56 M. W. Harrington— Weather making. 
Professor A. Macfarlane, of the University of Texas, was pres- 
ent as an uninvited guest during the elaborate experiments near 
San Antonio on Friday, November 25, 1892, beginning at 4 pm. 
Thesky was from time to time overcast, and the natural con- 
ditions were not unfavorable for rain. Many explosions were 
made without rain until late in the evening, from which point 
I will take-up the story in Professor Macfarlane’s own words, as 
given in a letter to the New York World December 4, 1892: 
At 10.15 a bailoon was sent up and was lost in the darkness; when it 
exploded a very large area of light was seen, as if the explosion had oc- 
curred inside a cloud. There was no fall of rain at the camp, and nobody 
was stationed below the spot where the balloon exploded. 
I consider this the only experiment that was worth making, yet no care 
was taken to observe whether rain did fall. It is conceivable that the ex- 
plosion of a twelve-foot balloon inside a cloud ready to precipitate may 
Jar the particles so as to quicken the dropping of the rain. This was the 
idea of Ruggles. But to test whether some rain can be drawn down in 
this manner from a rain-cloud does not suit the ideas of cranks who wish 
to get a large something out of an absolute nothing. 
At 10.45 a mist became just perceptible. The General issued an order 
to get ready the rain-gauge. The boys hurried up a balloon, which was 
nearly ready, but it had no effect on that mist. 
At 11.40 the mist ceased and the stars appeared in places nearly over- 
head. The General apparently felt that things were going against him, 
for he suggested to the Doctor to put a small piece of dynamite in the 
shells, and also to try the effect of an explosion down at the Springs. 
At 12.30 a 12-foot balloon went well into the cloud, but no rain effect. 
At 1 o’clock, the time when operations were to be suspended for the 
night, it was fair, with some stars visible, and the boys were preparing 
one more balloon. Colonel King remarked that it would be necessary to 
keep up the operations for forty-eight hours. I retired to a room in the 
hotel, from which I could see the operations. 
At 1.30 I heard a slight shout from the balloon boys, and I could hear 
the rain pattering on the roof. The General, who had also retired to the 
hotel, threw open the window and called out : 
“Hurry up, boys.” 
After ten minutes the balloon was exploded, and the rain almost imme- 
diately diminished so as to be scarcely perceptible. When the explo- 
sion occurred I had my head out of the window. The hotel, a frame 
house, shook considerably, but there was no breaking of glass or any of 
the effects produced bya powerful explosion on the solid earth. 
At 1.50 the General went out to observe, and I heard him say : 
‘‘There is a beautiful rain to the north of us and to the west of us.”’ 
At 2 the rain had entirely ceased, and the last of the operations con- 
sisted of two shells fired in succession at 2.05. 
