Pueblo chieftain., 1921-08-28
RAINMAKERS
By FREDERICK j. HAsK1N.

BY FREDERICK ]. HAsKIN.
Washington. D. c.. Aug. 25.-Rain-
making has been added to the list OF
remunerative occupa lions.
Heretofore, inventors of rainmaking
devices have had to be content with
having their rules for producing iair
patented, each taking comfort IN the
hope that he would some day be i'm
mortalized as the father of rainmakins.
Lately, howeer, the commercial value
OF having an influence with the Gle
ments has been recognized. And this
summer we have the interesting lshe-
nomena of man being paid 5000 for
four inches of rain. and of as many
as five places in one week pleading
with him to move his camp and bring
down just little rain in their localities
to save their crops. One Wisconsin
farming region offered the ralnmaker
$4,000 an inch.
Charles Hatfield. the rainmaker. set
up his camp near Medicine Hat, AL
berta, in May, with contract for $1,000
an inch in his pocket. On the first of
August he drew his wages. and the
next week he renewed his contract for
next summer.
Satisfaction is Hatfield's speciality.
He displays proudly records of Ii con-
tracts, and he claims always to get
reSulIS IN lne llrle dsTteu ub'i'
The region in which he worked in
Alberta has been affected by drought
each summer for four years. Since
1915, there have not been more than
two inches of rainfall in May AMI June.
as compared with seven inches IN these
months in 1916 While Hatfield was
there this year nearly three inches
of rain fell in these months, and he
finished his 3 months work with total
of more than the required four inches
One Canadian who is evidently skep- !
tical OF Hatfield's part in the Canadian
precipitation points out that whils tie
contracted amount of rain fell around
Medicine Hat in May. June and July,
the rain did not always descend when
the farmers most needed 1t. and he
adds that Furthermore. on several &C |
casions the rain fell more heavily in |
territory outsie the rainmaker5 opera |
tons. i
Whether luck or aceuaI science helped /
Hatfield to fulfill his contract no one |
can say certainly. His methods are not
1t is known that he sends |
up chemicals-acids to cool the atmos-
phere in order to cause condensation.
probably.
How Rain Occurs
There has always been s,ms cootro-
versy as to the exact way in which |
rain occurs. The air must be sat
urated with water vapor which l. in |
some way cooled and condensed into /
clouds. Some scientists hold that this /
cooling IL naturally Affected by the .
mixture of cool air currents with warm, |
moist ones; others, that expansion OF
the air from a warm level to n cool |
higher one causes nc formation OF (
clouds. Whatever the direc- cause OF
rain. the air must be filled witS water |
~ nd this he cooled rTRe I
unanswered questions are: Can a inan
help along nature by the release OF
cooling gases which cause the moisture
in the air to form water drops? C5n
he lar water out of already heavy |
clouds by the force If an -xpiosion'
gases be so comparatively feeb.e as TO
produce no results or Jaly few scat
tered drops7
Rainmaklng is far from new as an
idea or even as an experiment Indians
of various tribes used to call upon /
their medicine man to produce rain for |
them in time of drought. Each mchi- |
cine man in turn would try his hand. |
shooting arrows into clouds to make
hole and let the rain out, saying mean |
tations. and shaking his medicine bag
to arouse the rain god. When one.
luckier than the rest, happened TO op-
crate when rain clouds werc gathering
and the rain actually beginning to fan.
he became the hero of tho tribe. His
tired Immediately from the rainmakins
business with the excuse that he
wished to give the res; a chance.
Back in the days. 200. when warriors
worc helmets and waved swords. Plu
tarch started something by recording
tina. extraordinary rains pretty gen
orally fall after great battles" He
,yv. 90 that this might he duo
moist and heavy corporations steam
ing forth from the blood and coriup-
ton"
II was elsewhere noted in those days
that shouts and din of a battle he
tween the Greeks and an enemy caused
rain to fall. Ever since rain has been
said to follow battles
This eventually started experiments
with conclusion. II noiae and explo-
sions caused rain. II was argued. why
not produce rain whenever 1t was need
cd So formulas for rainmaking wera
evolved and patented.
RnirmRlSing Patents
On. patent Of 1891 reserved for the
inventor an original method OF rain
making which he explained was sud
denly to chill the atmosphere by raTid
evaporation. and IL Ia also advisable
to produce heavy corcussion In CON
nection with the cooling in order TO
set the different air currents in motion.
II is obvious that suddel and rapid
evaporation in the upper regions of. tho
atmosphere could be accomplished in
various ways by the 'viporation Of
various highly compressed gases. hut
the evaporation consequent: upon tho
release Of liauofied csrbonic acid gus
is thought TO he the mos: efficient
Actual experiments were eNpcrsive.
Explosives. balloons. chemicals and
helpers were not within reach % mos.
inventors of rain production systens
I'd their work was ~ consequence
ricstly theory.
Cne senator being Interested In tho
PROJECT Of ra l1.baking. Congress was in
sci persuade to apr o9si,te s'.fco 20
that the conclusion theory might lc
tested. General j. @. Dyrsnfo-th. h