The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1904-11-25

theory, but upon consulting the Gov
ernment astronomer the latter pointed
out that even if the theory were correct
At would require the burning Of 9,O00.-
900 tons Of coal daily 10 obtain a two
thirds increase in the rainfall Of sgd
ney. and the scheme was abandoned
as too expensive -
cANNONS AND RAIN.
Napoleon is credited with first motto.
ing and making use Of the gfact" that
batt.ts are usually followed by heavy
rains. During the Franco-Prussian
War and our Mexican and Civil wars,
it is stated that-eyery great battle was
followed by heavy rain storms In
1870 Edward Powers published hook
entitled "War and the Weather. in
which 19s battles Of the Civil War are
described, every one Of which was i'm
mediately followed by heavy showers.
In 1874 an unsuccessful effort was
made to interest Congress in the can
nonading theory r. Hatermann, in
New Zealand in 1876. proposed that
balloons loaded with explosives be sent
up into the higher air strata and ex-
ploded, and in 1850 General d. Rug
giles. OF Fredericksbnr VA. patented
a similar scheme IN this country. 1T
is contemplated, " he said in his memoir
ial to Congress, mot only to precipitate
rainfall. but also TO check its fall in
overabundance, and also to purify and
remove the atmosphere over cities dur
ing periods Of pestilence and epidem-
les"
About ten years later Congress ap-
propriated $4,000 TO test the eannonad-
ing theory The test was made on
ranch in Texas. ana although the first
newspaper and magazine accounts
stated that * was entirely successful
and that "at last the farmer could pro-
duce rain at win, later authoritative
reports, one of them By an official Of
the Departlent Of Agriculture, who wit
messed the experiments, fatty contra
dicted this view, and deprecated the
spending of any further money by
Congress on the work. 1t was espe-
clally pointed out that the standing
given professional rainmakers" by the
Governments action materially aided
them in victimizing the Western farm
ers, and the immediate result of the
Texas experiments was a large new
crop of "rain-making" syndicates.
CANNONADING HAIL STORMS.
1t is worth noting, apropos this
method of rain-making, that the same
devices, cannonading and exploding
dynamite in the air, are now used for
just the opposite purpose in Austria,
for preventing hail storms, which Of
ten seriously injure the Vineyards
It's advocates are certain that it IS ef-
fective, and can cite as numerous in-
stances of its. success as storm dis
peler as the American rain-makers do
Of its rain-compelling powers.
The present status, then, of the ques-
tion of artificial rain-making seems to
be that there has been no method yet
proposed which is practical for agrlcul-
tural use. The only one which has any
scientific basis is that Of building enor-
nous fires tlroughour the drought-
stricken country. The recent rains af-
ter long drought, Immediately fol-
lowing extensive forest fires III the
East, is curious coincidence, if Moth
ing more. which seems to support this
theory. The method IS, however, so
expensive as to be of little practical
value -s%4sss.ssf
The conditions which govern the for
nation of storm centres in the atmos-
phere are probably so complex and va
rious that our present knowledge Of
meteorological laws is of the most SUI
perfcia and elementary character.
Until this knowledge is vastly in
creased especially regarding condi-
tions in the upper air ana their rela-
tion to the lower strata Of the atmos-
phere it does not seem probable that
the rainmakers will achieve any pracd-
cal success. My.