The Washington times., 1936-07-18

| OCQerS were en-
cour aged and Edwin c. Hill
swung into wilder dancing.
They got their rain. Before the
dance was finished there was a
surge of black clouds across the
jagged peaks which trimmed their
Arizona valley. Rain fell on their
parched cornfields as they
chanted their last cultural apoS-
trophe to the great Najadaltinth.
Old Bonnie knocked off and lit
his pipe.
"The NajadaItinth is still all.
powerful" he said. "The Great
Spirit has not forgotten"
1t was a nice, smooth, workman
like job Of rain-making That
was just a few days ago. At about
the same time, Governor Tai
madge, big chief of the Georgia
tribe, wasn't so successful. AT
McReal, Ca, Governor Talmadge
led in fervent prayers for rain at
a meeting called for this supplica-
ton. Nothing happened. Over in
Birmingham, Ala, the eloquent
Rev. j. r. Bryan did better. Rain
fell soon after he had led his con-
gregation in fervent appeals.
In North Dakota, acting Gov.
Walter Wexford set aside Sunday
for prayers for rain all over the
State. The prayers were made,
without results.
ASTONISHING RECORD
No savant has checked the COM
parative efficiency Of the methods
of the red man and white men.
A few years ago, Washington
scientist made diligent study Of
rain-making among the Indians Of
the Southwest. He found an aston
ishing record Of apparent success.
but his final conclusion was against
the rain-makerS.
When, after a long period Of
drought, they conducted their
ancient ceremonial, rain followed.
There was no doubt Of that, he
agreed. But he accused the naive
red men of being guilty of the
dreadful fallacy of post hoe ergo
prOpter hoe, as he put it in one
of his reportS-that is, the fallacy
of assuming that because one
thing follows another it is caused
by it.
In each case, his meteorological
researches had shown him that
the rain was due, anyway, and
would have arrived without the
lamentations. So he and, so far
as I know. all other scientists
pooh-pooh the idea that 1ndianS
can make rain. No such scientific
check has been made on the
rituals of the white man.
The early Greeks used to shoot
arrows at the skies, to make the
rain gods turn on the tap. In one
form or another, the conclusion
theory has been favorite among
the rain.makers. Primitive African
and Australian tribes rely on a ter
rifle din of drums, yellS and any
and every ear-splitting device they
can think of.
Again anthropolgiSts have been
puzzled by their apparent success,
but have taken the orthodox scien-
tific view that the rain would
have come without all these fran.
tic decibels.
Current rain-makers have elabor.
ate and mysterious electrical rigs.
these wizards being mostly COM
mercial, offering to make or repel
rain for county fairs or farmers.
From the middle Of the last CEN
fury they followed their primitive
forebears in trying to blast rain
out of the sky with dynamite or
cannon. There is also a chemical
school which claims it can start
ascending vapors releasing strange
chemical sequences in the sky and
freeing the imprisoned raindrops.
A curious thing happened in
San Diego, Cal. in 1915. One
Charles Hatfield, an itinerant rain
maker, dropped in on the city
council at time when everything
was burning up. He said that for
$4,000 he'd deal them Grade A
rain. They laughed and said;
"COme around after you have
filled the Moreno dam reservoir
and we'll pay you your $4,000"
Hatfield went out to the reSer-
voir with wagon loads of chemicals
and apparatus, including, strange
Iy enough, a lot of tar paper and
sulphur. He was busy for day
or two. When, at last, he sent
heavenward a cloud of vapor and
an appalling stencil, rain gushed
out Of the sky in torrents. The
city council had forgotten about
him. He dropped in to remind
them that the Moreno dam was
full and they owed him $4,000.
To cap the whole business, the
United States Weather Bureau, al
ways a matter-of-fact organ1za-
ton, concludes that we can't make
rain fall for very simple reason
so simple that the rainmakerS
apparently never thought of it.
The reason is that when we have
a drought there just isn't any rain
around-blast, chant, conjure,
electrify, chemicalize as you will.
You can't get blood out of turnip
or rain out of a rainlesS sky. That's
all there Is to it, says the Weather
Bureau.
Copyright, 1888 King Features
Syndicate, Ine.)