\'ew York Stai e 29 



the nation. The observations were, however, continued at military 

 posts that had been interested in the work by Professor Henry, as 

 well as by some private individuals, the regular monthly reports 

 of observations being made direct to the Smithsonian Institute 

 at Washington. 



The organization of the National Weather Service by act of 

 Congress in 1 v 7'», which placed all work of this character in the 

 hands of the signal corps of the United States army, resulted in 

 the establishment of five regular observing stations in New York 

 State, which number, under the later administration of the U. S. 

 Weather Bureau, was increased to nine. 



The New York State Weather Service, or Bureau, as it was 

 designated, was created by act of legislature in 1889, with Andrew 

 S. Draper, superintendent of public instruction; E. A. Fuertes, 

 professor of civil engineering at Cornell University, and Simeon 

 Smith, treasurer for the city of Ithaca, as commissioners. 



Later, Professor Fuertes was made director and under his ad- 

 ministration, with the able assistance of Mr. Eben T. Turner as 

 meteorologist, the service was rapidly developed and observing 

 stations established in all parts of the state. 



A most excellent report on the climate of New York, by Mr. 

 Turner, appears in the fifth and eighth annual reports of the 

 director. The New York service was finally merged with the 

 Climatological Service of the United States Weather Bureau in 

 1899. under whose direction, the work has been carried on up to 

 the present time. It was fortunate that the general scheme at the 

 outset was so well considered and so thoroughly adhered to that 

 few changes in the method of making and recording the observa- 

 tions were made necessary by the advancement of the science dur- 

 ing all these years ; and although many different instruments were 

 used- and many individuals participated in the work, the results for 

 ihe whole period of 84 years are in all essentials homogeneous 

 and comparable. 



THERMOMETERS IX USE 



The thermometers used by the early observers were mostly made 

 by Mr. Kendall of New Lebanon, N. Y., but in later years were 

 dually replaced by those of other makers. The Fahrenheit 

 scale was, however, used throughout the series. 



