, 1880-03-07
Rafn-TIaking By Explosions.

st, Louis Republican. ........
hy Gen. Ruggles, of Virginia, is in accordance
with u theory Of rain-fornation long held sy
eminent savans The plan Is to send up into the
ridges, lodged in balloons, to be exploded ny
time fuses, or electric wires, connected with tho
ehr The !, Of o Of
different temperatures anu humluitlcs, causine
condensation Of tho vnpor aloft sufficient to pro-
mer. the passage overhead OF u large current Of
noSt s pper s4sa
tax takes plnce within its yaporous strat,l, the
sudden displacement and rarefnction would
probnbly invite a downwaTd movementI1roin tne a,;
the yacuous space formed BY the explosion
That this is, Theoretically, good reasoning Is un-
but the nronor OF
STRATA Of air ana OF timing the explosions would
uccessitato much experimentation aud they
nbeoory mna1 or tic M art Of observing with
view todetect tho attitudes and hyRromftric con-
iitions Of different forms 0f vapotons air
Clement Ley, Of England, says,. 'nf1 incom-
Gen. uggles' balloons would l., 1. need to detect e
in which he was about to explode dynamite was
laden with vapor and superimposcd bE the cold
condensing ar upon which he must rely to pro-
aSa but inpraefic.lSie as this plan appears It t.
possible that experiments would cle5ar away
many of the difficulties. II IS no uncommon
thin in long drought to be tnntalizcd5 with the
siuhI OF strrtus cloud whose vapor-p plane. rich
III longed-for moisture, overspreads the carth
and sails onward without depositlng 4 drop OF
rniu, unless its under surfnGs impinke2 againss E
condensation begins ami the shower falls.' II 1t
he true that forests, by slightly lowe dring the
temperature Of passing clouds, eject cpndensa-
ton sufficient to make them dlst1i their moisture
m afinccnt districts, 1t Is far moro plausible
TINT an explosion in the yapor-lnden mass. by
invoking the descent u the co!a upper atnos.
pierre would occasion very considerable amount
Of rinfal 1he Upper N cMTfens M t i 70 ~ Nnch ehe
accorfliup to the estimates OF the best Eheteorol-
ouvists. has the polur temperature of ~ degrees
below zero, and converts the vnpor PARTICLES in
its midst into ce.crystais. Ihere are Probably
which, could Gen. Ruggles bring down u thou
sand cubic feet of this intensely cold 1ir into the
sur-stratu Of the air, he would not induce copi-
Gus showers.
many wears TINT the meteorological effect OF
Rreat fires was to produce ruin If the ntmos-
phere was calm and the dew-potnt high The
theory wns put to severe TEST curing tne iollR,
bIiwhtInc drought in the autumn Of 1871, when
the Chicago contlayrn1ion occurred; the intense
drought WIS broken by heavy rain which Sue
cccdetl the fire. Many instances OF similar ap-
parent effect of combustlon anFe peen ca1ee.
been generally dismissed as impracticublc. The
new plan of ruin making BY explosions Is, how
ever free from the objection OF excessive cost
f0r 5he asedf Ct aerai and cheap
skeletop balloons would be well made 1t, by such
means, the severe droughts t'f midsummer and
fuIl could be measurahly mitigated. But If the
experiments are underla1en walcn e. zen. rug
the DIRECTION Of skilled meteorologists aud Sig
pat-Serrtce officers and observers.