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120 amateur weather prophet are losing out in the de­mand for accurate information. Modern economics can’t depend on them. Long flights and important business ventures which need fair weather must have better foundation than:

“How many ships report ocean weather informa­tion?” I asked.

“Not nearly so many as we need,” Dr. Kimball sighed. “We haven’t adequate appropriation yet for all the service we’d like, but it’s much better than it used to be. The storms over the North At­lantic are larger than any known on land, extending sometimes in one vast disturbance from Newfound­ land to the British Isles. That is the extent—how high they are, we do not know.

“During the hurricane season a hundred or more ships in West Indian waters report. If vessels in the North sent regular data, our over-ocean weather maps should be pretty efficient. That’s important for maritime commerce, and of course essential in the development of transatlantic flying. Also such information would help us tremendously in fore­casting weather conditions on shore, both for our own continent and for Europe.”

Dr. Kimball, like so many others, believes that regular transatlantic air service, whether by dir­igibles or airplanes, is inevitable—and near. As a matter of fact, one of the barriers to it today is lack