1. the present organization of this institution dates from the beginning of the civil war, and was originally purely military in its aims and purposes. it is still conducted by the war department, and partly for its own purposes; but its value to agricultural and commercial interests is constantly becoming more apparent and more extensive, and will probably, in the end, so overshadow its military relations as to reduce them to a very subordinate place in importance. the civil uses of this service are based on the science of meteorology, which is largely occupied with weather changes, the origin,[421] progress, and laws of storms. its value to the people consists in its accurate prediction of changes in the weather, and the warning it is able to give, sometimes many hours or even days in advance, of dangerous storms. its estimate of weather probabilities, based on observations reported daily from prominent points covering the whole country, are published in all the daily papers, usually found accurate, and are of great value to certain classes of the people. when a storm threatens to endanger the safety of shipping a signal is displayed in the port to give warning, and much property and many lives are often saved. it makes an accurate and scientific study of the weather and all the laws controlling its changes, by a large corps of enlightened and trained observers, all whose facts, constantly reported, systematized, and studied by competent persons, are likely to produce, in time, a most important and useful body of knowledge on that subject.
2. the objects of the signal service require its officials to be connected with the united states army, to have the use of the electric telegraph, to be familiar with meteorology, and skillful in the use of the scientific instruments employed in the study of atmospheric changes. by means of the telegraph, the army, though scattered over the whole country, and especially the frontiers and more inaccessible parts, may be almost instantaneously, and all at the same time, communicated with. it would be possible, by telegraphs, signals, and railroads, to concentrate the whole army from the numerous points where its fragments are located, from maine to texas, and the atlantic to the pacific, at one point in as short a time as it formerly took a body of soldiers to march a hundred miles.
3. it is a singularly striking instance of the vigor and effectiveness of control supplied by science, invention, and modern progress, by which our vast increase in numbers and in extent of territory are neutralized, the interests, sentiments, and habits of the people unified so that sectional jealousies and contests are made rare and slight, and the people of remote parts of the country made practically better acquainted with[422] each other than formerly were the inhabitants of adjoining states.
4. subordination and thoroughness of system are secured by its connection with the army, which probably also secures its advantages to the country at much less cost than would be the case were it an independent institution. the army is ambitious to be as useful as possible to the country. there is a signal school of instruction and practice at fort whipple, in va., which is to this service what the military and naval academies are to the army and navy. the most suitable persons are selected from the army or especially enlisted, and carefully schooled and tested through a sufficiently long period to render them fully competent for the delicate duties imposed on them.
5. there are about 90 signal stations, a few being located in canada and the west indies. the whole is under the direction of the chief signal officer, who reports to the secretary of war. there is a large and carefully arranged organization, under constant supervision by competent persons. several boards of examination are employed in selecting suitable persons for the different duties required in the service, and in testing their advancement toward a thorough fitness for each position to be occupied.
the first or lowest grade is for the “field” signal service, requiring a knowledge of army signals and telegraphy—this being the original military value of the institution—the second grade includes those who are competent to act as assistants to observers in the scientific or meteorological part of the work; and the third (called observer sergeants) includes those who have so complete a knowledge of the scientific principles involved and of the use of the instruments employed as to be fitted to take charge of stations of observation, and make the constant and minute reports on which the conclusions of the central office are based.
the stations are from time to time inspected, and the whole system kept in the most accurate order. very much depends on the intelligence and unremitting attention of the observers.
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this is, probably, the beginning of a work of the greatest practical value to commerce and agriculture. it will continually expand and grow more exact and useful, and from its relations to the diffusion of important and useful knowledge we have placed it with
the smithsonian institution.
1. though there are no doubt many minor failures to meet the wishes, and secure the interests of the people and some, perhaps, that are really serious—though in these the people bear a good share of the blame—the government has pursued an enlightened policy in respect to the encouragement of science, and the diffusion of useful knowledge. what it can properly do in the interest of the whole people has been done. the smithsonian institution is not wholly a government establishment; but the official machinery by which it was at first set in motion, and is continued in operation, belongs to the government. the funds with which it was founded, were furnished by an individual, and he a foreigner. the history runs thus: a noble-hearted englishman, whose name was john smithson, residing in the city of london, bequeathed all his property to the united states of america, for the purpose of founding in washington an establishment to be known as the “smithsonian institution,” for the purpose of increasing and diffusing knowledge among men. the united states accepted the bequest, and in 1846 passed an act for the purpose of carrying out the beneficent design of mr. smithson. this act created “an establishment,” as it is denominated in the act, by the name before stated. it might have been called a corporation, for it has perpetual succession, and many of the powers incident to a corporation.
2. by this act the president and vice-president of the united states, the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of war, the secretary of the navy, the postmaster general, the attorney general, and chief justice, the commissioner of the patent office, and the mayor of washington—during the time they shall hold their respective[424] offices, together with such other persons as they may elect honorary members—were constituted the establishment under the name of the smithsonian institution.
3. it is located at washington, and is managed by a board of regents, composed of the vice-president of the united states, the chief justice of the united states, the mayor of washington, three members of the senate, and three members of the house of representatives; together with six other persons. the board choose their own officers, and report their proceedings to congress at each session thereof.
4. in order to carry out mr. smithson’s noble design of founding this institution, rooms have been prepared for the reception of all objects of art, natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens which now or hereafter may belong to the united states, and such as may hereafter be obtained. these are classified and arranged so as to facilitate their examination and study. a vast collection has already been obtained and deposited in the institution, and it is constantly increasing by donations, by the researches and industry of its professors, and by exchanges made with kindred institutions at home and abroad. these are open to the examination of the public, and offer an opportunity to students and others to extend their scientific knowledge. this, together with the reports of its professors, of experiments and new discoveries, make it indeed an institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”
