Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-08-20
SINGULAR SHOWERS

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OlNuUEhIe UAIV W 1AsAh
...e eroere aAeeo -
-s
ACTUAL OGCOnHe
nAss - ee-He
aAsvsr.-Ths 1ass aasisfssssr5 gxpasr
.<x-A n,.,een
The very anGulAF peeno0eono tamnAhy
Known - IL raan q uo8S - -
rtdicaind and coaaNmessdo ~ sn0s scseohass.'
but th9e b abundant PROOF tnes socn occur
rsnces ars BY no msans rars. ons OF tns
earliest narratives OF this KIND b tnat com
inundated to The French academy BY ffofeS
Dr Poutus in lsOA. IN which b g1vs an -
count of . ahOvr OF frog nsaS Iouaosos'
and states sa,As - einsssn -
young frogs on ths csoaks OF tSo. gentiensn
who were caught IN the shower on me ROAD
When the diligencs In vhsch ne was uasenna
arrived II the place where the storm oorst'
ths roads and fields were oossrvsd TO De anso
iufeiy fun Of frogs In some piAcs icy ~
pssred 10 30 thrss o. foor dssp. ana inc
horsu' boots killsd tnouzAnos curing 'ns
a sHowER or vRoGA
An instance Of Q no ls.~ curious frog show
or in our own country Is related BY . writer
in The Overland Monthly, who says that in
the wear 1874 he was with q number Of other
tourists travelling in Arizona at least twenty
miles from any stream or pond me day
being exceedingly suitry, halt was made
for q rest Of an hour or two, when suddenly
. dense black cloud made its appearance.
which soon began to discharge . copious rain
Nearly every person In the party wore
broad brimmsd felt hat, which proved
great protection against the rain, ~ they
had already been against the sun The at
tention Of the travellers was soon arrested "
vigorous pelting Of something which seemed
Ike hsilstones upon their sombreros, but
which, greatly to their surprise, proved to b
. species Of diminutivs frogA In lsss than
two minutes the grass was fairly alive with
these little creatures
They were all Of ono size, about quarter
Of An inch long, very lively, and apparently
In the best condition Their fall had EVIL
| IDENTIFY been broken by the elastic, sprtngy
nature Of the grasA Abiding TO the theory
advanced by some scientists, that in such
CASES the frogs must Of necessity have arisen
from the ground, the writer 9ys: 1T Is not
, probable that several hundred thousand, per
haps millions, Of frogs had suddenly been
matched into life BY the rain, or, II they had,
| that, in their infantile glee, they Jumped
| feet II inches from the earth TO the top OF
our heads merely to show how the game OF
| leap frog should be played They came from
above, in company with the rain, and this
fact was made clear by holding out the hand
and seeing them fall upon it, - well a. ind
ing them upon our hat rims"
RAINING FISH.
To judge from number OF instances re-
lated in Chambers' Book OF Days" 1t would
| seem that the cases OF fsh falls, In the Old
| country, at least, outnumber those OF frogs
TO Q considerable degree. On the 18th OF
| April, lS2S, Maj Mackenzie, OF hosshire
while walking in field on his farm, saw a
great portion Of the ground covered with
herring fry three to four inches In length,
fresh and entire. The spot was all OF three
miles from the Firth Of Dingwell About two
years later, in the Island Of lslay. in Argyle
shire, after . day Of very heavy rain, the In
| habitants were surprised to find large num-
| Der Of fresh behring's strewn over their fields
| More recently Wick newspaper stated that
one morning q large quantity Of the same
species Of fish were found scattered In gar
den In that town These, it is stated. the
peasants cooked and ate, though not without
misgivings as to the possibility Of some ~
tanic agency having been concerned in trans
ferring them to such spot
| One OF the most curious Instances Of this
| nature is related by an English officer who,
while residing in Calcutta, saw quantity Of
live fish descend in Q heavy shower Of rain
1.-THE most stran;e thing that struck me In
connection with this event, {" said the officer,
twas that tho fish did not fall heller skelter,
| everywhere, or here and there, but in an
| even straight line, not more than a cubit In
breadth" OF all remarkable events of this
| character, however. the most sensational
was the famous Kentucky meat shower"
which mystifled SO many people some twenty
years ago. This was at first regarded by
many as a hoax, but was found to be a veri
table occurrence. although hardly susceptible
| Of a thoroughly satisfactory exclamation
This flesh fall" took place on the farm Of
| Mr. Crouch which WAS in a ,pot surrounded
by high hills and mountains. In Bath county.
XIV This account. given by Mrs Crouch
was substantially as follows;
A KENTUCKY STORY.
"Between IL and l2 O'Clock | was in NV
ward. not more than FORTY stems from the
bousc There was a light wind coming from
the west but the skv was clear and the n,n
was shining brightly. without any prelude
or warning of any kind and exactly under
these circumstances. the shower commenced.
The fall was of not less than one rs,r more
than two minutes duration When the flesh
began to fall saw a large piece strike the
ground close by me- with a swapping like
noise when it struck. was impressed with
the conviction that Il WIS a miracle or a
warning. The largest piece that | saw va.
AZ long ns nv hand and about hnlf an inch
wide IL looked eristly. ~ il 1t had been
tom from the throat of some animal Another
| ,ace that I saw was half rnund in share and
sbout the size of a half dollar.r
An old hunter. residing in the peiahbor.
hood on being shown a piece Of the aesh do
clar,sl il to be bear meat and stated that Il
had that uncommonly greasy feel" peculIar
to the flesh OF that animal A butcher who
| wac rrrs,,,d.i tn tas,, the rneat chsny,d hi,