Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-30
K Rainmakcrs
BY Frederic ]. HAskin

Washington. Aug 2s.-~-Rsinmaking
has been rdded to the list Of reinuner~
alive occupations,
Heretofore. inventors Of rainrnakinn
devices have had % be content with
having their rules for producing rain
patented. each sakinK comfort ia the
hope that he would some day he inn
mortalized as the father OF rainmak-
ling.
Lately. however. the commercial
value OF having an influence with the
clements has been recognized And
this summer we have tho interesting
i,henomnnH OF a man being paid 49,
600 for -four inches Of rain. and Of as
many as FIVE places In cne week plead
ing with him 10 move HIS camp and
bring down just q little rain in their
localities To save their crops. one
Wisconsin farming region offered the
rainDiaker $4,000 an inch.
Charles Hatfield. the rsinm8ker. set
up his camp near Medicine Hat, Al
berta, in May, with a contract for
81 900 an inch in his pocket. On the
first of August he dres his wages
and. the next week he renewed his
contract FOR next summer.
Satisfaction f. Hatneidg specially,
He displays proudly records Of IS
contracts, and he claims always to get
results in the time limit agreed upon.
The region In which he worked In
Alberta has been affected by drought
each summer for four years. Since
1916. there have not been more than
two inches Of rainfall In May and June
as compared with seven inches IN
these monhs In 1916 While Hatfield
was there this year nearly three inch-
IS Of rain fell in these months. and
he finished his three months work
With total of more than the required
four inches. One Canadian. who Is
evidently skepticai Of Batfeld's part
in the Canadian precipitation, points
out that while the contracted amount
of rain fell around Medicine Hat in
May, June and July, the rain did not
always descend when the farmers
most needed II, and he adds that,
furthermore, on several occasions the
rain fell more heavily IN territory out
side the rainmaker's operations.
Whether luck or actual science help
ed Hatfield 10 fulfill his contract. no
one can say certainly. His methods
are. not advertised. II Is known that
he sends up chemicals-acids to cool
the atmosphere In order to cause con-
densation, probably
How Rain Occurs.
There has always been some con
troversy as to the exact way in which
rain occurs. The air must be satur-
ated with water vapor which Is in
some way cooled and condensed into
clouds. Some scientists hold that shis
cooling is naturally affected by the
mixture Of cool air currents with
warm, moist ones; others. that ex.
pansion Of the air from a warm level
/ to cool higher one, causes the for.
nation Of clouds. Whatever the d.
rect cause Of rain, the air must be
! filled with water vapor and this mus,
be cooled. The unanswered questions
are: Can a man help along nature By
the release Of cooling gases which
cause the moisture in therair to form
water drops2 Can he jar water out Of
already heavy clouds by the force of
an ezplosion7 or would his most
powerful shocks and gases be so COM
comparatively feeble as 70 produce no
results or only few scattered dropsq
Rainmaking is far from new as an
idea or even as an experiment. Indi-
ans OF various tribes used to call
upon their medicine men to produce
rain for them in time Of drought.
Each medicine man in turn would try
his hand, shooting arrows into clouds
tC make a hole and let the rain out
sayirg incantations, and shaking his
medicine bag to arouse the rain god
When one. luckier than the rest, hap
! pened TO operate when rain clouds
were gathering and the rain actually
/ beginning to fall. he became the hero
Of the tribe. His reputation was made
Generally he retired Immediately from
/ the rainmaking business with the TX.
cuse that he wished 70 give the resi
a chance.
| Back in the days, too. when war
I riors wore helmets and waved swords
( Piutarch started something by record
ing that extraordinary rains. pretty
generally fall after great battles" He
suggested that this might be due 10
moist and heavy evaporations steam
ing forth from the blood and corrup-
ton