records of the lower air currents. There 

 was attached to each balloon a numbered tag requesting the finder to give his 

 name, address, the date and place where found and he in turn would be informed 

 as to the time and place of liberation. Records were kept of the locality, time 

 and wind conditions when each balloon was released. The balloon work 

 extended from May 11th to June 8th. 



The following tabulation gives some general items of interest: 



Table of 



3alloons Released 



and Tags Returned 







Locality 



Balloons 

 released 



Tags 

 returned 



Per cent, 

 returned 



Balloons drifting 



5 miles 

 or more 



Number 



Mileage 



Average 

 mileage 



No. Petersburg, N.Y 



794 

 551 

 575 

 807 

 648 

 298 

 586 

 495 

 597 

 459 

 537 

 611 



34 

 20 

 22 

 75 

 33 

 8 

 35 

 45 

 50 

 25 

 31 

 44 



4 

 3 

 4 

 9 

 5 

 3 

 ' 7 

 9 

 8 

 6 

 6 

 7 



33 

 42 

 21 

 10 

 27 

 5 

 29 

 39 

 43 

 20 

 19 

 28 



1,368 



1,426 



1,393 



305 



653 



165 



630 



861 



1,290 



696 



660 



1,347 



41 



No. Adams, Mass 



34 



Hoosac Mountain, Mass 



W. Charlemont, Mass 



66 



30 



E. Charlemont. Mass 



24 



Bradford, Vt 



33 



Deerfield, Mass 



22 



Easthampton, Mass 



22 



East Granby, Conn 



30 



Sheffield, Mass 



35 



Copake Falls, N.Y 



35 



Miscellaneous localities 



48 



Totals and averages 



6,958 



422 



6 



316 



10,794 



34 



The percentage of returned tags ranges for the various stations from over 

 three to nine, the average for all stations being over six. The records show that 

 of 298 balloons where the data were sufficiently detailed, 74, or 25 per cent., 

 continued to drift in the direction they started, the others diverging to various 

 degrees, even to the extent of drifting finally in a directly opposite direction. 

 One balloon, No. 3,611, released at Easthampton, Mass., at 10 a.m., May 23rd, 

 dropped at 4.15 p.m. on the same day within fifteen feet of the point of release, 

 evidently carried back by counter currents. Another remarkable record was 

 that of balloon No. 3,468, released at Easthampton, Mass., at 5 p.m. on May 

 16th, and recovered by the observer at the next station north, Deerfield, some 

 fifteen miles distant, the following morning. 



There were considerable variations in the distances covered by the balloons. 

 The longest known was from New Lebanon, Columbia county, New York, to five 

 miles off Yarmouth Cape, Nova Scotia, about 400 miles. This was the second 

 balloon released in the preliminary work. Seven balloons drifted from 110 to 

 145 miles, twenty-two from 85 to 100 miles, and eighteen from 60 to 75 miles, the 

 greater proportion presumably dropping at shorter distances. The velocities 

 for sixty-one balloons found the date of liberation average 17.9 miles per hour, the 

 averages for the various stations ranging from 14 to 27 miles per hour. The 

 records indicate that one balloon drifted 65 miles at the rate of 100 miles per 

 hour, and another covered 65 miles in one hour. 



The records of returned tags show a general distribution of the balloons in 

 southern New England, most of them, as might be expected, being found within 



