The Washington times., 1935-04-24
BY JAMES KILGALLEN
(Copyright. 1895, by International
News Service)

BY JAMES KILGALLEN
(Copyright, 1895, by International
News Service)
DALHART, Tex, April 23'
Agitating the rain clouds by
scientific methods may be the
solution of the problem of how
to bring moisture to the drought
stricken areas Of America, in the
opinion of w. J. Bill" Casey,
owner Of a 9,000-acre farm nine
miles east Of here, who once
achieved a reputation as a "corn
king"
The dynamic Mr.. Casey, a gray
haired, baldish man of about so,
with horn-rimmed spectacles, said
as he sat in the spacious living
room Of his modern, finely equip
ped farm:
"Why not?
"Why, look at this radio!
Time was, not so long ago, when
you wouldn't believe you could
cit here in the Texas Panhandle
and hear music and singing
from a studio in New York"
ASKS EXPERIMENTS
Pointing to the remarkable
achievements of science in recent
years, Mr.. Casey declared with
emphasis,
IF the United States Govern
ment would take hold of this
dust storm situation in a big
way something important of
incalculable benefit to the cOun-
try might be accomplished.
How?
"The Government through
its scientific laboratories, or
through the laboratories Of
some great corporation like the
General Electric Company, could
experiment. on agitating rain
clouds SO as to produce moisture
ut will.
Don't tell me this is fam
taStic-after all science already
has accomplished. Rain clouds
are constantly floating over this
area. The sad part of it is they
don't break. All we have got to
do is to devise some way scien-
tificaIly to prick thOsI clouds
and bring down rain.
'Tt's a job for science. It's
nm electrical engineering project.
/ know there have been some
attempts to stir up the clouds,
but not on a really big scale.
"The United States Govern
ment could appropriate $5,OOO,-
900 and turn such a job over
to the Weather Bureau or to a
big corporation like General
Electric.
STATIC ELECTRICITY
"This sand that is flying all
around us in dust storms is full
of static electricity. There is so
much static in it our wheat and
trees are being killed.
"Science should come out here
I'm the center of the dust storm
area and tackle the whole thing.
All this static needs is to be
harneSsed. At the same time
science could experiment with
agitating the clouds. There is
moisture in the air-why not
have science try to get it for our
farmS?"
Mr.. Casey pointed out that the
Federal Government "iS ready to
appropriate $75,OO0,00O to grow
trees from Canada to Texas over
a belt 100 miles wide to protect
the land from erosion" He added
at won't go-the trees will
die unless you put up battery
of windmillS to produce water
from the ground.
"Why not spend some Of tn is
money for scientific expert
mentation with the rain clOudS?"
he asked.
Mr.. Casey came to this part of
Texas from Chicago IL years ago
and settled here with his wife and
children. He is an advocate of
mass production and believes in
the use on farms of modern ma
chinery. He said this section of
the country is especially adapted
for power farming because there
are no sharp hills. no stones, no
stumps nor anything that will in
terfere with the operation Of
tractors.
Has Modern Farm
He has the latest equipment
his own mechanical engineer, his
own radio, frigidaire, up-to-the-min-
ute barns, etc. His line in Chicago
was electrical manufacturing anC
efficiency engineering. During
the boom days he operated his
tractors day and night, with lights
on them at night. In 1929 hi
raised approximately 100000 bush
els of corn and the same amount
in 1880 and they called him the
"Corn King"
II Your Dentist Hurts You Try
p r. FIELD