Mexico weekly ledger., 1915-07-08
WHY CAHNOAADING WILL
NOT PRODUCE RAIN
J. F. LleweIlyn in a Letter to the
Ledger Tells Why it Fails TO
Produce Results.
Editor Ledger.

Editor Ledger.
There has appeared again the
opinion that ~cannonading causes rain.
The matter was discussed some years
back with differences of opinion.
There is a drought now in Austria
Hungary. began at the end of April.
The London Times says the rainfall
was below average in Europe Aug.
Sept. and Oct. 1914. Here Nov. 1914
the rainfall was light.
At Shoeburyness, England big guns
are fired almost daily, there the rain
fall is less than in amy part of the
, United Kingdom.
Oct. 18th, 1918, the battle of Leip-
sic was fought, 100000 men and 1000
cannon were engaged. During the
battle 800 cannon were fred steadily
in a space half q league in breadth.
Allison reports no rain Oct. 18th to
sOth.
AT Waterloo fqU,UUU men ana 4zO
cannon were engaged. Allison re-
ports no rain.
May 81 and %, 1909, the battles of
Aspern and Essling were fought.
$50, 1000 men and 500 cannon we're en-
gagged. Allison reports no rain.
A heavy rain fell July 4th, 1909.
On the 5th and 9Th was fought the
battle of Wagram. $4,000 men and
1450 cannon were engaged. No rain
fell until the 11th of July.
A light rain fell ten night before
Antietam, none soon after. 100000
men fought.
The weather was inclement before
Gettysburg, July t-3, 1868, a light
rain fell July 4th and the rain came
down in sheets July 18th. 10000
men we're engaged.
On the srd, 100 cannon bombarded
80 cannon on Cemetery Hill for one
and a half hours.
In support Of the theory that can
nonading aus rain, one writer
claims that great cold is produced by
firing cannon It is also held that
great fire rain. No rain fell
during the Chicago fire Oct. 8 and o,
1878, a light rain fell on the 10th and
a heavy rain on Oct. 14th.
In Australia it was hoped that rain
could be caused by fires, but it was
proven to them hat nine million tons
of coal burned daily would be needed.
In Plutarch's time it was thought
that the shout of combat and clash
Of shields caused rain.
The United States paid for expert
ments near Washington and in Texas
to ascertain If explosions would
cause rain. The Weather Bureau re-
ported no rain produced near Wash
ington by bombardment Of skies.
In Texas the attorney who conduct
ed the experiments had no rain gauge,
varied reports came, "a few humid
redths of an inch" nearly two inches,s
"a light shower" and Grain in tor
rents"
Prof. Newcomb wrote that sound
could not produce rain, six cubic
yards of gas from a bomb would move
the air one fourth Of a mile away
one ten ~thousandth Of an inch. Slap.
ping hands in a room would be as eff
icient. "Ten seconds after an ex-
plosion there is silence"
A mathematician showed that the
lexplosion Of a 10-foot ballon would
have the same relation to the air
over Texas as the jump Of a flea upon
a 1000 ton steamer running at 20
knots an hour.
There was hope that bombardment
and rings of smoke would prevent
hail. The Weather Review 1901
176 says, There is no satisfactory
evidence that these have any influence
on hail" "The last Hail Congress
(Padua) refused to hear farther evil
dence that hail is prevented in that
way" Sixteen test cases failed. "The
energy expanded in the production
of hail, a tornado or rainstorm is
greater than all the steam engines
and explosives in the world"
The American Meteroligist says TO
depress the barometer half an inch
over an area of 700 miles requires a
power that would lift a mass of mer-
curry four miles long. four miles wide
and one mile deep.
To expect the explosion of a few
thousand pounds Of gun powder to
do this work, is as though a grain o.
powder would blow up Gibraltar.
]. r. LlewelIvn.