Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-02
BATTLES AND FALL OF RAIN
TOO CONSTANT TO BE CLASSEC
AS A MERE COINCIDENCE.
Views of Dr. VIM. Tindall-Bearing
on Problem of Water Supply
for Arid Regions.

The occurrence of severe rain storms
while attles of several days duration
in progress. or Immediately after their
termination, or soon after the termination
of any battle in which large numbers are
engaged. is a phenomenon too constant in
its occurrence to be reasonably classed as
mere coincidence with such contests
rather than as being philosophically related
to them DR.. William Tindall, secretary
to the board of Commissioners of the Dis
trict of Columbia. remarked to a Star re-
porter yesterday Nearly every important
battle during the war for the preservation
of the Union was accompanied or imme-
dately followed by unusually heavy
rainfall.
That the storms We're not especially
caused by the atmospheric vibrations from
the discharge of firearms may be logically
inferred from the fact that during ana
for some days subsequent. to rapid and ex-
tensve cannonading, during the summer
of 1864 at the siege of Petersburg and other
places. which were not accompanl ed Dy
the general personal conflict OF the armies,
the weather was remarkab BILE for prolonged
absences of rain While the preparations
for crossing the Kappa hammock at FREEZER
icksDurg in December, 1857, were In prog
ress the cannonad ng of the town and its
vicinity to prevent the concentration or
confederate troops on the river oahK III
sufficient numbers to offer formida pie OPP
position to the crossing by the 1ederai
army. was. perhaps. as constant ana VOL
luminous as any artillery practice which
ever occurred in a field engagement MS
firing about noon December IL was so Vio-
lent that the vibrations were painful to the
troops a half a mile behind the earthworks
in which the artillery was sheltered ana
gave discomfort even to those most Injured
to sucn tumuts. But rain Immediately
followed.
Storms Without Cannonading.
ION the contrary. during the battles In
the Wilderness. in the early part or May
1864 there was practically no cannonading.
as the dense forest growth and thckets pre-
rIuded sufficient range Of vision to admit OF
its advantageous use. but the rattle CT small
arms and the shouting of charging masses
were as general and we'll sustained as IN
any battle of modern times. These actions
were Immediately followed by violent ram
storms . ~ 30
"Plutarch in his account of the career Vi
Gains Marius remarks: 1t is observed IN
deed that extraordinary rams gehera!! iai
after great battles, whether 1t be tnat some
deitv chooses to wash and purify the earth
with water from above or whether the
blood and corruption, by the moist ana
heavy vapors they emit. thicken the ar.
when is liable TO be altered by the smallest
cause' No cannOns were used then
The reference to the moist and neaVy
yapurs' by Piutarch is in harmony with the
facts but omits what is to me the most I'M
portant fact bearing on this result, ameiy
the exhalations of breath and persplratlon
from thousands of painting ana snou'ins
men. which forms a nucleus for storm de-
Vehement in the air, which. Plutarch adds,
is liable to be altered by the smaitest
cause.
ar there is the relation of cause and
effect between the continual discharge ihto
Of
yaDor over an extended space, from the
human lungs and skins, during a battle
and the formation of rain clouds. II may
have a practical bearing upon the problem
of providing water supply TO some OF the
arid regions of the west
Tract Practically Rainless.
The tract between the Columbia river
and Utah. along the line OF the Snake
river. is practically rainless. 1t contains
no body of water of considerable size. The
volume of the Snake is Insignificant in
comparison TO the vast area it traverses
The rainfall diminishes as the distance
from the Columbia and the Salt Lake re-
gion increases. which suggests the proDa-
blity that the rainfall over the most ARD
portion of that territory might pc increased
by the construction of artificial body
of water or number of them in that section.
whose vapors would have the effect OF in
ducing precipitatioHs for reasons analogous
thpSa which Apply 10 rdinldilS dlier
battles. or by the encroachment of forests
or cultivated areas.
THE proba bility of success in that direc-
ton seems to derive some support from
the fact that no part of the waterless
region is cloudless
1T has been stated that precipitation has
been greater in the vicinity of the Salton
sink since the increase of the inundated
area by the irruption Of the waters of
the Colorado river. That view has been
controyerted on the ground that the entire
contents of the Salton would not suf-
flee to furnish if evaporated. rain enough
to nearly supply the amount that has been
attributed to its influence But this objec
ton overlookS the proposition that 1t is
the influence of the moisture as a nucleus
of attraction for vapOr from any other
source or direction and not the condensa-
ton of the original moisture alone upon
which the merit of the theory depends"