The Washington herald., 1913-03-30
Prof Fred G. Phmmer Tells Of the New ork-Recent In.
vestigations Of Smoke Phenomena Many Curious
Things Caused by Smoke Of Forest Fires.

with vision. At still greater distances
from the fire. when the smoke has been
further mixed with clear air, its pres
ence can only be noted by a yellow hass
about the horizon or by the discoloration
Of rain. These phenomena, observed from
time immemorial. have been given various
names-like dark days. dry fogs, Indian
summers. and colored rains.
Dark days have been recorded for cen
turies. Usually there is a gradually in
creasins gloom until it becomes so dark
that artificial light is necessary. This
darkness may last a few hours or sev-
eral days, and decrease as gradually q
it came But we now know that dark
days are due to dense smoke in the at
mosphere. and in this country forest and
prairie fires have been the causes
Most dark days might properly be CALI
ed yellow days Even Black Friday
May 10, 17So, which was the most memoir
able of all the dark days of modern times.
was preceded by a gradually increasing
yellowness and an odor. The same was
true of the dark days of 1873. 1881. 1884,.
and 1905. September 6. 1881, was so dis
tinctly yellow that IL is known as the
yellow day.
I'm 17l6 the air was full Of smoke. Dur
ing the dark days of 17s0 ashes Of burnt
leaves. SCOT. and cinders fell in some sec
tions from forest fires in New York and
Canada In 17s5 black rain fell during
a thunder shower in the darkened area.
In 1914 ashes of burnt wood fell and
there was a strong smell of smoke. In
1873 a shower in the darkened area was
discolored as IL the water were impres
mated with SCOT. The fires near Wis
eif nrnhahl consad ha do arG-
ness In 1886. In 1858 the smoke from ths
Coos and st. Helens fires was encoun-
tered on the Pacific Ocean. In 1881 dense
smoke was noticed over a large area
chiefly from the Michigan forest fires.
In 1857 the smoke from forest fires to
the westward interfered with navigs-
ton. became painful to the eyes, and
rendered breathing uncomfortable. In
1894 the smoke came chiefly from the
Hinckley fire in Minnesota In 1902 the
smoke came from numerous fires, one of
the largest being the South Fork of
Lewis River watershed. In 1906 the
smoke was from fires in the Adiron-
dacks. In 1910 the smoke was from the
great Idaho fires. The smoke from these
fires reached 800 and 700 miles at sea.
Indeed. the British ship Dunfermline re-
ported that on the Pacific Ocean. 500
miles west of San Francisco, the smell
VI sKohc "dS uodCtu. anu tne HAZE pre-
vented observations for ten days.
.'Colored rains. being so little known
and understood, are considered as
prodigies; nevertheless. they have been
observed for many centuries They are
not difficult to understand. We say that
a shower of rain has cleared the atnos-
phere.' meaning that the drops OF water
have carried to the earth such impurities
as were held in suspension or solution.
upon the quantity and nature of these
impurities, the falling rain will be col
ored, and in some cases the color is so
marked as to attract attention. Forest
fires are one of the principle agents by
which the atmosphere is polluted. and
usually are the cause of colored rains.
Such rains are better described as dis
colored, being gray or muddy. but the
most notable or highly colored rains
mentioned in history can be attributed
TO smoke
Copyright, 1915. by William L. Altdcrfer)