"RAINMAKING" ON THE
CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND & PACIFIC RY.
Engineering News February, 1895
Ever since the famous expedition, in the fall of 1891, of Gen.
"Cloud-Compelling" Dyrenforth and his party of assistants
to bombard the skies which overhang the and plains of Texas, there
has been a good deal of popular interest in the subject of rainmaking.
The "bomb" method, by which the atmosphere is "whacked"
with explosions until it sheds drops of moisture like an erring
school boy has yielded its place in popular favor to a more mysterious
process, by which certain unknown gases are poured forth from
a secret apparatus. If the claims of the originators of this process
are to be believed, these gases possess a potency only to be compared
with that of the mysterious "vapors" in the "Arabian
Nights," which, issuing from a tiny casket or a nut were
transformed into a palace, a fortress, an evil genie, or other
object whose volume bore no relation to the size of the original
containing vessel.
During the past two or three years various scattered newspaper
articles have given information concerning the working of this
process at various points; and while we are accustomed to place
small reliance on newspaper reports concerning any technical matter,
our curiosity was aroused by the statement that the Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific Ry. Co. had interested itself in the matter,
and we, therefore, applied to officials of that company for a
verification or contradiction of the reports. We are indebted
to their courtesy for the following information, which we present
substantially as received, commenting upon it in our editorial
columns.
The system of "rainmaking" used by the Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific Ry. Co. consists in injecting a gas, or mixture
of gases, into the air which "supply the element lacking
in the atmosphere, in order that rain may fall." The composition
of this gas or mixture of gases is a secret with the inventor,
Mr. C. B. Jewell, of Goodland, Kan., a train despatcher in the
offices of the above railway. In a letter to us Mr. Jewell describes
his apparatus and mode of operation in a general way. The laboratory
used in the field is a freight car, at one end of which three
pipes project up through the roof. Each of these pipes divides
into two pipes just inside the car and the six pipes connect with
six jars in which the gases are made. The letter continues:
On the opposite side of the car is a long shelf on and under which
we keep our materials. Directly over this shelf is a second shelf
divided into 13 compartments, in which rests our battery. At the
end of the battery there is a large jug which is filed with a
solution and is connected with the battery, which is also connected
with the six large jars in which we make the gases. The tank shown
on the top of the car is filled with water. This water we prepare
before using, making it as soft as possible. The pipe near the
left end of the car runs from the sink inside to a large hole
dug in the ground to hold the waste. Sometimes this pipe is used
as a ground connection from the battery. The other end of the
car is partitioned off and is used for a sleeping apartment and
office. My entire time is taken up while on the road answering
correspondence, which comes from all parts of the world, and attending
to the machine, which is operated night and day. I have used this
process on the line of this road for two seasons. Last year I
had three cars just like the one I send you photograph of, and
expect to have several more this year. Had there not been such
hard times, several of the railroads in the arid regions would
have used my process in 1894. My materials are furnished in Chicago
by several different houses, and neither house knows what the
other house furnishes, or which the other houses are. The men
who operate the cars for me do not know what they are using, but
simply follow my instructions.
My process has been used 66 times and at no time have I failed
to produce rain, but at four places the rains were mere sprinkles,
and were termed failures, and to save argument were so admitted
by me. These failures were due to very high and changeable winds.
There are no phenomena connected with these artificial rains any
more than with a natural rain. Mind you, we do not make rain.
All we do is to bring about the same conditions which nature
does when rain is produced, and when we do this a natural
rain will fall. Nature and her laws are never wrong, and all efforts
in this line must be made in accordance with the laws of nature,
or failure must follow.
Briefly described, therefore, the rainmaking system of the
Rock Island road is to run one or more cars into the territory
which needs rain and start the manufacture of the mysterious gases
which escape through the pipes in the car roof. An effort has
been made to get a description of some of the phenomena attending
one or two of these rains, but nothing of much value has been
secured. The following letters give the most definite information:
Sir: In answer to your favor permit me to relate the actual experiments
which were made here about two years ago. We were suffering for
want of moisture, and I made application to our official department
to have
Rainmaker Jewell come here and make a test. At about 2 p.m.
he commenced operation, the skies were cloudless, and at about
5 p.m. the clouds began to appear, and at 9 p.m. we had a rainfall
of 0.78 inches, as shown by the government gage. This included
his first test at this point. The second test was followed by
better results, there being a precipitation of 1 in. of rain.
In the spring of 1894 we had him here again, the weather was cool
and the experiment was not a success, which I firmly believe was
due to the unfavorable weather. The last experiment was conducted
by H. Hutchinson, one of Mr. Jewell's substitutes, and who is
not well versed in the science of electricity, which is an essential
factor in tests of this nature. There is one point in your letter
which I failed to answer, and that was the territory over which
the rainfall extended. I would call it a local rain, as it did
not extend over a radius exceeding 30 miles. I have no interest
in Mr. Jewell's rainmaking scheme, and have given you the plain
facts, as I was very much interested in the matter and gave it
close attention.
Yours truly, J. B. Bailey.
Phillipsburg, Kan., Jan. 29, 1895.
Sir: Mr. Jewell gave us a fine shower in, I think, three days.
He stationed one car at Mankato, one here and one at Beatrice,
Neb. We had a heavy rain from east of Beatrice to west of Mankato,
about 60 miles. I do not remember what the fall of water was,
but think it was 3½ his. I have all confidence In Mr. Jewell's
power to produce rain.
Yours truly, J. A. Whittemore.
Belleville Kan., Jan. 26, 1895.
(We comment upon this letter in the editorial columns. "Can We Make It Rain?"-Ed.)
CAN WE MAKE IT RAIN?
"Can we make it rain?" is certainly the modern counterpart
of the question propounded to Job by the voice from the whirlwind:
"Hath the rain a father?" The paternity of the rain
has indeed been claimed by men in all ages, and the modern claimant
differs from his predecessors only in having used "science"
instead of superstition in the conception of his offspring. In
another column we have outlined briefly the work of rainmaking,
which the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Ry. has been conducting
during the two seasons past, and proposes to continue during the
coming summer on such of its lines as penetrate the arid and semi-arid
regions. The evidence for and against the claim that rain has
been actually produced through the efforts of these rainmakers
we lay before our readers for what it is worth. In sifting this
evidence, it is well to consider for a moment how rain is produced
in nature. The aqueous vapor of the atmosphere which condenses
into cloud, and falls as rain, is derived from the evaporation
of water, partly from the earth, but mostly from the ocean. A
warm air holds more moisture than a cold air; and consequently
if a saturated air is cooled, it precipitates part of its moisture,
or, in other words, it rains. It is now generally held that dynamic
cooling is, if not the sole cause, at least the principal cause
of rain. By dynamic cooling is meant the cooling of air due to
expansion when raised in altitude and brought under less pressure.
There are several different ways in which the air at the surface
of the earth may be raised in altitude; but whatever the manner
and whatever the altitude, the air must reach the point of saturation
before the resulting expansion and cooling can produce rain. The
reason why the and regions of the earth are arid is simply and
solely because geographical and meteorological conditions are
habitually such that moisture-laden winds are deprived of their
moisture before reaching them, or, on the other hand, because
there is nothing to cause the cooling of these moisture-laden
winds and the consequent precipitation.
But, supposing the aqueous vapor exists in the air somewhat
below the point of saturation, is it not reasonable to suppose
that there may be some way of hastening or forcing condensation,
so that rain will fall? If we trace the history of scientific
rainmaking, we find that it is upon this hypothesis that most
of the various theories are based. The best known and probably
the oldest of these theories is that the agitation of the atmosphere
Produced by violent explosions acts to concentrate the particles
of moisture, until it falls as rain. The popular belief that great
battles have always been followed by rain has been much used as
an argument in favor of this theory. Aside from the fact that
this belief was prevalent long before the days of explosives,
a careful summary of the great battles of the world and the character
of the weather following them has shown conclusively that days
of battle were no more likely to be followed by rain than days
when it was quiet all along the line. As our readers will recall,
the United States Government made some investigations of this
"concussion" theory of rainmaking in the fall of 1891,
and through the courtesy of the Department of Agriculture we have
been furnished the barograph diagrams taken to show the amount
of agitation of the air produced by the explosions. These show
that, at a distance of half a mile from the point of explosion,
the movement of the air was not sufficient to rustle the leaves
of a tree, let alone the condensation of the moisture necessary
for the slight rainfalls which followed one or two of the dozen
experiments. In the same way the old belief that large fires,
like our great forest fires, or the Chicago conflagration, brought
rain by the raising of large masses of heated air, which in cooling
formed clouds that expanded into the proportions of local storms,
has been exploded by a similar compilation of facts.
Concerning the latest system of rainmaking, referred to above
as having been taken up by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Ry. Co., we present such information as we have been able to collect
in another column. A word of explanation may be needful, however,
to prevent misunderstanding and to answer in advance the criticisms
of those who may object that "Engineering News ought not
to give space to such 'fakes.'" We conceive it to be the
office of a technical journal to Publish information on all subjects
of technical interest, together with such comment as may aid its
readers to most clearly understand their significance. This alleged
system of rainmaking has become more or less widely known through
various newspaper articles, it has been taken up experimentally
by a great railway corporation, and a large number of witnesses
aver that remarkable results have actually been produced by it.
These facts are sufficient to justify the presentation of information
in these columns, even granting it to be absolutely certain that
the scheme were a pure delusion; for it is as much a part of our
work to expose the false and fraudulent as to present accounts
of excellent work and improvements on former practice.
As for comments upon the system itself, criticism is largely precluded
by the fact that it is entirely secret; and it is, of course,
well understood that secrecy concerning such a thing is in itself
very strong evidence that it is fraudulent. We are, therefore,
obliged to fall back on general principles and to say that, so
far as can be seen, any effective method of causing the precipitation
of rain must operate through some cause proportionate to the effect
produced. The chances are many to one that such materials and
machinery as could be carried in one end of a box car could not
cause the condensation and precipitation of some 60,000,000 tons
of' water over an area of several hundred square miles.
Reference to the article in another column will show that it
is actually such an effect as this which is claimed for Mr. Jewell's
rainmaking process. It is alleged by one witness that a rainfall
of 0.78 inches, extending over a radius of some 30 miles, occurred
within seven hours of the time the "rainmaker" began
operations. Reducing this radius by one-third, to allow for smaller
precipitation in the outlying territory, we have still an area
of over 1,200 sq. miles, and a precipitation of 0.78 in. means
the fall of some 50,000 tons of water on a square mile. Other
arguments of equal strength might be presented to show the improbability
that the discharge into the air of any gas known to chemistry
could cause condensation and precipitation over a wide area. As
for the alleged successes, it must be remembered that because
a rainfall occurs at a certain time and place is no proof that
rainmaking operations carried on at that time and place had anything
to do with it.
On the other hand, our knowledge of meteorology is not on the
same basis of mathematical certainty as our knowledge of thermo-dynamics,
for example. We cannot say positively that by no possible methods
can a man cause the rain to fall, much as we may feel the exceeding
improbability that rain can ever, be produced by artificial means.
The proper attitude of the engineer or scientist on this question,
therefore, is to hear and weigh evidence without, prejudice. If
Mr. Jewell can water the great American desert with such simple
and inexpensive machinery, as he claims, we shall be glad to see
him prove it, even though we realize that the chances are many
thousand to one that his shrewdness as a weather prophet lies
at the bottom of any success he may have achieved, and that the
juice which he distills with his secret apparatus is merely concentrated
essence of humbug.
Oddities
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