Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published Dec. 17, 2003

The bringer of rain

That early British journalist, essayist and man of letters, Samuel Johnson, once observed, "When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather." Not just Englishmen speak of weather. The subject is of interest universally and it is non-controversial. Weather is always mentioned when we are speaking by phone long distance.

In the year 1890 an unsigned editorial in the Hartford Courant newspaper used a sentence that has withstood the test of time. "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Many believe it was Mark Twain who wrote those words and the first part of the sentence is true, but even in those early days there were flimflam operators traveling the country who claimed they had the secret of making rain.

Recently I reread a book published in 1986 which gave a vivid description of a rainmaker. Anna Lee Waldo's book Prairie is the life story of Charles Burton Irwin and how much he did in developing the west. Known for his knowledge of horses it was his recommendation to his friend C.S. Howard that he hire the horse trainer Tom Smith. Today everyone knows what came from that partnership - the great racehorse Sea Biscuit!

Back to rainmaking. The book tells of 18-year-old Irwin living on the Kansas prairie during a period in 1892 when drought struck. Farmers were desperate for rain and they were willing to give money to bring in a rainmaker. Author Waldo described what was expected of the community beyond money. A two-story building 12x14 ft. was to be erected. It was to have a ground floor door facing east away from the prairie winds. A ladder would be used to access the second floor. There were to be small windows on all four sides covered by black oilcloth. A good sized hole would be left open in the roof to allow gases to rise and form clouds.

Young Irwin was pressed into service by the rainmaker and observed all the preparation. An acid was poured into a pitcher half full of water and soon the mixture was making boiling sounds and a mist rose. A metal sheet of zinc stood in a granite tub and the rainmaker poured the acid mixture over the zinc. Bubbles hissed and popped and fog-like steam rose through the roof opening. Outside the crowd stood in awe. It took several days but rain did come.

"How did you do it?" Irwin asked the rainmaker. "I use my head. I watch the clouds. I follow the rivers and creeks and valleys and I move where it's most likely to rain. I read all the scientific books and papers I can put my hands on."

What has changed since 1892? In the Dec. 2, 2003 USA Today a lengthy article described cloud seeding in the west. Even though science may not support it, the states hit hardest by drought are willing to spend many dollars on the effort.

Weather-modification firms were involved in 66 seeding projects in ten states in 2001. Nevada and Utah, the driest states in the country, have used cloud seeding for many years as have several California power companies and farm districts. Everyone agrees seeding won't end droughts but it helps increase the precipitation that would not have fallen without seeding.

Those early rainmakers' methods were not so different from today. A mixture of silver iodide and acetone is sprayed across a propane flame. This heated mixture rises into the clouds and the chemicals attract moisture from the clouds creating ice crystals. As the ice crystals enlarge they fall as snow and if the weather is warm enough they hit the ground as rain.

We'll keep talking about the weather and science will keep doing something about it, but it took James Whitcomb Riley to put it in everyday language. "It hain't no use to grumble and complain, it's jest as easy to rejoice; When God sorts out the weather and sends rain, why rain's my choice."

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.