A snowstorm gets under way, unless the wind is swinging toward the north. A PAGE OF PROBLEMS One satisfying thing about meteorology is that there is a constantly widening field for conquest. Among the questions that await solution are: What are the relative densities of clouds? What is the original atmospheric electricity, its distribution and laws? What are the causes and nature of precipitation? Will aërial ascents on all sides of an atmospheric disturbance discover the mechanism of storms? What relations are there of solar radiation to our atmosphere? What influence do lunar tides bear to our weather? On what does the permanence of the summer lows over the Rockies depend? These questions are only samples. Many certainties can be attained by merely complete observations over a longer period of time, others by new systems of observations that await a more generous appropriation. Even the upper air investigations on Mt. Weather, Va., have had to be curtailed. The Bureau's record has proved it efficient, of enormous benefit to the country, and deserving of the encouragement instead of the depreciation of every citizen. WHAT THE WEATHER FLAGS MEAN In every city the Bureau causes flags to be flown from some prominent place so that a glance may show shippers and everybody who may be concerned at the shortest possible notice just what the approaching weather conditions are. A plain white flag means fair weather. A black triangle stands for temperature and is always exhibited with some other flag. Its relative position, either above or below indicates higher or lower temperature. Therefore white flag with the black below means fair and colder. The white flag with the black above means fair and warmer. A white flag with a black square in the center means a cold wave. A blue flag means either rain or snow. The blue with the black above would mean rain or snow and warmer. The blue with the black below would mean rain or snow and colder. A blue and white flag means a local shower. The same meanings are attached to the black triangle in connection with the blue and white. A red triangle indicates a dangerous local storm, is called the information flag meaning that shippers should apply to the Bureau for news of the direction in which the storm is travelling. A red square with a black center means severe winds. 1. Southwesterly with a white triangle below. 2. Northwesterly with a white triangle above. 3. Northeasterly with a red triangle above. 4. Southeasterly with a red triangle below. OUR FOUR WORLD'S RECORDS,--AND OTHERS Maximum Temperature United States, 134 at Greenland Ranch, Cal., July, 1913. World, 134 at Greenland Ranch, Cal. Minimum Temperature United States, -65 at Miles City, Mont., January, 1888. World, -98 at Verkhojansk, Siberia. Absolute Zero of Space -459 degrees Fahrenheit. Maximum Annual Precipitation United States, 167.29 inches at Glenora, Oreg., in 1896.