Neck Out for 50 Years

The most-talked-about person in the U.S. had his golden anniversary last week. The Weather Man.

At first he merely reported forces and courses of storms on seacoasts and the Great Lakes for the Army. Then he stuck his neck out and began to predict. By 1891 he had won the esteem of many farmers, was formally set up in the Department of Agriculture.

In the last ten years, thanks to 1) drought, and 2) air transportation, he suddenly became world-famous, world-important. Today his upkeep costs from $6-7,000,000 a year, he is a part of the Department of Commerce, and by air-mass analysis, he now tells ocean-spanning planes where "cold fronts" (turbulent air) lie, tells land planes where and when it is unsafe to fly. Although World War II cut off many of his reports from ships at sea and from Canada, he still works for U.S. farmers, soldiers and sailors more efficiently than ever.

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