WEATHER MAKING, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 259 



A treatment lias been suggested, which is heroic and may possibly be 

 effective. It is, however, a local application, and the chief difficulty is 

 to have it ready when and where wanted. The method proposed is that 

 of a great explosion in the tornado itself. Many plans have been sng- 

 gested, and two patents have been granted. I will consider the first, 

 that of Mr. J. B. Atwater, of Chicago (Ko. 370845, 1887). A strong 

 box with a double bottom is firmly supported on a pole erected at a 

 suitable point, probably a mile or so southwest of the village to be pro- 

 tected. The upper bottom is fixed, and the space above it is filled with 

 an explosive and firmly closed. In holes in the upi^er bottom are 

 inserted fulminating caps, and these project below its lower surface. 

 The lower bottom slides up and down. Then, if a high wind drives the 

 lower bottom against the upper with such force as to flash the caps, 

 the explosion follows, and the tornado (if present) suffers the effects 

 which a tornado will suffer when a powerful explosion occurs in its 

 immediate vicinity. 



What these effects will be we do not yet know. It is said, with 

 enough repetition to make it fairly worthy of credence, that a cannon 

 fired into a waterspout destroys the latter. If such a disturbance 

 destroys the gentler waterspout, it may be worth while to try a larger 

 one on the more intense tornado. Perhaps it will be effective; we can 

 be more positive when it has been tried. 



Many other schemes have been proposed for the control of the ele- 

 ments of the weather. Most of them have an objectionable side, notably 

 in rain making, which can be pointed out here as well as elsewhere. 

 It is this: The phenomenon to be produced probably can not be con- 

 trolled as to area covered, and may occur where it is not wanted. If 

 we are clothing merchants and I carry over too large a stock of winter 

 clothing into late spring, I may order a cold wave to help me reduce 

 my stock. But you may have exhausted your winter stock and wish to 

 have warm weather to start your summer stock. My cold wave affects 

 your trade seriously; I iuay be sued for damages. Such a state of 

 things is said to have actually happened in Kansas, where a rain maker 

 was refused payment by his employer because of failure of contract, 

 and was sued by a neighbor of the employer because his crops were 

 washed out of the ground. Should the weather maker prosper he will 

 often find himself very much embarrassed until our lawmakers have 

 caught up with our advance in the arts, and the volume of the statute 

 books has been materially enlarged. 



RAIN MAKING. 



We come now to the subject of rain making, which has attracted 

 more attention, been more tried, and has more history than any other 

 one method of weather making. It has attained the dignity of at least 

 two patents and two Congressional appropriations. A bibliography of 

 the subject is appended, containing sixty-four titles, two of which refer 

 to books devoted to this subject, by Power and Gathman, respectively. 



