harbors are made impassable for deep-draft vessels, on account of the heavy sea which breaks in depths of about 4 fathoms. The usual local indication of a southeaster is a breeze freshening at eastnortheast or east, and hauling southward, accompanied by a falling barometer, a rising temperature, and an increasing swell. The lowest reading of the barometer is usually reached immediately after the wind gains its maximum velocity at southeast. When the wind hauls southward of southeast, it is an indication that the gale is breaking, which is usually followed by heavy squalls; as it hauls westward of south, first rain squalls, and then clearing weather, may be expected, unless, as is sometimes the case, the southeaster be followed by a norther. Southeast gales raise the water in the harbors along the Gulf coast, in some cases, to a height of 6 feet above the normal. Along the western coast of Florida, from Cape Romano to Apalachee Bay, southeast gales are not so dangerous to shipping; vessels can anchor in shoal water under the lee of the land and hold on until the gale abates.

STORM WARNINGS

Storm warnings are displayed by the United States Weather Bureau at numerous places on the coasts of the United States and the Great Lakes.

Small craft warning.-A red pennant indicates that moderately strong winds that will interfere with the safe operation of small craft are expected. No night display of small craft warnings is made.

Northeast storm warning.-A red pennant above a square red flag with black center displayed by day, or two red lanterns, one above the other, displayed by night, indicate the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginning from the northeast.

Southeast storm warning.-A red pennant below a square red flag with black center displayed by day, or one red lantern displayed by night, indicates the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginning from the southeast.

Southwest storm warning.-A white pennant below a square red flag with black center displayed by day, or a white lantern below a red lantern displayed by night, indicates the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginning from the southwest.

Northwest storm warning.-A white pennant above a square red flag with black center displayed by day, or a white lantern above a red lantern displayed by night, indicates the approach of a storm of marked violence with winds beginning from the northwest.

Hurricane, or whole gale warning.-Two square flags, red with black centers, one above the other, displayed by day, or two red lanterns, with a white lantern between, displayed by night, indicate the approach of a tropical hurricane, or one of the extremely severe and dangerous storms which occasionally move across the Great Lakes and Atlantic coast.

These warnings are displayed at all stations on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States and on the following islands in the Atlantic: Jamaica, Turks Island, Bermuda, Haiti, Curacao, Porto Rico, Virgin Islands of the United States, St. Kitts, Dominica, Bar

bados, Trinidad, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Swan Island, and Cuba.

The following are the storm warning display stations with the limits covered by this volume:

These are cyclonic storms with a center of lowest barometer, around which the wind blows in a more or less circular course (spirally) in a direction contrary to the hands of a watch. At the same time the storm field advances on a straight or curved track, sometimes with great velocity, and sometimes not more than a few miles an hour, occasionally appearing to come to a pause in its onward movements. The velocity on the Atlantic coast between Hatteras and the island of Cuba is 5 to 15 miles per hour. They cover a circular area varying generally from 150 to 500 miles in diameter. At the center, the area of lowest barometer, which is from 10 to 20 miles in diameter, complete calm prevails; the seas within this center are violent and confused, and combined with the sudden shifts of wind which are encountered as the vessel passes through the center, make this the most dangerous part of the hurricane and the one to be avoided.

Hurricanes form eastward of the Windward Islands or in the western Caribbean Sea and take a westerly or northwesterly course. Some curve northward gradually, passing north of the island of Cuba and northeasterly along and eastward of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Others pass over or southward of Cuba and enter the Gulf of Mexico, and while in the Gulf usually curve north

At these stations barometers will be compared with standards,

ward or northeastward so as to strike the coast somewhere between northwest Florida and the Rio Grande. Tracks of hurricanes are shown on pilot charts of the North Atlantic Ocean, published monthly by the United States Hydrographic Office.

The months during which hurricanes are encountered are June to November, the months of their greatest frequency are August, September, and October. During these months mariners should be on the watch for indications of a hurricane and should frequently and carefully observe and record the barometer.

Signs of approach.-First, a long heavy swell, a slight rise followed by a continuous fall of the barometer; second, a strong gusty wind from some northerly point (northeast, north, or northwest), blowing with increasing force; and third, a rough, increasing sea. If one or more of these signs be wanting there is little cause for anticipating a hurricane.

The approach of a hurricane is usually indicated by a long, heavy swell, propagated to a great distance two or three days in advance, where there is no intervening land to interrupt it, and which comes from the direction in which the storm is approaching.

One of the earliest signs of a hurricane are high cirrus clouds which converge toward a point on the horizon that indicates the direction of the center of the storm. The snow-white fibrous mare's tails appear when the center of the storm is about 300 to 400 miles distant.

As the storm center approaches, the barometer continues to fall, the velocity of the wind increases and blows in heavy squalls, and the changes in its direction become more rapid. Rain in showers accompanies the squalls, and when closer to the center the rain is continuous and attended by furious gusts of wind; the air is frequently thick with rain and spume drift, making objects invisible at a short distance. A vessel on a line of the hurricane's advance will experience the above conditions, except that as the center approaches the wind will remain from the same direction, or nearly so, until the vessel is close to or in the center.

Distance from center. The distance from the center of a hurricane can only be estimated from a consideration of the height of the barometer and the rapidity of its fall, and the velocity of the wind and rapidity of its change in direction. If the barometer falls slowly and the wind increases gradually it may be reasonably supposed that the center is distant; with a rapidly falling barometer and increasing winds the center may be supposed to be approaching dangerously near.

Practical rules.-When there are indications of a hurricane, vessels should remain in port or seek one if possible, carefully observing and recording the changes in barometer and wind, taking every precaution to avert damage by striking light spars, strengthening moorings and, if a steamer preparing steam to assist the moorings. In the ports of the Southern States hurricanes are generally accompanied by very high tides, and vessels may be endangered by overriding the wharf where lying if the position is at all exposed.

Vessels in the Straits of Florida may not have the sea room to maneuver so as to avoid the storm track, and should use every endeavor to make a harbor or stand out of the straits to obtain sea room. Vessels unable to reach port and having sea room to ma

neuver should, in the absence of advice by radio telegraph, observe the following rules:

When there are indications of a hurricane near, sailing vessels should heave to on the starboard tack and steamers remain stationary and carefully observe and record the changes in wind and barometer so as to find the bearing of the center and ascertain by the shift of wind in which semicircle the vessel is situated. Much will often depend on heaving to in time.

Bearings of center. Facing the wind, the storm center will be 8 to 12 points to the right; when the storm is distant it will be from 10 to 12 points, and when the barometer has fallen five or six tenths it will be about 8 points.

A line drawn through the center of a hurricane in the direction in which it is moving is called the axis or line of progression, and looking in the direction in which it is traveling the semicircle on either side of the axis is called, respectively, the right-hand, or dangerous, semicircle, and the left-hand, or navigable, semicircle.

To find in which semicircle the vessel is situated: If the wind shifts to the right, the vessel will be in the right-hand, or dangerous, semicircle, with regard to the direction in which the storm is traveling, in which case the vessel should be kept on the starboard tack and increase her distance from the center.

If the wind shifts to the left, the vessel will be in the left, or safe, semicircle. The helm should be put up and the vessel run with the wind on the starboard quarter, preserving the compass course, if possible, until the barometer rises, when the vessel may be hove to on the port tack; or, if there is not sea room to run, the vessel 'can be put on the port tack at once.

Should the wind remain steady and the barometer continue to fall, the vessel is in the path of the storm and should run with the wind on the starboard quarter into the safe semicircle.

In all cases act so as to increase as soon as possible the distance from the center, bearing in mind that the whole storm field is advancing.

In receding from the center of a hurricance, the barometer will rise and the wind and sea subside.

RADIO SERVICE

The supervision of radio communication in the United States, including the Hawaiian Islands, is controlled by the Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce. A list of the radio stations of the United States, including shore stations, merchant vessels, and Government vessels; Radio Communication Laws and Regulations of the United States; and Amateur Radio Stations of the United States are published by the bureau. Either of the first two publications can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.; price, 15 cents each; the last one, 25 cents. Changes or additions to the stations and to the laws and regulations are published in bulletins issued monthly; price, 5 cents per copy or 25 cents per year.

The International List of Radio Stations of the World (edition in English) can be procured from the International Bureau of the Telegraphic Union (Radiotelegraphic Service), Berne, Switzerland. In

addition to the information contained in the list of the United States stations published by the Bureau of Navigation, the international list shows geographical locations, normal ranges in nautical miles, radio systems, and rates. Supplements to the international list will be issued monthly and will contain new stations and tables of alterations. Inquiries as to the subscription prices of these lists should be made direct to the Berne bureau at the address given above. Remittances to Berne should be made by international postal money orders.

Time signals.-In connection with the service over the land telegraph lines, time signals by radio are sent daily, Sundays and holidays excepted, from certain United States naval coastwise radio stations. The signals begin at 5 minutes before the hour and continue for 5 minutes. During this interval every tick of the clock is transmitted except the twenty-ninth second of each minute, the last 5 seconds of each of the first 4 minutes, and finally the last 10 seconds of the last minute. The time signal is the beginning of the dash after this long break. Hydrographic information, weather reports, and other information of benefit to shipping are sent out from these stations.

Radiocompass bearings. The increasing use of radio directional bearings for locations of ships' positions at sea, especially during foggy weather, has made it particularly desirable to be able to apply these radio bearings sent out by the shore stations directly to the nautical chart. The radio bearings sent out by radiocompass stations are the bearings of the great circles passing through those stations and the ship, and unless in the plane of the equator or of a meridian, would be represented on a Mercator chart as curved lines. Obviously it is impracticable for a navigator to plot such lines on his chart, so it is necessary to apply a correction to a radiocompass bearing to convert it into a Mercator bearing; that is, the bearing of a straight line on a Mercator chart laid off from the sending station and passing through the receiving station.

On page 14 is given a table of corrections for the conversion of a radio bearing into a Mercator bearing. It is sufficiently accurate for practical purposes for distances up to 1,000 miles.

The only data required are the latitudes and longitudes of the radiocompass stations and of the ship by dead reckoning. The latter is scaled from the chart and the former either scaled from the chart or taken from the list of radiocompass stations printed in the Coast Pilots or on the Pilot Chart published by the Hydrographic Office, United States Navy. The largest scale chart available should be used for this purpose.

The table is entered with the difference in longitude in minutes between the ship and shore station (the nearest tabulated value being used), and opposite the middle latitude between the ship and shore station (to the nearest tabulated value) the correction to be applied is read.

The sign of the correction, when bearings are read clockwise from north, will be as follows: In north latitude, the plus sign is used when the ship is east of the compass station; the minus sign is used when the ship is west of the compass station; in south latitude, the minus sign is used when the ship is east of the compass station;