In the following table are given the number of hours the local signals were hoisted in each of the years 1911-15.
Year Red Signals. Number of hours. Black Signals. Number of hours. Bombs. Number of times fired. 1911 73 377 2 1912 151 164 - 1913 146 189 1 1914 146 178 - 1915 64 120 -The red signals indicate that the centre of the typhoon is believed to be more than 300 miles distant and the black less than 300 miles. Three bombs fired at intervals of 10 seconds indicate that winds of typhoon force are anticipated.
The figures in the above table include the number of hours that night signals, corresponding to the red and black day signals, were hoisted.
V.-METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FROM SHIPS, TREATY PORTS, &c.
Logs received. In addition to meteorological registers kept at about 40 stations in China, meteorological logs were received from 163 ships operating in the Far East. These logs, representing 9,254 days' observations, have been utilised for determining typhoon tracks and for those squares of the proposed Pilot Charts for which information is lacking. The corresponding figures for the year 1914 were 308 and 17,011.
Comparison of Barometers.-During the year more than 1,500 comparisons of ships' barometers have been made by means of observations taken when in harbour, and several direct comparisons of barometers for shipmasters and various persons in the Colony.
One ship's barometer, whose index had remained unchanged when near the centre of a typhoon in the China Sea, was tested at the Observatory and found to be so clogged that even when the pressure was reduced to 28 inches the index showed no movement. After cleaning, the behaviour of the instrument was better than the average.