Daily Republican., 1889-09-16
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SHOWERS OF FROGS AND FISH.

Inc very singular phenomenon famil
iarly known as the "rain OF frogs" ha'
been ridlculed and coniradicted by som
scientists, but there Is abundant proc
That such occurrences arc by no mean
Tare. One OF the earliest narrat YES o.
this Kind is that communicated TO the
French Academy by Professor Pontus in
1894, In which he gives au account OF q
shower OF frogs near Toulouse, and
states that he himself saw numerous
young frogs on the cloeks OF two gentle
men who were caught in the shower on
the road. When the diligence IN which
he was travelling arrived ut the place
where the storm burst the roads and
fields were observed to be absolutely iull
Of frogs. In come places theY appeared
to be three or four deep, and the horses
hoois killed Thousands during the pas.
sage OF the vehicle through TIC spot.
An insta' ce OF u no less curious frog
shower IN our own country lie related by
writer In the Overland Monthly, who
snya that IN the year 1864 he was witu a
| lumber OF other tourists, travelling IN
Arizona, at least twenty miles from any
stream or pond. The day being exceed.
ingly sultry q halt was made for q rest
OF an hour or two, when suddenly deEso
! cloud made Its appearance, which non
began 10 discharge u ccp.ous rain. Neari "
every person IN the party wore u broad
brimmed felt hat, which rroged greai
| protection against The rain, as they had
already been again I the sun. The at
| ;e,tiou OF the travellers was soCn aires ted
by vigorous peltibg Of something which
seemed like hal stones upon til ir SOM
| hrerus, bul which, greatly to til ia e"r
prise, proved to be speci Of dimlnu
tive frogs. In less than two minutes tho
grass was fairy alive with these lit'lC
creatures, They were all OF one siz,
about O-qu9lttr Of an inch long, yer,
| lively aud apparently in the best condi-
liun. Their fali had evidently been brolt-
en- by the elastic, tprin2y nature OF The
grass.
Abiding to the theory !vanced By
come scientists that iu such cases tho
frogs must of necessity have arisen from
the ground, the writer says: "lt is not
p o. able That veral hundred thousand,
perhaps millions. Of frogs had suddenly
been bhtched into life by the rain, or, il
Trey had, that, ia their MANTLE glee,
they jumped 5 feet II inches from the
earth to the top of our heads mercy to
show how the game Of leap-irog should
be played. They came from above, Ia
company With tie rain, AMI this fact was
made clear by holding out the hand and
teeing them fall upon 1t, rs well as fad
ing them uron ou hat rims"
10 judge hon numb OF Instances
related in Chamb RS Book OF Days" 1t
would seem that the cases OF fish ais, In
the old country at least, outuumbrr those
OF frogs to considerable degree. Ol the
18th OF Ap.il, 1898, Major Mackenzie, of
Rosshre, while walking in II field on hts
larm, saw erea pOrtien OF the ground
covered with her:ing-lry, three aud four
inches In lcngth, fresh anl entire. The
spot WAS all OF three miles from tbs Firth
OF Dtngw, II. About two years later, in
the Island OF lflGy, in Aigyleshire, aiter
day OF very heavy rail, the inhabitants
were surpris d to find large number OF
fresh herrinRs ST e~u over their fields.
More recently Wick newspaper stated
that one morning large quality of the
same species of fish were found scattered
in garden in that tom. These, il is
stated, the peasants cooked lud ate,
though not without misEiviHgs as to the
possibility OF som satanic agency having
be. co.. ccrned In transferring them to
such tpUt.
One OF the most curious instances rf
this nature is related by an Euglith Off
Ger, who, while residing In Calcutta,
Jaw quantity Of live fish desce.d in q
heavy shower OF rain. THE most stran
thing that struck me in connection W itn
this event." said tie officer, was that
the ti3h did not fall heltll -skelter, every
where, or here aud there, hut in an eveu,
.tra ghi Inc not more than tubit in
breadth" OF all remarkable events Of
this character, however, the most scnsa-
tional was the famous "Kentucky meat
shower" which mystified SO many people
some 20 yeats sgo. This was nj first re-
earded by many us hoax, but was
found to be ve!itable occurrence, al
though hardly susceptible Of a thoroughly
satisfactory explanation. This "lcshfall"
took place Oh the farm of Mr.. Crouch,
which was IN fpot surrounded by high
hills and mountains, In Bath county,
Kentucky. The account given by Mrs.
Crouch was substantially as follows:
"Between II and 12 o'clock l was in
my yard, mot more than 20 steps from the
house, Thsre was light wind coming
from the west, bat the sky was clear and
the sun was shiuing brightly. Without
any prelude or warning OF Ruy kind, and
exactly under these circumstances. the
shower commenced. The fall was of not
less than one nor more than two minutes
duration. When the flesh began TO fall
saw large piece strike the ground
close by me with a snspping-liks noise
when 1t struck. / was impressed with
the conviction that 1t was miracle or
warning. The largest piece that saw
WAS as long as my hand and about halt
su Inch wide. 1t looked gristly, as II II
had been torn from the throat Of some
animal. Another piece that / saw was
bali round IN shape and about the size oil
q half dollar.-st. Louis Globe Demo