CLEMENT WRAGGE, SCIENTIST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6795, 15 May 1900, Page 3

CLEMENT WRAGGE, SCIENTIST.

Mir- Clement Wr&qge, Government 'Meteorologist of Queensland, delivered a lecture at Petersham, New South Wales, recently, on astronomy and .meteorology. He said that by meanfe of the study of isobars or lines, of equal barometric pressure he was able to.predict the storm of two /years ago,from which his assistants at the Kosciusko" Observatory had hadi to flee for thedr livefe. He had, /by means of climatology, been ableto literally, make the desert smile. Some' years ago, what was how the most beautiful spot in Queensland (his home, near Brisbane) was a bare,' barren patch, but he had by deep cultivation and judicious planting of tropical trees made it beautiful. With his instruments he was able to work out the isobars, and could tell what the weather in Western Australia would be better than could the people there themselves. He looked far beyond Cape Leeuwin in making his calculations, and was able to make an accurate forecast in from 90 to 95 per cent of cases ; yet he* objected to being- called, ai, weather prophet. He was a scientist. He wished to say that he was just as competent to issue forecasts for the other colonies as for Queensland. The other colonies objected to his doing 60, and 1 asked him to discontinue his intercolonial forecasts. ' He would not, however, but would stick to them as tenaciously as the British bulldog was sticking to the grand old Union Jack! '