The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-15

were partially surrounded with q thick
layer Of ice. and the last hail stones
were generally rounded RaaSses. one
third Of an inch in d~isfhtfer. In all
cases the kernel was not transparent.
while the surrounding ice was so in o
very high degree.
Another peculiarly among hail
storms arises from the fact that the
central portion Of the region passed
over by the storm is almost entirely
free from the fall OF hail stones. which
are almost invariably found in two or
more belts parallel 10 the track Of the
storm center and some distance there
from. Thus in the storm of July -
1888. which passed from France in a
north-easterly direction into Holland.
the storm track wa about five hundred
miles in length. and was iraverscd in
less than nine hours. Over the central
track, TO a breadth of six miles on
either side, no hail fell, but heavy rain.
On either side of this region, 10 a dis
lance Of five or ten miles, the country
was visited by hail storms that were
most devastating, since upward OF 3d.
0Oo.0 900 worth of property wa de-
stroyed.
There have been many means sug-
gested TO prevent hail storms. but none
have as vet been crowned with success.
So the field is still open to enterprising
inventors and discoveries. In some
countries bells have been rung, drums
beaten. fired. and even rockets
discharged, but all have proved as in
efficient as consecrated herbs, magic
formulas, old-women remedies, or de-
vices calculated 10 quiet the fears OF the
superstitious. 1t was once thought
that a system of lightning rods would
convey the electricity from the clouds
and render the formation OF hail i'm
possible, but an experiment tried IN
Canton de Vaud, in Switzerland, puts
to flight this theory. Many conductors
were here erected and a terrible storm
occurred from the 22d TO the 23d OF
June, 1926. upon the protected vine
yards, and every grape was destroyed.
while the unprotected ones escaped scot
free.
Accompanying hail storms thunder
and lightning are frequent. Yet 1t Is
not common for lightning to strike
either persons or buildings during these
storms. An exchange furnishes some
reasons for the color of lightning, which
are pertinent:
The color Of lightning is altogether
due to the nature of the substance
which is made incandescent in its track.
The blue, red. purple and other tlnts,
which are ordinarily much more brill
iantly marked in ward climates and
inter-tropical countries than they ever
are in England. are due to the same
| circumstances as the color whioA is de-
signedly communicated TO the light of
different kinds of fireworks.
1t is a result of the intrinsic natures
of the vaporized particles which are
made 10 shine. The vapor of iron has
one kind of sheen, and the vapor OF
sulphur another. Each different foreign
Ingredient that floats in the air has its
own proper hue, which it can cOmmu-
nicate to the lightning.
The broad flashes of light that appear
in the clouds during a thunderstorm,
and that are distinguished as sheet
lightning, are very often mainly the re-
Elections from the cloud mist of the
charges that pass from one part to an
other with each redistribution of the in
tcTIdl CldTpt, DIS inc tcHSlOh at thO oulci
surfaces is changed by an external
flash.
This redistribution of the internal
charge is sometimes also marked by
very beautiful lines of corruscation
playing upon the dark background as
the storm drifts away.
There is a table mountain a few miles
away from Merchandising, Natal,
over which this kind of display is con-
tinually exhibited.
The retreating storm clouds linger
over the fiat top of this mountain, where
they can be seen from the city in the
advancing night.
In this dark canopy of the mountain
bright corruscations, accompanying
each redistribution of the electrical
charge. can be watched for hours at a
time-now assuming the form of coro-
mails of electric fire, now running along
in machiolated horizontal lines just
above the fiat top of the mountain, and
now radiating out in all directions from
a central loop. like the cracks of starred
| lx.. Lar