Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-05-07
SHOOTING HAIL STORMS.

|
Gus times Of successful efforts at pro-
tecting orchards and vineyards from
| hail storms. by means OF the firing OF
cannon. Last November an interna-
tional congress held for the purpose Of
| discussing that topic convened at
Lyons France. and reports were re-
| ceiyed from numerous storm shooting
| stations, on the results of observations
made, An astonishing number Of re-
ports We're received, covering a large
area Of Europe, and showing the wide
spread interest In the matter There
were reports from parts OF France It.
ally, Spain, Switzerland, Austria and
Hungary.
Professor j. r. Pumandon, meteorol-
oglst Of the observatory Of Puy-de-
Dome, summarized these reports and
gave his own deductions. He was rath-
er doubtful about the truth of the con-
illusions made. He supposed given To-
cnlty over which storm approaches.
by the blackness Of the cloud, he said,
the darkness produced by II, the in
tensity OF the lightning. and the con-
tinuous roll Of thunder coming nearer
and nearer Il seems as though II must
acquire extraordinary violence, and
menace the region with disaster The
artlllerymen are at their posts, and fire
the cannon methodically, Soon the
strength Of the storm dlmlnishes and
1t passes away dlschargng over the
region only rain that is more bene-
fetal than harmful. Then he asks:
rs II the firing Of the cannon that
has dissipated the storm? This Is not
absolutely impossible hut who can
affirm that il Is So since dissipation oc-
ours very frequently without any can
ron at oh being fred2 IL would be
necessary 10 have a very large number
Of favorable observations IN order TO
place any confidence in such bold as
serti0n. 1t Is about the same with those
assertions that attribute to the innu-
ence Of the cannon shots various occur
rences that may really be quite inde-
pendent Of Il. such as the diminutlon Of
the violence or the frequency Of the
wind Of lightning. thunder, or hail the
dispersion OF DETECTION Of storm
clouds, ETC.
OF more value he said, are the OBJ
seryations made that halstorms have
been actually suppressed over the i'm
mediate borders Of a region protected |
by cannon; that a protected region has
been immune while the surrounding |
territory has been ravaged by hail; |
and that the destruction wrought In a |
small non protected zone inclosed in |
a vast area Of protected country, has
been small And these facts, he said,
had been attested by different report
ers. But he thought It necessary TO
make some reservation even In such
cases. He summed mp as follows
con the whole among the facts in
volyed In favor Of the efficacy Of the
cannon shooting, there are some that
prove absolutely nothing. others that
are unfavorahle. and only few can be
made TO serve as "A foundation for the
hypothesis OF the protecting influence.
This Is really good progress In such ef-
forts. The too enthusiastic persons
who have believed In the prompt and
radical suppression Of hen viii certain
" be disappointed, as Is always the
ease when one discounts too highly the
success Of an enterprise But the more
moderate ones win be satisfied with
the single idea that the struggle against
hail is not absolutely impossible"
This is a calm. conservative esti.
mate Of the results so far obtained by
the many costly experiments In this
direction. Hailstorms in southern
Europe often do extensive damage TO
crops Even the prospect OF a posi-.
bility to combat them must appear en-
and inspire the hope that
some means may be found that lead
10 victory.