The Portland daily press., 1897-03-12

from the point of view of the people at
large. On the other hand cheapness
has been made special object in the
picture book of tbs Hydrographical
Office.
One OF the most curious Of storm phe-
nomena is the formation of hail. 1t Is
known that this frozen rain falls from
clouds atfhigh levels. where the tempsra-
ture Ia low enough to crystalline the
| water. Thus Thousands of tons of hail.
stones may be discharged from mass OF
cloud within few minutes. On May
| 9. 1866, near Catelet, in France. a guam
| tity of hallstonss estimated at 81, QUO. 600
| cubic feet fell in a space mile and
quarter long and @ 900 feet sbroad. Sucn
| Toe rystals of extraordinary size nave
baen observed occasionally. The largest
hailstones on record Tell In oouthefh
France in October, 1874, one weighing
eleven pounds being picked up. Doubt
less, however, these exceptional nall
stones are agglomerations representing
many crystals fused together.
Crystals OF hail have been found o.
casionslly to contain extraordinary
things. such as small stones and even NJ
tie turtles But the solution Oh tnh6
mystery is the same rs the explanation
which accounts forsshowers OF fishes ana
other animals, a whirling storm suoA ine
up theswater of a pond Cor stream WIN
its contents and rdepositing the latuer
perhaps many miles away. Not mary
years aeosthere was a shower of hsh In
thescity of louisville. KY, large mum,
swimming in the CUTTERS after sremen-
dous downpour of rain. In March, 1889,
storm of mud smothored whole hocks OF
sheep in the province of nsBuenos Ayres
In Fifeshire, Scotland. there was ones
shower of frogs, which fell in such i'm
mense numbers Ethat they made their
way into the houses and were swept out
in heaps.
This frog story is perfectly we'll anthem
tioatei But whatever may have been
the cause ingtbat instance, alleged show
ers of frogs and toads are not really such
ats.all, the fact being that the animals
come out of the mud in large umbers
after the storm. 1t is the same way Win
so-ealled showers of angleworms and
snails. Two yea q ago big box full OF
| little snails. said 10 have fallen In
shower, weressent to the Smithsonian In
sfitution from Ohio. The most startling
phenomenon of this sort is red rain.
which in past centuries never failed to
excite dismay and alarm. During the
| than twenty so called SHOWERS of blood"
| In Europe. Wherever scientifically inves-
| tigated, they were proved to be due to
| the presence either of red volcanic DUST
| or of red animalculae in the water. A
| few years ago a lake in Siberia turned to
blood, so people said. An examination
of the water by the = microscope sshowed
that 1T was full of crimson-hued in
fusOria.
Snow that had the appearance OF elot-
ted, blood when fallen has been Regarded
as direful postent, and no wonder a
shower of crabs once fell at Tytenhanger
Park, In Kent and near Falkland there
was a shower of seaweeds, which fes-
tooned the trees..in an astonishing way.
On Nov. 9. 1919. it rained ink in Mon
treal, This was accounted for by SCOT
from extensive forest fires to the south OF
tho Ohio River The fact Rsems to he
we'll esta blished that raindrops under
certain conditions contain small guam
titles of stored electricity. They have
even been known't to emit sparks on st ria
ing, with cracking noise and smell
of phosphorus On Sept. 20. 1910, tie
soldiers of French regiment in Algiers
observed shat raindrops falling on their
boards became luminous.
The earth-cloud or fog, is sometimes
so dense as to interfere seriously with
traffic in cities, while on the ocean 1t is
not infrequently the cause OF danger ana
disaster When much smoke Is mixed
with 1t, it may become an impenetrable
pell, turning day into night. TO suoh
causes. attribute BILE in part to great forest
fires, have been due the clark days.
which more than once have occasioned
alarm. On the famous dark day In New
England, Maybe, 1880, childranswere lost
and men went about with lanterns
searching for them. Many people be-
Iieved that the end of the world had ar
rived. In September, 1881, there was a
"yellow day." due to forest fires in
Canada, when all New England was
illuminatedsby .an unearthly light. aud
the brassy sky suggested the predicted
Biblical Day Of Judgment to the super
st1rious. -
A5-4ax =