Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-10-08

of the 10th clouds began to gather directly
over the ranch, and during the afternoon
and the evening very heavy rain fell
nearly two inches, -transforming the
roadways into rushing torrents and every
hollow of the prairie into small lake.
The next important operation was per-
formed ON August Is; the explosions hav-
ing been begun on the evening previous. a
large quantity of oxhydrogen gas was used
In the balloon explosions, while the ground
batteries were kept in almost constant ac-
ton for twelve hours. The morning had
dawned clear and beautiful, and neither
the appearance of the atmosphere nor the
readings of the instruments gave any indi-
cation of aught but the fairest weather
This state of the weather continued until
late In the afternoon, when heavy clouds
gathered and formed in the south and
west, and at 5 p. m. the operators of the
ground batteries. which had kept up their
roar until that time, were forced to run
for shelter through drenching rain,
which fell in torrents for two and a half
hours over the entire southern and eastern
portion of Andrews county and most of
Midland county and those to the south and
west of it.
Late in the evening the writer drove in
|
and it is safe to say that six or eight miles
Of the road traversed was flooded under
four to forty inches of water.
The final operation of this series of ex-
periments was begun at II a. M OF the
18th day of August. At $50 o. N. of
that day the barometric curve indicated a
pressure of rs. 93 inches, which is slightly
below the normal for that hour at this
elevation and locality, where the barome
ter generally reads very dry" The wet
and dry bulb psychrometer indicated a
relative humidity of only Is, with the dew
point at AZ degrees.
| The wind blew from the southeast 1.-THE
usual direction) at velocity of 1873 miles
| per hour. The sky was clear, except for
few very light, scattered cumulus clouds,
which were estimated, by the movements
of the balloons, to be at height of more
! than two and one-half miles.
Seven balloons, mostly of the large size,
| were sent up in this operation. Two 10
foot balloons were exploded by means of
electric cable at height of 1000 feet, but
the explosions of the larger balloons were
too terrific to lie risked at so close a prox-
Unity, and they were therefore fitted with
fuses timed for two to six minutes and
allowed to attain attitudes of from one to
three miles before exploding.
The manner of operating the balloons
was to fill them first to one-third their ca
paclty by attaching them by pipes to a
number OF retorts containing chlorate of
potash and a small quantity Of binoxide
OF manganese. When these retorts were
passed through the flames of gasoline fur
naces set up in a large adobe workshop,
the potash being decomposed by the heat,
gave off oxygen very rapidly. The balloon
was then attached to the hydrogen
generators and the imitation was
completed with hydrogen. TIE hydrogen
apparatus consists of three large tanks
half full of water, with half q ton OF
iron borings in the bottom Of which sui
phuric acid Is slowly decanted. The acid
rapidly decomposes the water into its gas
eous elements and the iron takes up the
oxygen. leaving the hydrogen free TO pass
through a wash barrel into the balloon.
While the balloons were being filed and
exploded a tremendous 'cannonading"
was in progress all along the ground bat
teries, and late into the night this firing
was continued along line mile and a
half in length.
At IL p. N. the firing ceased, and our
weary party Immediately retired for the
night. At 3 a. M, however, the heavy
rolling of thunder disturbed che sleepers,
and, looking out to the west and north,
heavy banks of cloud were seen advancing,
Almost constantly lighted by most brilliant
lightning. An hour later the rain began
to fall In torrents on the ranch, and did not
cease till a. m. The northern portions
of this county received the most thorough
watering they have had for the past three
years, and the reports from incoming cow
| boys Indicate that the storm extended over
many hundreds of square miles.
The results are extraordinary, to say
the least, and sGen. .Dyrenforth mutually
has no hesitancy in claiming that his ex-
periments resulted as satisfactorily as
could possibly be hoped for.
In combating the artificial rain theory
Prof. Newcomb makes the Introductory
remark, after abiding to the wonderful
accomplishments of science as exmplifed
In the telegraph, telephone and the steam
ship-"l ami not going to maintain that
we can never make rain" Continuing he
says: 81 unhesitatingly maintain that
sound cannot make rain. No
| physical fact is better established than
| that. under the conditions which prevail
in che atmosphere, the aqueous vapor of
| air cannot be condensed into clouds except
by cooling. The cooling which
results in the formation of clouds and
rain may come in two ways These are
given as follows:
Rains which last for several hours or days
are generally produced by the intermix-
ture of currents of air of different tenn
peratures. A current of cold air meeting
a current of warm, moist air in it's course
! may condense a considerable portion of
the moisture into clouds and rain, and
this condensation will go On as long as
| the currents continue to meet. In hot
spring day q mass of air which has been
warmed by the sun, and moistened by
evaporation near the surface of the earth,
may rise up and cool by expansion to near
the tr5ezing-point. The resulting con-
, densation Of the moisture may then pro-
duce shower or thunder-squall. But tie
| formation of clouds In clear sky without
motion of the air or change in the tenn
perature of the vapor is simpl impossible.
| We know by abundant experiments that
a mass of true aqueous vapor will never
condense into clouds or drops so long as
its temperature and the pressure of the air
upon it remain unchanged.
1t is certain that some of the PROPOSE
tons maintained by Prof. Newcomb will
not stand, in the extreme form in which
he has expressed them. He says, for ex-
,,o,Io fI,o+ $50 fbo,sond dotopofiopo o,n