Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-08-07

The Process Employed a secret. brt a Sim
pie One-The Erroneous Impression as
to the Use of Explosives Chemicals and
Gas Used to Make the Heavens Weep
Prospects of Success
When the clouds gathered Satur-
day evening people thought Rainma-
ker c. b. Jewell, the kansan. who
began operations on Muscatine Island
Saturday had succeeded. and when.
later in he night, the chill set in in
| the atmosphere it was attributed
forthwith to JEWELS tampering with
| the elements. Every body in this
section, more particularly of course
the farming community, is deeply in
terested in the outcome of Jewels
initial experiment in the neighbor-
hood. The wizard prepares his
chemicals within his own car and his
secret is kept within his own bosom.
The Operating Car.
The operating car is described by
| the Mus catine News-Tribune as an
ordinary ca boose. No. 533. of the c..
X. |. Il p. railway, whose interior is
a ranged to suit the convenience of
the OCCUPANT, the front portion be-
ing utilized as living apartment
| for Mr.. Jewell. his wife and boy,
who constantly accompany him on
his trips, and the rear is fitted up
|
with closets for storing apparatus
! and con aims boxes of chemicals. lars
and other necessary equipments for
the rain-making business. The ex-
| pertinent is made with four earthen
| jars each of four or five gallons ca
| pacity, in which is stored a bina-
| ton of five chemicals and a cap is fit
ted over these connecting with two
! copper cubes running to the roof of
the car. and from which the gas gen
| Grated curls forth. ascending and dis
sipaling in the upper atmosphere.
| In order to generate the gas cur
rent of electricity is introduced by
| means of n wire connecting with the
| copper tubes. which are perhaps -
| inches in diameter. with the telc-
| graph wire along the railway. the
! current thus obtained being suflici-
emily strong for the purpose. The
! chemicals used are of course a valua-
| bic secret. which j. never diVulgcd
to any outside the wizards mystic
circle. and are prepared by DIR. Smith,
of Goodland, Kan. The process is
partial V original with Mr.. jewell.
who also embodies in his scheme
! some o. the principles employed by
! Frank Melbourne. who sprang into
national notorietv a couple OF years
! ago as a rainmaker.
PhiIo sophy OF tie rrncess.
The philosophy OF the process is
explained thusly: The chemicals
when reduced to a gaseous state are
intensely hot and the gas naturally
arises 20 a high altitude. one gallon
! of chemicals alone producing 1900
! cubic feet of gas. This gas pos
sesses the peculiar quality OF going
! from one extreme of temperature to
another. and on reaching the upper
| strata Of air. say 5000 feet above the
earth. becomes severely cold. thus
.
must always exist before a rainfall.
| The cold current results in the for
| nation of the nimbus or black rain
cloud. closely followed by precipi-
| tation And thus it Is that the flood
gates Of the sky are opened and the
! genial. refreshing shower comes.
A single operation requires about
| 80 minutes, after which the chem
| icals are renewed and rainfall may
be ant cipated after the first six hours,
! though several days may elapsc ere 4
favorab BILE result is attained. 1t Is
| said that the apparent condition Of
the SKY has little or nothing to do
! with the success of the experiment.
| providing no high wind prevails as
it is prone to carry the gas too far
from the point of operation and diff
! fuse i SO widely as to impair its po-
tencv and usefulness. Experience
teaches that there may be- 4 greater
quantity of moisture in the air on Il
fair. clear day than on a cloudy one,
and this is frequently shown by in
strum ents devised to register the
humility OF the atmosphere. The
j moisture being less collected perme-
ates the air more uniformly on clear
DAYS when the PARTICLES CT watery
element are excessive. People who
had an idea that rockets or bombs
were to be used were surprised to
learn the simplicity of the modus
operandi.
Ta.t Successors.
Mr. JEWELS operations have been
invariably crowned with success 50
far, and he is sanguine that his trial
i II, H. lnnnIitr Will he no fNcenfinn