The Placer herald., 1858-07-03
Improvising a Thunder Shower,

Among the letters Of correspondents,
which Prot. Espy published in his Fourth
Meteorological Report, to sustain his theory
of causing rain by means of fires, is one
from gentleman, who in 1916, was engag-
ed in surveying on the Atlantic coast Of
Florida. During some oppressively hot
weather in April, the surveying party had
occasion one day to run their line through
"saw grass pond," Of some five hundred acres
In ponds of this description the green grass
at the top shoots up from five to six feet in
height, and when the region has not been
for some years swept by fires, the dead and
dry growths of preceding seasons accumulate
to the depth of from two to four feet. They
are exceedingly in1amable, and when lighted
burn with great rapdity.
1t was usual, on meeting with such an OBJ
struction as this, in running the lines, to cut
down the top fresh grass and wade or walow
through the mud and the under rubbish
On this occasion, however, the heat was so
great that it was determined to burn pas
sage through to save trouble 1t was ac-
cordingy done, and soon after breeze
sprung up and cooled the atmosphere, and
presently a refreshing shower sparkled in the
rays of the sun. This circumstance excited
no particular attention at the time, but it
subsequently brought Prof Espy's theory
to the mind of Capt Macay, one of the
party. Not long after, on an exceedingly
sultry day, a still more formidable grass
pond was met with, and in order to test the
theory and astonish the negroes who served
the party, it was decided to set fire to the
grass. The writer continues:
"When our party were all gathered at the
hating place, complaints Of the extreme
heat went round, and all agreed that a more
confined and oppressive day had never been
known to them. To these complaints the
usual wishes for a little breath of air. and
"a few drops of rain succeeded. 'Cut through
this pond exclaimed the Captain, and III
bring you more than few drops of rain; I'll
give you plentiful shower, and breeze,
too, that shall wake you up. Come, boys,
cut away, and when you've done, you shall
wash off the dust in cold bath fromhe skies"
The negroes started up and looked around;
not a cloud as large as a mans hand was to
be seen, and they looked back at the Captain
with good natured grin of incredulity-
'llo, ho. ha ha. Captain make cloud out O
muffin; he, he. Captain bring water all Dis
way from de sea. Ilo, no! ha, ha. he, he!
Whereupon the Captain affected to bc very
indignant. To hasten his victory, ordered
the grass to be set on fire. The flames soar
ed forthwith above the talest trees; n dense
volume of smoke mounted upward spirally;
the grass soon disappeared; we crossed over
AS the smoky column broke, and the cloud
began to form, the Captain traced large
circle in the sand around him, and placed
himself in its centre, making fantastic figures
and forming cabalastic phrases out of broken
French; still was the cloud unnoticed
"All eyes were riveted upon the Captain,
who stood gazing upon the earth, and shap-
ing outlines of devils there At this june
ture came a roll of distant thunder; every
glance instantly turned upward; cloud was
spreading here; the thunders :ncreascd the
!ightnings flashed more wildly; the knees of
the negroes shook together with alarm; al
ready was the rain descending, and in tor
rents, though the clear sky could be seen in
all directions under tile cloud The Captain,
meanwhile, maintained his mystical attitude,
and continued his wild and extraordinary
evolutons. Some of the whites who were
in the secret of the hoax fell upon their
knees and were initiated by the negroes
whose fears augmenting as the storm grew
fiercer, with clasped hands fastened upon
the Captain stare Of awe and depreciation
In short, the scene presented more com
plete triumph of philosophy over ignorance
than l could have supposed it possible to
have been produced anywhere in this coun
try, and most especially anywhere in our en-
lghtened republic
The same report thus explains why We
have no thunder in the winter:
"lf it is asked why we have no thunder il
the winter, though the tops Of the storm
clouds rise even in this season to region
where the air is at least charged with con
siderable electricity, perhaps the answer may
be found in this-that the storm clouds il
the winter are of great extent, and of course
the tension of the electricity, being extended
over a very large surface, is very feeble; anc
the substance of the cloud being of itself on
of vapor much less dense than that of sum
mer clouds, this tension may not be able t.
strike from one particle Of the cloud to thu
next adjacent one; no general discharge ca'
take place. Besides, even in the winter
during very warm spell Of weather, with
high dew point for the season, we sometime
have violent thunder storm from clou,
OF very limited horizontal extent, as th
thunder clouds always are in the summer
Such cloud is in reality an insulated pila
of hot air, mingled with condensed vapor
having just given out into the air itself it
latent calcric, causing the air at the top Q
this cloud, in many cases to be GO degree
warmer at its top than the air on the outsid
at the same level
The following atrocity was committed b
an old bachelor in Wisconsin, who is an ed
tor: Why ia bridegroom more expensiv
than the bride2 Because the brida is alway