The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-05-04
RAIN AND UMBRELLAS.


0no UmArella ~ . Diapesser Of Bsln.
Sto.m.
New 5o.k Tiipes.l
The connection between umbrellas and
cain has never been clearly apprehended,
even by our most learned scientific men.
il has, Of course, been noticed, times
without number, that if man takes an
umbrella with him when he starts to 60
down town on a cloudy morning, tho
clouds will diappear in the course Of two
or three hours, and the day will be an
exceptionally fair one Ii, on the other
hand, he imagines that, in spite Of few
suspicious clouds, it will not rain, and
therefore leaves his umbrella at homo,
he viii find by IL o'clock a. m. that
steady fall Of rain is in progress, and
that he must prepare to undergo wet
ting on his way home. So universally is
this true that many persons have e1-
pressed their belief that the act of carry
ing an umbrella is conducive to clear
weather, while the act of leaving it at
home produces rain. No man, however,
has until recently seriously regarded
this as law Of nature, and it now ap-
pears that there is positive connection
between umbrellas and rain.
y L
Smithsonian Institute-a scientific per.
son whose researches and discoveries
have frequently attracted the attention
Of the press-that We owe the first scien-
tife effort to discover and formulate the
law Of umbrellas The Professor, after
having tested in the most thorough man
ner the effect upon the weather produced
by carrying and by not carrying his um-
brella, has proved to his own satisfaction
that the thirty millions Of umbrellas
shown by the last census to exist in the
United States have an immense influence
upon the annual rainfall. He finds that
In those parts of the country where il
has become the fashion to carry umbrel-
has, whatever may be the aspect OF the
sky, rains are becoming more and more
hfrequent, whils in those regions where
umbrellas are seldom carried unless it
actually rains, tlroughts are practically
unknown.
| What is the reason that the exhibition
Of large number of umbrellas clears the
, sky and produces dry weather? There
! are two theories, both Of which Professor
Hardness discusses with much learning
| and care, either one Of which. he origi-
nally imagined might explain the rela-
| tions of the umbrella to fair weather. One
theory assumes that the textile covering
of the umbrella, whether it be silk, cot
ton, gingham, or some other material,
| absorbs the moisture Of the atmosphere
and 80 hinders its precipitation In the
form Of rain. This theory IS plausible,
and it was believed at one time by the
| distinguished Investigator -shaa it would
furnish the solution OF this problem.
II follows, however, that if the covering
| Of an umbrella absorbs the moisture d
the atmosphere to ssch an extent as to
dispel clouds and to convert cloudy and
threatening day into clear and bright
! one, this moisture would afterward be
| found in the umbrella in large quant-
ties. Experiments proved that the the.
ory was wrong. Umbrellas taken from
the umbrella-stand at 8 o'clock on Q
cloudy morning, and carefully tested tor
| moisture, showed no increase OF mois.
ture three hours later, when all appear.
ances of rain had vanished This test
was conclusive, and it puts the theory
that the umbrella attracts moisture d
rest.
The other theory is what may be
called an abstract theory. It assumed
that rain and fair weather are dependent
1 upon the presence or absence Of par
1 ticular kind Of electricity in the air. A.
| is well known, the ribs of the modern
umbrella are made of steel, ametal that ~
simply full Of positive electricity. When
we take an umbrella with us into the
open air on day when the moisture and
the atmosphere indicates that it is over.
charged with negative electricity, the
following interesting phenomenon 90.
| ours. The positive electricity Of the
| umbrella ribs flows into the atmosphere,
and its place is taken by negative cleo.
tricity nntil the atmosphere is restored
to dYyand normal state. We're this oil.
| the umbrella would be an unalloyed
blessing, but, as matter Of fact, it Is
apt to overcharge the air with positive
| electricity, and thus produce long and
' injurious droughtS.
IF. however, We fail to take an UNI
brella with us ON morning when there
Is Just slight possibility OF rain, there
is no way in which the air can be gently
relieved Of its overcharge Of negative
electricity, The result is that before
very long the air relieves itself by dis
| charging its s!sctricity into the earth,
with the nsIas accompaniment OF o
heavy rain shower, and we mournfully
perceive that by orr neglect heavy
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