Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-10-19
RAIN CQMPELLERs.
They Make 1t Damp in a Dry
Part ofTexas.
JUPITER PLUvIUs UNDER CONTROL,

JUPITER PLUvIUs UNDER CONTROL,
And Rain to Your Order, is the latest
Invention Dyrenfurth's Men Bonn
bard the Heavens and They Reply with
q Copious Shower Worth $500, 900 to
the Cattle Men-Thc Water Shaken
out Of the Clouds by Explosives In .
Manner That Delights the Experiment
ters.
CAMP EDWARD POWERS, Tex, Oct 49,
The government rainmakers are the he =.
roes of the hour here The experiment
which was begun Saturday evening and
continued during the night was entirely
successful. At o'clock yesterday morn
: Ing rain fell in torrents in the camp and
soaked the men to the skin. Never be-
fore were men so glad to get a wetting.
They yelled and hurrahed and danced
fandangos in the mud. The people of San
Diego and of the surrounding country
are astonished at the result. When they
went to bed at midnight the moon was
shining in cloudless sky and there was
NO sign of rain anywhere.
At 4 o'clock they were awakened by the
pattering and pouring Of rain on the
roofs, and in few minutes it came down
In torrents. The rain continued for nearly
Al hour, and when it ceased the pluvio-
meier showed that half an inch had fallen.
kilograms received yesterday from
stations along the line of the Mexican
National railroad state that the rain ex-
tended about forty miles to the northeast,
one hundred and eight miles to the west
and thirty miles to the southwest. 1t did
not rain either to the east or south at a
greater distance than ten or fifteen miles.
Big Profit on the Investment.
The water yesterday morning was stand
ing In pools all over the ranches, and the
cattlemen are delighted. They estimate
that the value Of the rain figures at least
$500. 900. 1t is also worth much to the
cotton growers. As the entire cost of the
experiment was about =, 500 they regard
1t as one of the best investments they
could possibly have made. The scientific
value of the success cannot be estimated,
of course, but it will undoubtedly lead to
many more tests of the conclusion theory.
Already offers are being made to the rain
makers to go to Mexico and experiment
there.
The Battle with Dry Weather.
The bombardment began early Satur-
day evening and until nearly midnight
there was a continousroar from the dyna-
mite and rackarock batteries. The full
moon was sailing across cloudless sky
and the hundreds of people who had come
to the camp were satisfied that the expert
ment would be fiat failure. They said
that it was a beautiful imitation of a bat
tie but that rain would follow from such
sky was absurd and impossible Many
offered to bet baskets of champagne that
no rain would come, and some of the rain
makers tool up the bets as quickly as
they were offered. The heavy smoke from
the batteries drifted off to the northwest
and the balloons sailed off in that direc-
tion before they exploded
Rapid Increase in Humidity.
The hygrometer showed 63 per cent. of
humidity just before the firing began and
at u o'clock it showed 95 per cent. The
barometer was high and rising during
the early part OF the evening, but fell rap
idly about 2 O'Clock. AT midnight the
continuous firing ceased and five-minute
guns took its place. Mr.. Ellis who was
In charge, and George CASTER, the aero
naut, sent up the balloons at intervals of
about forty minutes. They ran to a
height of about half a mile before ex-
ploding. At about $50 a balloon was
sent up. The air at the time was very
still. The balloon went straight into the
air and then drifted to the northwest,
then came directly south, then went off
east, and at the time it exploded was
travelling west at a rapid rate.
The Balloon Acted Strangely.
Mr.. Rastler, who has been making ascen-
sions for many years, said that he had
never seen balloon act in that way and
the disturbance in tine upper currents
must have been tremendous 1t was
o'clock when the storm first showed above
the horizon to the northwest, the direc-
ton in which the wind had been blowing
during the heavy firing. The clouds came
up rapidly and one could see them gather
size and density as they approached the
zenith and drifted across the moon. A
small cloud would appear suddenly in a
clear part of the sky and in five minutes
it would spread out enormously. At
few minutes before O'Clock the sky
above was full of heavy clouds, but not a
drop OF rain had fallen.
Hit Right in the Wet spot.
Then balloon was sent up and exploded
right in the clouds, and the mortar bat
terry began shooting bombs in rapid sue
cession. In two minutes after the balloon
exploded the rain came down, and in three
minutes it was falling in sheets, and little
rivulets were running through the camp.
At sunrise dry norther came, and in a
short time the storm clouds had been
blown to shreds Mr.. Ellis is highly
pleased at the results of the experiments,
and every one here agrees that the storm
was wholly due to the firing
Ofhcial Report of the Fight
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19-Oficial con-
frmation of the report of the fatal ARRAY