144 Star an& Meatber Gossip 



September or October, 1903, at between 8 and 9 p.m. 

 The sky was clear and the moon was shining not far 

 from and to the east of the planet. He believed that 

 the satellite was III. Mr. Parsons, whom I person- 

 ally know to possess unusually keen sight, is now the 

 esteemed Principal of the new Headingley Training 

 College, Leeds. 



GUN-FIRE AND RAIN 



Does gun-firing cause heavy rain ? A great many 

 people believe that it does. On the other hand, a 

 great many people believe that it does not. Appro- 

 priately enough, as I write, rain is falling in my district 

 for the first time for I don't know how long, and the 

 big guns are growling down Woolwich way. Of 

 course, I suggest no inter-relation ; I merely state 

 what is actually happening, namely, that there is gun- 

 firing down the river and that rain is simultaneously 

 falling. It may or may not be worth mentioning, but 

 I have frequently heard heavy gun-firing from the 

 direction of Woolwich when not a drop of rain has 

 fallen. 



In the spring of 1911 the then First Lord of the 

 Admiralty was asked by Lord Dalrymple whether he 

 could arrange for the Fleet to carry out their heavy 

 gun-firing practice round the coast at some other 

 period of the year than the middle of harvest-time, 

 " when the resultant heavy rain might cause serious 

 loss to the farming community." The First Lord 

 replied : " There is no evidence that the firing causes 

 heavy rain. The winter months are unsuited for target 



