Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-19

United States and put his discovery into
operation. On arriving in America he an
nounced his power to produce rain, an d
asked of his brother, John s. Melbourne, a
rich pottery manufacturer, for permission n
TO erect an observatory upon the top Of his
magnificent residence
An Unpretentious Observatory.
His brother scoffed at his pretensiona
but Frank, undaunted, went toa brother
in-law, residing on the northwestern edge
of this city, and being given permission,
erected upon a carriage shed, q box-like
structure, 6x7 feet in size, and prepared to
give proof of assertions. The shed is made
of boards, and upon each of the four sides is
small square window, All are tightly
eurtained, and those on the south and west
kept closed, the other two being partly
raised
Little attention was paid to Melbourne's
frs. announcement of rain, but in the after.
noon of the day specified it came. Then
peopls laughed at his luck. A second and
. third prediction, or production" as
like gilt-edged note. This gave
him special prominence, and some who
believed the problem Of producing rain
could be solved, called attention to the diff.
ference in the character of the rains pro-
duced by Melbourne from those which gen.
orally fall in this region. Whether light or
heavy the fall was Straight, unaccompanied
by any wind, and there was no variation in
the quantity of fall during its continuance.
The next prediction was for Tuesday, June
80, and wager was put upon it. For q
week hardly cloud appeared to break the
force Of the suns rays, but Monday after
Tuesday, the appointed day, was cloudless,
and continued so until late in the evening,
when light shower occurred. Melbourne
said that in consequence Of atmospheric
conditions it was impossible to give the
exact hour of rainfall, and it might occur the
day previous to the one appointed.
Had Broken His Machine.
Then he announced rain for July II,
Saturday, and said it would be a severe one
Friday afternoon, July 10, THE DISPATCH
correspondent called at his crude-looking
laboratory. The entrance was by q rude
ladder in the interior of the carriage shed
through q trapdoor in the roof. Knocks
brought no response, but shout from the
lawn brought head into one of the win
dows. 1t was the wizards head, but he ap-
peared to be in great distress. His hair
was disheveled, his collarless shirt and face
and bare arms bathed in perspiration, and
he looked not at all like the carefully
dressed man he is upon the streets. He
hardly allowed a statement of the cause of
the visit before he exclaimed: "My ma
chine has met with an accident; you must
come tomorrow He drew in his head
and closed the window. Saturday no rain
came, but in the evening Melbourne came
out upon call and was calm and collected.
"You came at poor time yesterday" he
said. GAS there were no wagers on this
production, instead of commencing opera
4 haf he do fnr tha roiy,
I began Friday morning desiring to bring
the rains sooner, and increase the precision
of fulfillment. In my haste an accident oc-
tba as
you anything about the accident, for the
construction Of my machine is SO simple you
would gain an idea of its character. This
want to avoid until it is perfected and pat
ented. This kind of weather is the hardest
in the world to bring rain, the dampness
from the previous one not having disap-
peared. With a drought of a week or longer
can produce rain in day"
Testimonials for Jerry Rusk.
In response to an inquiry as to the Govern
ment taking action with regard to his dis.
oovery, Melbourne said nothing had been
done. He had received letter from the
Agricultural Bureau asking for several testi-
monials He would not tell what was de-
manded in them, but said they were furn-
ished by two well known local ply scians.
He said he had received number Of offers
TO locate IN dluerenG parIS Ol bLe w est, On6
being from Mr.. Garrison, of Chicago, who
owns large tracts of land in Nebraska and
Wyoming. He declined to give them consid-
GRAFTON until the Government has made
decision.
He says that in order to avoid misunder-
standings Sunday afternoon will be fixed
upon as a regular time for the production of
rain, and he expects soon to be able to name
the hour for its appearance.
On the days he processes to produce rain
he leaves his hotel at o'clock in the morn
ing and goes to his shed, remaining there
until O'Clock at night
W. L. Melbourne, brother of the rain wiz
ard, offers the following for publications:
"The undersigned hereby offers to any
taker or takers to wager 500 or less that
Frank Melbourne will produce rain on any
Sunday during the next month, the date to
be selected by the person or persons accept
ing this wager Money awaits q taker at the
Hotel Yohe. This is addressed particularly
to those who now gloat over the recent fail |
ure, caused bv an accident and are loud in |
proclaiming that Frank Melbourne cannot |
produce rain at will.
F. MFIRouPup