Cold Waves and Their Progress: A Preliminary Study; Prepared under the Direction of Brig. & Bvt. Maj. Gen'l W. B. Hazen by Thomas M. Woodruff [Signal Service Notes, no. 23]

21 p.: tables; 24 cm. Plain wrapper printed in black. Caption title: Cold Waves and Their Progress Across the United States. In 1870 the U.S. military was authorized to begin taking meteorological observations across the country. Because the information was most quickly communicated nationwide by telegraphy, it was the responsibility of the U.S. Army Signal Office (later the Signal Service). In this report Lieut. Thomas M. Woodruff (1849-1899) explains the difficulties in predicting and communicating the development of a cold wave. These difficulties were illustrated three years later when he did not issue predictions that would have saved lives during the storm later called the Children's Blizzard because of the numbers of children who died while returning home from school when they were caught in the very rapid drop in temperature. Scarce. In Good Condition: minor loss along edges of wrapper; wrapper and corners of title page lightly soiled; damage to upper edge of final 2 leaves without loss of text; otherwise, clean and solid.…