The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-10-07

of water does not count, for these fish
showers are known to have occurred
many hundreds of miles away from the
nearest coast In South Africa, some
years ago, tract of country forty-three
miles square was found thick with fish;
and-to omit a host of other such in
stances abroad-in England, on at least
one occasion, some pasture land, con-
siderable distance from the sea, was
found strewn with bushels of small fishes.
We know ourselves of a shower of fish
bones which fell only last year in the
heart of Wales. Such showers are fire.
quent enough at sea, and every sailor can
tell of their occurrence. Mariners can
also tell of showers of dust, small ami
mails, or of plants, falling upon their
vessels thousands of miles out on the
ocean. These are explained on much the
same principle as the fish showers on
land, with the substitution of a landspout.
Mud-showers and frog-showers, of which
we hear rather frequently, are caused
in the same way. NJ Peltier has put
frog-Shower on record as having hap
pened within his own experience. He
speaks of seeing the frogs fall on the roofs
of the houses, and rebound from thence
on to the pavement below. A mud-shower
occurred along the Union Pacific rail-
way at Onaga on April 4, 1892 The rain,
we are assured, commenced early in the
day, and soon the south and east sides
of all the houses were covered with yell
low clay A Union Pacific train, which
ran through the storm, had it's windows
covered; and the headlight was so com
pletely plastered that the light was shut
in and the train ran in darkness into
Rossville, where the mud had to be
scraped off. AS far east as Topeka the
windows showed that the edge of the
mud-storm had extended thus far 1t is
said to have been even more severe and
wonderful thirty miles northwest.
Blood rain and black rain are only
varieties of this phenomenon. OF the lat
ter, we hear nothing worth speaking of
nowadays; but an almost historic shower
of this sort fell al Montreal in the earlier
part of this century, and enveloped the
then youthful city in a black pail, which
must have been worse than prime Lon
don fog, seeing that 1t gave the inhabi-
tants the idea that the last day had como,
or was at least on the point of coming.
Blood" rain is caused by the presence Of
infinitely little plants animalcules, or
minerals in the globules. In one in
stance of a shower that fell at Bristol and
in the British channel, the analytical ex-
animation showed that the red color was
due to ivy-berry seeds. In medieval times
blood rain was a prodigy; in the east 1t
was connected with the belief that man
was produced from blood that fell from
heaven. 1t was portent as remarkable
as the @DlOody most which, while Il
fiourished, probably caused the death of
more Jews In this country than any other
individual superstition directed against
that people. 1t is described as IAN ap-
pearance of blood flowing from bread
when bitten;" but it manifested itself in
other articles of food besides bread, and
sometimes seemed to drop from the air
1t Will he remembered by historical read
ers that, while Alexander was besieging
Tyre, this prodigy and the other one of
blood rain" occurred in one day. much
to the CONSERVATION Of the soldiers.
More curious than blood rain in regard
to the mere color was the red, violet and
grass green shower which fell in the south
OF France many years ago, and made a
patchwork OF the big lake, wherein It's
manifestation was the more noticeable
This shower, again, was caused by untold
myriads OF diferently-colored animalcuIes
Spider-showers are another curiosity
worthy Of mention in this connection.
The spiders are gossamers; and all those
who have read Whites Natural History
OF Selborne" will call to mind his descrip-
ton OF the showers he observed.
one OF these, he tells us, continued for
nearly a whole day, and the gossamers
descended from a surprising height; for
when one gentleman assembled a hin near
az hand some 300 feet high. he found that
the spiders were dropping from a region