Page 38 - To Dragma October 1929

36 To DRAGMA

••• Jfow's
the
0&

Weather?

Let the United States

Only

Woman Meteorologist

Tell you

How we Know

By J U L I E C A R R , Eta

WH E N is the next cold wave expected? What height will the
flood attain? At what temperature will the family wash freeze
on the line?"

These are only routine questions for Mary Hamilton Horton, an
Alpha o at Birmingham, Ala., who is the only known woman observer
in the United States.

"Because my father was unable to employ a satisfactory assistant after
the World War I began working in the Weather Office here in 1920 as
a temporary appointee," explains Mary Hamilton in her southern drawl.
"By special arrangement I was enabled to complete the work required
for graduation from high school and to continue my weather work at the
same time, in 1921.

" I n August I passed the Civil Service examinations and was appointed
a full-fledged Weather Observer. I resigned in 1922 to attend Birming-
ham-Southern College, but Father had difficulty in hiring an assistant
who was willing to learn the tricks of the trade, and so I was re-instated
oil a half time basis for my three remaining years of college. This work
appealed to me more than any other, and so I decided to continue it. I
was placed on a full-time schedule in July of 1925 and have been at i t *
ever since.