The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-06

Tug WgAruEg-CoRRECr ISFoRAATIoN.--
The extraordinary character OF the weather
during he Immediate past, accompanied by
violent changes in the atmosphere, trenen
| dous rainfalis. and consequent 0amaSe 70
crops, especially in the West, nas proFokeu
| much writing in the newspapers, anu some
of tho theories advanced have been quite "a
| extraordinary as the weather itself. Ii would
ne of little Use to rccapitulate these theories,
INT in a very recent article the New I ork
Ereain1 ErprcsS asks the question, =" Is the
amount Of rainfall increasing" and yesterday
! nc submitted the question TO the cn'ei Oh
ficcrs Of the United States Sisnal service
here. anil from them obtained 'niorina, Ion
! to the effect that the ralufall Ia the Oh''eu
States is not increasing. All eAees!eu.e
proves that the removal OF i"Ies,s u'in.u
i,bcs ,bc amount OF rainfall, when Is lois
so,son cyccp,tonal in its character. The
risa in western rivers is no. wholly due 10
rim for TO this cause must be added that
Of the late melting of snow in the Rocky
mountains. unusually great, Oil account OF
The unusual heat. It is claimed in the same
article in the Express, and on the authority
OF Nebraska corresp 0ndent Of The Chicago
Tribune, that" the amount OF rainfall along
the line o! the Pacific railway has very per-
centib!y increased within the past i've years.
Since the construction OF that road the OH.
clal weather records do not show any In
crease of rainfall along the line, hence the
correspondent referred to must be mistaken,
There is no absolutely reliable theory to ac-
coun. for the present heavy rainfsll, out IL
is a reasonable thing to attribute it 10 the
recaat heated term all along the Atlantic sea
hoard, and to the presence of large quantities
Of floating ice of the coast, by which the
temperature Of the air has been greatly re-
duced, and thereby made beaver, and caus.
ing al inflow OF m9isturc-laGen air TO the
land, over which it became highly rarlted
by the heat, producing, OF course, al ascend
ing current, leaving partial vacuum below,
which in turn was filled by the cold air re-
ferred to. Now, the contact between the
two currents would necessarily cause rain
continuously as long rs the opposing cur
rents exist. This theory, based upon the
facts stated, seemS in harmony with common
sense, to say the least Washington -Repuo-
ticGn.
We wish 10 rPmak-
1t. That san experience does not
"prove that the removal Of forests dimin'
ishes the amount Of rainfall.' The removal
of forests increases evaporation. and conse-
quently and necessarily must increase the
rainfall. But the removal of forests may
diminish The rainfall on the land which had
been covered by the forests. The quantity of
water which falls upon the globe is, how
ever. increased. The removal of forests
causes high (reshets, and ruins Glow
grounds" Also ruins many rivers as naVl-
does not flow in them afterwards as before,
but because it all runs off as soon as it falls.
I'd. The Republican may remember that
we had a spring drought. Also, that some
of the South Atlantic States have bad SUM
mer drought. Also, that i'll Richmond,
where iC has rained almost daily for 4 month
the quantity of rain that fell in the last week
as reported by the Board OF Health was not
so great as the quantity that sometimes falls
in {. few hours.
Sd. The "chief officers Of the United
States Signal Service" may well say that
there is no increase of rainfall. Neither IL
there any dmiuution Of it. The sun eVapo.
rates all that falls, and nothing can make il
| fall before it is cyaporated. The sun mas a
constant evapora:ins power. This changes
| not. All talk to the contrary is nonsense.
Particular districts of country may have
more rain one year than another, but the
globe receives annually constant quantity.
Five. seventus of the surface Of the earth are
covered with water and constitute large.
sized eYaporating pan. A few hundred
square miles more Oh less upon the other
two sevenths cannot greatly affect the total.
The destruction Of forests is very objection
able and injurious, but not because the re-
| suit is less rain.
Whilst we had the proo!.sheet of the above
lying before us a friend handed to us the
following, which he cut out of a paper about
forty years old. 1t tells the old, old story "
of SOLOMON that "there is no new thing
under the SUM- The seasons are now as
they have always been:
THE wcalhercock has rusted fast,
The blue sky is forg- ten;
The earih's saturated sponge,
Andvegetattou's rotten.
/ hate TO see the darkest side,