92 HISTORICAL SKETCH

of the broader questions relating to the physical features of the state.
The several bureaus which touch these matters in one way or another
are the Maryland State Weather Service, the Mine Inspector's Bureau,
the Bureau of Industrial Statistics, and the Immigration Bureau.

None of these organizations except the first are engaged in a scientific
study of the physical features, the latter being occupied chiefly in an
accumulation of statistical material which will show to the people both
within and without the state the volume of her products, the condition
of labor, and the advantages of Maryland as a place of residence, and
in these directions are rendering an important service to the common-
wealth.

THE MARYLAND STATE WEATHER SERVICE. —The Maryland State
Weather Service was organized May 1, 1891, under the joint auspices
of the Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Agricultural College,
and the United States Weather Bureau. The few scattered observers
in Maryland and Delaware who had hitherto reported to the chief of
the United States Weather Bureau were authorized to send their reports
to the central office at the Johns Hopkins University. At the same
time the Baltimore office of the United States Weather Bureau was
moved to the University, as the efficiency of the State Service was
recognized to depend largely upon the closeness of co-operation with
the National Service. Two series of publications were at once estab-
lished, viz., monthly Meteorological Reports and weekly Crop Bul-
letins.

It was evident from the start that the results of the local service
could not be available to the people of the state unless provision was
made for the publication and distribution of the information obtained.
The institutions interested in the organization of the State Service
were willing to prepare the data for publication, but they had no
funds at their disposal for printing. To that end a bill was intro-
duced in the General Assembly of 1892, was passed by both houses,
and signed by the Governor. It provided for the establishment of the
Maryland State Weather Service, the commissioning of its officers by
the Governor, and an appropriation to defray the expenses of printing. ¹

¹ Laws of Maryland, 1892, Chapter 329.