Newport daily independent., 1905-11-10
CANNON STOPS HAIL.
SATISFACTORY RESULTS OF EX-
 TREATMENTS IN FRANCE.
Damage from Storms Absolutely Checked in Localities Where Firing Has Been
 Done,

The cannSH defense against hail forms the subject of report to the state department by United States Consul Covert at Lyon, France. The Hail Cannon society of Limas has prepared report on the use of the cannon during the past year The re- port deals with the experience of 28 cannon-firing societies, which used 462 cannon in number of storms. It ap- pears that during the 15 years prior to the use of cannon the losses from hail amounted to about $3,08S, 900, and that during the five years in which cannon have been in use in the same territory the losses were but $159, 412. During the year 1904 the same com munes sustained no losses whatever, fact attributed entirely to use of cannon. The writer of the report says:
 We base OUT confidence in the efficacy of the firing on the fact that the thunder and lightning ceased, the wind abated and the clouds disap- peared under the firing of the cannon, and mild fall of rain and soft snow succeeded. These facts are undenia- ble."
 The report reviews the results of the firing lin 2S storms during the months of April, May, June, July and September. The results are generally the same-cessation of the thunder and lightning, dispersion of the clouds 1J; ;obE Fa1 oR fr Where no cannon were used the hail fell and caused serious damages. s'Ths communes not defended by cannon suffered enormously" Tn speaking of one storm the report says:
 "This storm was literally arrested at the east on the boundaries of the firing In the northwest and . little distance from the cannon hurricane swept over the country with violence, everywhere causing great damage"
 The report contains several pages on the storm of July P, 1904, which caused great damage in sonic parts of the country not protected by the can non. This hurricane caused incalcu- lable damage in 29 communes. Two communes, Lozanne and Belmont, were entirely desolated, but they had but a few cannon, one six and the other eight They are separated by a great distance from the country that isl provided with cannon" The mayor of Lozanne, who is the president of the society for defense against the hail, wrote that his ne1ghbors found themselves upon the edge of the com munes where there was no defense against the hail and were unable to resist storm of such violence. He says: During ths vSrst few minutes of the storm the firing was followed by the falling of few soft hailstones, and everybody noticed. even in that general storm that the thunder and lightning diminished as the firing con tinued, and that the diminution was caused by the cannon" In several places all traces of vegetation disap- peared and the consternatiOn was great in the wine-growing communes. The mayor of Belmont reports that the firing was powerlesS in his com mune on account of the small number of cannon
 The report mentions several locaii- ties where the firing was very active, and it says the hail was checked when the firing commenced. Tn the country known as Arbresle there were, from all accounts, but few canuon in use, and the destruction from hail was widespread and disastrous,
 Tn the great Beaujolais wine dis trict. where the country fairly brfs- tied with cannon" the farmers say that they found it necessary to lire only on the boundaries of the large vineyards, and that as rule, but very little firing occurred in the cen ter of the field. The consul says he has met dozen or more large wine growers who assert emphatically that they have not the remotest doubt of the efficacy of the cannon to destroy the hail in the clouds and to turn it into a mild rain.
 "The use of cannon against the hail." says Consul Covert will un- loubtedly continue in France until some authority appointed by the gov ernment shall assume control of the experiments and demonstrate it's i'm potency, if such a thing be possible The farmers of Arbresle, where but few cannon were used, are preparing to wage a more effective campaign against the hail next year. Their president and the other officers of their societies are of the opinion that the sole cause of their losses this year was the failure to use sufficient number of cannon