The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-09-24
THE ART OF MAKING RAIN
Calm Consideration or Come Recent Tom
foolery In the URPer Air.

ti!IV VucStionS lnNOINeu III OncIe Jerry lSuSk
| experiments in rain making. II Is safer To
doubt. with Dr. Simon Newcomb. than to be-
| lieve with Gen. H. @. Dyrenforth. Prof New
comb has seen science transform too many
wonders into familiar uses Of daily life to risk
| the assertion that we shall never learn how 20
make It rain. But he does not hesitate to say.
In contribution to the North American Rerie,r.
that rain cannot be produced by conclusion.
He believes that the popular notion that great
| battles have generally been followed by heavy
rains Is not confirmed by statistics: but hc
| adds that IL 1t be really true that rains have
been produced by great battles. We may say
with confidence that they were produced by
| the smoke from the burning powder rising
into tho clouds and forming nuclei for tho
| agRlomeration into drops. and not by the mere
explosion" or course this IL q fundamental
point. since ns Prot. Newcomb suggests. burn
Ing tons Of gunpowder and dynamite to get n
quantity OF smoke that could be procured in II
much cheaper way would be like Charles
Lambs Cinnamon. who set fire to their houses
In order TO secure roast pig
Gen. Dyrenforth will hardly admit TINT the
| cost OF rain making Ia excessive. since during
the month Of August. on the staked plains Of
Texas. wherc there had been q drought Of
several months duration. and lack OF good
rains for years. he PRODUCED three extensive
storms and nine smaller showers by q total
expenditure In material Of two tons Of iron.
one OF acid. q quarter Of a ton Of potash and
manganese. and ono ton OF rackarock and
other explosives. But. after all. the cost is not
the primary question. Tho flrpt matter to de-
tcrnine is whether explosions cause rain: and
on that point Gen. Dyrenforth holds that the
following are clear demonstrations from his
Texas experiments:
Flrst-That the coucu ssans from evp,oxono
marked and practical effect upon the CON
u'tions In producing or occasinnng rainfall. probably
by disturbing the upper currents
secondly-That when the atmosphere IA In threat.
enns condtou-which 10 frequently tho in most
arid regions without any rain resultns-rain DO
caused TO fall almost immediately by EARRING together
the particles OF moisture which hang In snspens in
the air This result repeatedly effected during
operations the drops sometimes commencing to fall
within twelve seconds from the moment OF the initial
explosion.
II also seems probable that the Immense amount of
frctona electricity generated by the conclusions and
the mingng OF opposing currents OF air may have
siderable influence in the formation OF centres
by producing poarzed condition OF the and air
and SO creating magnetic re,d which may assist in
gathering and condeusng the moisture Of the sur.
rounding Atmosphere
Gen. Dyrenforth thereupon closed his part OF
the current debate in tho magazine referred to
with the statement that much more extensive
experiments under less adverse conditions,
were soon to be made at Ell Paso These ex-
periments were. in fact. made few days ago,
and proved utterly abortve. Gen. Dyrenforth
was absent from the fold OF battle. but OPERA
tSns By hs
had passed between the two officers. Just prior
70 the reverse. were CHEEKY with tho expccta-
ttons Of victory:
Gen Dyr-nforh
to ne bomb. and dynamite tonight
% s:% ne. % ssp Se
Stanley Everything booming EtL,s
Fs s.n:s a: Ny.
nfihs DrhssrohrB
But vhle thess despatches had the genuine
xsf Ss sS to xtar da aSs
nal was that rain fel at Ghknah%a ani i Ds
ming. and even descended In torrents Il hun
1t is, certain. therefore. that rain cannot al
Ways be- made 70 or order: Prot Newe2mb also
renforth thinks he is doing with dynamite:
brilliant ean%anS1! YEN
ps.ssact better e.saSshea than that ts under
the tSnd3n: Which prevail! n ,hs aimosphsrs. a.
clouds except Sy cooling i True .ha, II Iseo!a
shes .sp!s% psssde"..'PSa s BY Sy
compression cannot take place In the
Thousand detonations can produce no more effect
'Ss' ."SS s ~s%s
Would i be rSSS sasr . to
OF s Of heat which
Prof. Newcomb further suggests that the
ineffectiveness OF explosions would be better
understood were 1t not for the wonderful deli
sad i'd m"en that sad res o 81
tenth. hundredth. or a thousandth ofan inch,
saccomPanied! BY slight momentary rondensa-
air Is exactly In the same condition as 1t was
before: 1t Is neither hotter nor colder; no cur
The same thing may be Demonstrated by ex-
lance u a foot will produce greater concus-
tance OF q quarter OF a mile
In fact Il the latter can eondense vapor quarter Of
BY ssn u. 'Ip9
ping our hands and see how long we must continue
ssSs;S.$;s$ .ss' Gss.s s.,e
1ot Is done 10 their into raia
s.s s;sn \; If e:
by f:S ,e :: Of
rising into tho clouds. may haye some effect In
current OF hot air would rise to great
height. when through the diminished pressure
n Il would expand and hence b cooled then
ure. The theory Of battl smoke may also help
70 save from scientiflc demolition the Stats
whirh he nds rain following 1873 battles Of the
az an, Antietam; FrsdeEteSksbMrR. CIaneellors.
STi,ckamanca. and IobiIS' Bay yA' In H'f the;
Mexican war, too, Palo Alto. Buens Vista,
ContTsras: Churnbnsco. Molino, dol hey.
and Chapultepec were fought during the dry
Gen. Eenham Gays Of Buena Vista TINT two
heavy showers occurred ono shortly after tho
mornings cannonade and the other after the
resumption Of 9sinE IN the afternoon. and that
six Or eight months. and none fell as. / know
bs as A. to Prof Espys plan Of nking rain
, ny h5ei was nhand"nsh on proof that it
enormous forest and prairie fires that iaii to
become self-extinguishing through gencrat-
diEious.
The chances are that Uncle Jerry Rusk will
tell Congress how he has laid out the Sa,iNN
al fuI f.r tIaS. IAN