BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY Published Monthly by the American Meteorological Society. Publication Office: 66 High Street, Worcester, Mass. Address all Communications to "Secretary, Am. Meteorological Soc., Vol. 5. MAY, 1924. No. 5. 10 MINUTES OF THE APRIL MEETING AT WASHINGTON Those who attended the meeting of the Society at the Weather Bureau, April 30, seem to feel well repaid. There was a considerable variety of subjects presented and not a little lively discussion, especially on the simplification of the calendar, and on thunderstorms in the United States. No previous meeting of the Society was kept so close to the times of epening and closing the sessions. The morning session was called to order at 9:32, and was terminated at 12 sharp; the afternoon session began on the dot of 1:15 and ended at exactly 4. The enlarged room provided this year for the first time, proved exactly suited to the requirements of the meeting: it was well filled though not crowded; and blackboard, chart display, and lantern-slide facilities were readily available at all times. Mr. Kadel supplied pleasing decorations in the form of an armful of apple blossoms from his farm. Professor C. F. Marvin, having been named chairman, called the meeting to order at 9:32 A. M. Professor Marvin: My presence here is owing to the inability of our President, Mr. Milham, to be with us today. I have a letter just received from him, by the Secretary, a portion of which I would like to read: "I am very sorry indeed that I can not get away for the Washington meeting on Wednesday. A meeting at the Weather Bureau in particular, with its opportunities of seeing those connected with it and its equipment, is always especially pleasurable and profitable. The American Meteorological Society is, however, in good hands so the loss is only my personal loss. May the Washington Meeting be very successful! "Yours most sincerely, "WILLIS I. MILHAM." There are a few announcements that it might be well to make and that will interest the members I think. At the meeting of the Council held on Monday there were authorized certain expenditures and other acts to carry the work of the Society for the remainder of the year. $750.00 was voted for the publication of the BULLETIN and $30 a month for assistance for Editorial and Secretarial work for the remainder of the year, leaving it to the judgment of the Secretary what issues of the BULLETIN might be combined in the summer months. As you know, the next meeting of the American Association is to be held in Washington in December and the Society will hold its annual meeting in Washington at this time, probably the 29th or 30th of December. However, these dates are subject to change. Doctor Meisinger will look after the details and arrangements for the Washington meeting. The members of the Pacific Coast and in the West have been holding meetings the past two years during the summer. The Pacific Coast section of the Association and our Vice-President, Mr. Douglass, have indicated the readiness of the people of the West to hold meetings next summer. The Council authorized the President and Secretary to make necessary arrangements with the VicePresident. At the meeting in Cincinnati there was presented and discussed to some extent a proposal to form a world meteorological foundation. Just exactly what that means perhaps has not been well crystalized, but the matter has been under consideration by the council, a committee on world meteorology has been appointed, consisting of Marvin, chairman; Stupart, Clayton, Nunn, Milham and Brooks, to consider what projects are desirable and what steps should be taken to obtain funds. It was the unanimous concensus of opinion that the projects proposed should be closely related to American conditions to gain support. That covers most of the points in the meeting of the Council that the members are particularly interested in. Following this announcement the program calls for an expression of welcome on my part, and, speaking now as Chief of the Weather Bureau, and not as presiding officer, I assure you that it is again a great pleasure to welcome the members of the Society and to hold meetings in the Weather Bureau building. We are not very well equipped for this purpose but it is better than at previous meetings held here. It is a pretty good place to hold meetings where we have a membrship as large as this. In talking over some affairs with the Secretary this morning the question came up as to whether we might not properly appoint a Resolutions Committee. There are likely to come up some matters during the meeting perhaps that might justify a Resolutions Committee. Is there any one who wishes to make comments or a motion on this subject? If there are no objections I would be glad to designate a Resolutions Committee myself. I hear no objections so I will take matters in my own hands and appoint Mr. Kimball and Mr. Gregg as the Resolutions Committee. I have already used up some time of the program and think that that covers practically everything except one matter that I have here which is a telegram just received this morning from our good friend, Doctor Meisinger, who you know is conducting free air balloon flights with the idea of determining the trajectories of air masses in cyclones. He has made four flights already. His telegram is as follows: Greetings to American Meteorological Society and earnest wishes for most successful meeting in Washington. I had hoped to greet you from balloon by carrier pigeon but hungry cat has paralyzed communications system. Work at Scott Field with balloons and airships progressing satisfactorily. Best wishes to all.-Meisinger. Now I am going to ask that the members endeavor to be as prompt as possible. The program is late but we hope to have a few minutes for discussion and perhaps I may ask the members to confine themselves strictly to the time on the program or very nearly so. The first topic is |