Page 105 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

was necessary to send the warm, lighter-than-air, bluish gas into the sky: “When
the rainmaking machine is in operation, 1,500 feet of gas escapes from each of the
three pipes each hour. The warm gas ascends steadily over the span of four hours
to an altitude of between 4 and 8,000 feet.” After several hours, the gas inexplica-
bly “turns cold instantly and drops with a rush, creating a vacuum, into which the
moisture contained in the air rushes, forming clouds, and they form the storm
center.” Seeking a way to “make rainfall almost instantly,” Jewell said he was
working on an apparatus to send his gases up in liquid form enclosed within a
shell, which, when it burst, would release the liquid, spreading it in all directions,
instantly forming a large volume of cold gas. Jewell and his colleagues gladly took
credit for any rainfall, near or far, that coincided with their operations. In at least
one case, however, a hailstorm came up in Belleville, Kansas, that broke windows
and outraged the locals, who threatened to sue for damages. Nevertheless, Jewell
claimed that his trials frequently produced between 0.5 inch and 6 inches of rain,
“each time contrary to the predictions made by the weather service.” 22
one widely publicized appearance of a rainmaker at a fair in Dodge City,
Kansas, described a test of the liquid gas bombs:

Shortly before noon, a special train pulled in bearing the rainmaking contrap-
tion on a flatcar. The apparatus was described as a monster mortar, “a sort of cross
between a cannon of exceptionally large caliber and a giant slingshot.” The work-
men spent hours preparing the equipment for the demonstration. Thousands of
people milled around the car, asking questions and offering advice. When the con-
traption finally was ready, an official of the railroad company quieted the crowd. He
said that no one knew whether the apparatus would produce results. He pointed
out that the company had the interests of the people at heart and was willing to
spend its own money in an effort to produce rain for the district’s crops. Chemi-
cal bombs were placed in the cannon and thrown into the air by the slingshot. A
dozen or more bombs were discharged, emitting a cloud of yellowish smoke. 23

Reportedly, the crowd was satisfied with the demonstration and fully expected to
be drenched soon by a downpour. But nothing happened. The lasting result was
equivalent to that of a good fireworks display—memorable but evanescent.

“an unfortunate rain-maker”

Harper’s Weekly published a spoof of Kansas rainmaking in 1893 with its tale of
“an unfortunate rain-maker,” the fictitious Mr. Schermerhorn Montgomery, of

88 | rain fakerS