Oroville daily Butte record., 1857-05-22
OtuuilIt Dailq Dntte ReturH.
Yearly Amount of Rain.

The following calculations which we
copy from the Philadelphia Daily Times
are strictly accurate, and will be found
very interesting:
The recent drouth has naturally sug-
gested the inquiry whether, with all
our ingenious inventions and wonder
ful improvements, We should ever be
able to supply, by artificial means, the
want Of rain. Some OF the results Of
this inquiry, as furnished by a scienti-
fc friend, may not be without interest
to our readers.
On an average, there falls annually
in rain and snow, in the space Of ten
miles square (taking for example, Phi
ladclph!a as the centre au amount Of
water suilicicn: to fill reservoir one
mile square and 80 feet deep, or
enough to ill a reservoir half mile
square and l,4SO feet (more than a
quarter Of mjIe) in depth This is
rather more than 80, 600 cubic
yards, or 1000, 100000 Of gallons.
Again there falls in rain aud snow,
n the Sta'e of Penn .ylyanil every
year, as much water as would fil re-
s-rvoir AGO miles long, one mile wide,
and $40 feet d ep. ! his is equivalent
to about - cubic miirs OF water
34.S9l 900, 100000 of gallons
Again, supposlng the same number
of inches Of rain, on an average, to tall
in all pats Of the United States as in
Pennsylvania, the nualaggrrgltc of
rain in nhe entire territory OF our coIn-
try would amount to 2,lOO cubic
miles.
1t is calculated that the Faimont
Watcrworks are capable Of Iai,ing
twelve millions Of gallons in twenty
four hous. They do not, however,
usually raise more than seven or eight
millions per day. Assuming the daily
quantity at eight millions, it would, at
this rate, require $3.50 days, or more
than twenty-five years for those works
to raise as much water as, on an aver
are, falls every year IN the small space
Of ten miles square. More than eleven
thousand years would be necessary in
order to raisc as much water as falls
annually in the State OF Pennsylvania.
while more than seven hundred thous-
and years would be required in order
to raise quantity as great as talls
every year IN the territory Of the Unit
cd States.
A Gu ic mile of water is a short and
simple phrase, easily W ii'en a.d quick-
ly sp ken, but the oilicuty Is for any
human mind to io'm an adeqnat idea
Of 1t. Suppose ne man to dip FROM
one vessel to another gallon al ia
time, he coull nor, under the most "a
vorablc stances, average more
than gallon in two seco ds, or thirty
gallons per minute Now, f he shoul /
work u this rate, night and day, with
out tn slightest tnt iml,sl n, 1t would
require more than seventy thousand
yeats to Dip out the numter Of gallons
contained in cubic mile
In der, now yer, TO form any just
idea of the iuimIaole grand ur on
which Nature conducts her operations,
we must bear in mind that the water
which she designs tor the retfeshiu #
thr earth, she raised not like our az j.
cia waterworks, merely one, two. or
three hundrcd feet, but hi J. b tnougl to
supply water 20 every AMIN | or We e.
taule existing on the face Of the earth
from l3 900 to 1900 feet, for some
of the mining tricts OF South Am.rl-
ca, an It less than l6, 900 t ct for
the highest lnhabit d regions of Thu
bet.
The foregoing calculations may be
relied on as corr CT. We have as>um-
ed the annual fall Of ram at A INCH
es, " hich is trihc less than the yrar-
j. average, according to mrteor" '2gl-
Ca! tables Kept during the last fitec"
years 46 900 square miles have en-
taken as the area of i nnsylvHnla, ,
and 100000 square miles as he area
OF the entire territory Of the United
States
SQUARING THE CIRcLE' An ex-