Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-08-08
SINGULAR SHOWERS
REMARKABLE STORIES BASED ON
ACTUAL OCCURRENCES

REMARKABLE STORIES BASED On
ACTUAL OCCURRENCE
Raanlse Trse.. SssA - SlssA-Cssasea
R,i. - snsv-IAs ~KsafasAy nsas
Sn~vsr~-FAs 1aas sasislAses7 9zVe~
aastse-shsvss - inssesA
The very singular phenomenoa fnminariy
Known - tho rain Of frog has bseo
ridiculsd and coutzA dictsd BY Soma scisotisaA
but there d abundant proof that snch occur
rsnces are by no msans rara Ons Of sns
earliest narratives Of this kind b that com
municated TO the French academy BY Profo-
sor Ponfus in 1904, in which be gives IN -
count Of . shower Of frop near Toulouse.
and states that be himself ~ numeroW
Young frogs on the cloaks Of two gentlemen
who were caught In the ahover on the rosd
When the diligence In which he was travelling
arrived at the place where the storm burst
the roads and fields were observed to be ALSO
lu.eIy full OF frogs In some places teey ap-
psared to be three or four deep, and the
horses' hoofs killed Thousands during the
passage Of the vehicle through the spot
SHOWER OF vRoGA
An instance Of q no less curious frog show
er In our own country Is related BY writer
in The Overland Monthly. who says that In
the year 1854 be WAS with q number Of other
tourists travelling In Arizona at least twenty
miles from any stream or pond Ihe day
being exceedingly suitry, halt was made
for a rest Of an hour or two, when suddenly
a dense black cloud made it, appearance.
which soon began to discharge . copious rain
Nearly every person in the party wore
broad brimmed felt hat, which proved
great protection against the rain, as they
had already been against the sun Tbe AZ
tention Of the travellers was soon arrested y
vigorous peiting Of something which seemed
like hailstones upon their sombreros, ous
which, greatly to their surprise. proved TO b
species Of diminutivs froga In less than
two minutes the grass vas fairly alive with
these little creatures x a
They were all Of ons 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, springy
nature Of the grass Abiding to the theory
advanced by some scientists, that in such
cases the frogs must Of necessity have arisen
from the ground, the writer says: at 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 bs 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, q well a. find
ing them upon our hat rims"
RAINING FISH
To judge from number Of instances re-
lated in Chambers Book Of Days" it would
seem that the cases Of fish falls, in the old
country, at least, outnumber those Of frogs
to a considerable degree On the l4th Of
April, 1873, Maj Mackenzie, Of Rosshire,
while walking In field on his farm, saw q
great portion Of the ground covered with
herring fry three to four inches In length,
fresh and entire. The spot was all Of thres
miles from the Firth of Dingwell About two
years later, in the Island Of Islay. In Argyle
shire, after q 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 large quantity Of the same
species of fish were found scattered In gar
den In that town. These, 1t is stated. the
peasants cooked and ate, though not without
misgivings as to the possibility Of some 20
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 heavy shower Of rain
1.-The most stran;t thing that struck me in
connection with this event" said the officer,
Twas that the fish did not fall heller SHELTER,
everywhere, or here and there, but in an
,l,t IL,
breadth" OF all remarkable events of this
character, however, the most sensational
was the famous Kentucky meat shower
which mystified so many people some twenty
years ago. This was at first regarded by
many as hoax but was found to be a veri
table occurrence, although hardly susceptible
Of thoroughly satisfactory explanation
This flesh fall' took place on the farm Of q
Mr.. Crouch, which was in spot surrounded
by high hills and mountains, in Bath county,
Ky. This account, given by Mrs Crouch.
was substantially as follows:
KENTUCKY STORY.
Between II and - o'clock was In my
yard, not more than forty steps from the
house There was light wind coming from
the west, but the sky was clear and the sun
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 lsDr more
than two minutes duration When the nesh
began to fall l saw large piece strike the
ground close by me, with a swapping like
noise when 1t struck. l was impressed with
the conviction that it was miracle or a
warning. The largest piece that saw was
as long as my hand and about half an inch
wide. 1t looked gristly, IL 1t had been
torn from the throat OF some animal Another
piece that saw was half round In shape and
about the size OF half dollar"
An old hunter, residing in the neighbor-
hood, on being shown piece Of the flesh do
clared it to be bear meat, and stated that II
had that uncommonly greasy feel' peculiar
to the flesh Of that animal A butcher who
was persuaded to taste the meat changed his
mind about swallowing any Of it, and dc-
clared that it tasted neither like flesh, fish or
fowl II looked to him like mutton, but the
smell was new one Some Of the meat was
quite dry. and there seemed to be fine, wool
like fiber running through it. great deal
OF the flesh was sent to chemists and Others In
various parts OF the country, and analyses
were made by several well known scientists.
Professor j. L. Smith was at first inclined to
pronounce it the dried spawn Of frogs, but a.
it was found under the microscope to pos
sess undoubted characteristics peculiar to the
flesh Of animals, this theory was abandoned.
Perhaps the most reasonable explanation Is
that Of Professor Peter. Of Lexington, KY,
who believed the fall Of flesh TO be simply the
result of a kind of post-prandial disgorging
by a flock of buzzards who had been feasting
themselves more abundaDtly than wissly-oo
the carcass of sheep. This is the simplest,
and, perhaps, after all, the most satisfactory
explanation that can be given Of the supposed
miracle
OF showers Of insects there are few In
stances on record, and IT is undoubtedly true
that the so called colored rain and snow
storms are in many cases caused by minute
insects and shells Of infusoria carried into the
atmosphere by the winds. st Louis Globe
Der,oc-a.