THE RAIN-MAKERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3169, 21 August 1917, Page 8

THE RAIN-MAKERS

EXPERIMENTS IN AUSTRALIA THE WATT-BALSILLIE SCHEME • The fault of the particular patch of lieaven that roofs Australia is its seasons of niggardly rain, and for many years to come, as in years.past, Australia will furnish always at least a small band oi believers in overy now suggestion lor the artificial production of moisture (says a writer iu this "Age"). In every succeeding cyclo of dry weather public attention begins to turn to rainfall questions. When many years ago the Broken Hill peoplo began to tear the exhaustion of their waiter supply Dr. M'C'arthy had little difficulty in financing a syndicate for the application of clinical methods of milking tlio clouds, 'fhe only result of the experiment was to make those delicate cattle of the air go dry. Early in the. present century the New , Zealand Government lent its. countenanco to an elaborate experiment for controlling the cloude, without result. In 1908 a Mr. W.. T. H. Cioscho sent out urgent wir&icss apiWals for rain to heaven from New South Wales. Either the message miscarried— as they do to this day in our telegraphic service—or the fiteely heavens were unmoved. South Africa* suffering from a dry season, many years ago produced its rain-niakers, eveu as Australia hae regularly done. But the chairman of the Volksraad of the Transvaal ruled that to bombard 'the heavens was n. defiance of'flip'Almighty and should be made a criminal'offence.

In the central provinces of India each village has its rain-maker, the profession descending in families' liko that of carpentry or metal working. In the cood seasons the gopagari, as he is called, flourishes under tho flattering attention of his satisfied clients.. But then, when the droughty years come round he is taken out into the wasted fields and beaten. Truo to the recurring incidence of history, 'the recent drought spell in Australia has revived a flickering faith in tho power of man and his machines. A now, but moro ■ ambitious, Moses has arisen to strike tho hcavenß with his rod and bring water to a parched land.

Mr. Balsillie's Quest. When Mr. '.!.. G. Balsillio, late Commonwealth Director of Radio-T(>]egraphy t resigned -his Government appointment, more than a year ago, ho withdrew to Bookaloo, an. isolated spot on tho EattWcst railway line, in. order to go rain making. He buried a winch .in tho ? [round, paid-out 4000 feet of wire, and oosed a kite. Then Mr. Balsillie and the local, inhabitants of .Bookaloo sat down to wait for rain. Nor did they wait in vain.. It rained at Bookaloo last; year more rain than it rained tho year before, /just as 'it rained at most places in Australia last year uioro thau it rained the year before. With thin valuable scientific data, with this proof of a bold experiment, Mr. Baliillio confronted "io Mi'ifisfer of Works and ' Railways, Mr. Watt could do nought olse but appreciate tho force of logic. Bookaloo, witli one year.of Ifr. Balsillie's kilo fiying, had 67 per cent, nioro rainfall than BooftaTooTn tho previous year without; a Baleiliie kite. Therefore tho Balsillio kite had made the rain. Mr. Watt hastened Tα invest money in the scheme—public money, of courso; not his own." In tho name of the Governmont'lio contracted with Mr. Balsillie for kites and wincTfes in various parts of Australia, paying— with Government money—JMflO for each set of apparatus a.nd a salary to the invontor to continue rain making. It is. of coureo, meticuloiis to ca.rp at tho prfee of a, plant that is going to solve all Australia's troubles for ovar; but tho most expensive- type of winch that Mi-. Balsillio could obtain for his purpose would not cost more than .£2OO. The extra. ,£2OO would give him enough flexible wire to loop the- sun and dot tuo sky with kites.

It has been indicated that others besides Mr. Balsillio have had a shot at rain making. a matter of fact, tho subject has been'very fully studied by meteorologists all over tho world, with tho result of a uninanimous opinion that the project is frankly impossible. Wero Mr. Balsillie a. meteorologist—that is to say, urn he know the natural laws or Tain making—ho probably would l.avo arrived long since at the Kline ojiinion. But, fortunately for tho {J'ogress of his experiments, he has not been cramped by any meteorological knowledge. Had Mr. Watt possessed any meteorological iknowledge, or Had lio been so unoriginal as to consult the motorologica!' experts of the federal Government, ho would probably, have hesitated fatally before financing , tho project. Wo only refer to tho fact that tho wholo science of meteorology pronounces' .artificial iainraaking impossible becauso the subject happens to be purely ono for meteorologists to pronounce upon. Had any of the numerous rain-makers who havo had their little hour in Australia taken tho trouble to lay their plans before a meteorologist they would have got a quiet and kindly explanation of 'tho' law's of nature- that would havo saved them .money and disappointment. Had Mr. Watt or Mr. Balsillie consulted the n.oteorological department of the Government before proceeding, or ofter the Bookaloo experiments, they would liavo gained in common sense what they kv'ght have lost in. notoriety.

Attack on the Clouds. Eain is made by the majestic forces of the universe. Drought is caused by a contrary action of these same forces. To make rain artificially we must therefore defeat the univer.se. If tho sun is pulling one way, we must blot out the sun and' put another suu in its place. If light, heat, and the force of gravity have made no clouds, we must create a new light, a new heat, and a new force of gravity to do it for us. And this is what Mr. Watt- saw Mr. Balsillie do with a winch and a kite and a length of wiro at Bookaloo. But what of tho convincing evidence of an increase at Bookaloo and 300 miles round of 67 per cent, more rainfall? As a matter of fact, Mr. Balsillie has here made a mistake of modesty. He only claims to influence a radius of 300 miles, while the official meteorological reports show that last vear over 1,000,000 square miles east and north of Bookaloo the rainfall was more than 67 per cent, above normal. At er.ots thousands of miles from Mr. Balsillie's kites it was as much as 200 per cent, above normal. If at one of these points some poor hare-brained creature had every morning of last year fired a popgun at tho sun and gone to Mr. Watt with the noble tally of results, would the Federal Government have bought him pop-guns and paid him a salary to range Australia v;ith his battery? Mr. Balsillie's idea of discharging electricity into the air is based on the wellknown scientific fact that electrically charged moisture will form into rain drops. Beyond its scientific interest, this iact has long since been proved to have no practical value so far at least as projects of rain making are concerned. At the most tho process, could sufficient electricity be provided, might accelerate the ordinary working of nature. But first you must catch your mo-istnr'e, and that, in a drought, is the problem. So far the power of (he suu has proved the only creator of cloud, and so long as tho cosmos .is run as it is it is likely to remain so. Some ten or .fifteen years ago a proposition was considered by the leading English scientists to use electrical appliances for dispersing fog by turuing it into rain. That is the simplest of all problems in rain making, to cause the droplets of a fog to run together and eo to full rapidly to earth, leaving the air fresh and clear. Yet the wealthy city of I/mdon has not yet been shown the feasibility of turning iuto rain tho low, shallow clouds which can be touched and breathed, which cau be reached from every window and spire and housetop. Till London can easily lay these siniplo little clouds which poison ils millions of people there does not seem much prospect of Australia, a country not yet carrying an average of two persons to tho square mile, being able to face the task of bringing down clouds from a cloudless sky. We foresee some (rouble for Australia when Mr. Balsillio with his patented apparatus can turn on rain at will. How will ho weigh between the needs of flic farmer who has let the water tanks run low and the-comfort of the local Sunday school picnic? And what if (ho heavens got beyond his control ? What if ho turns ou the lap and cannot turn it off again? Could we sue him for a flood? Certainly wo foresee trouble -and difficulties that ought to bo pointed out;. So far, howover, wo havo not lost any sleep in contemplating thorn,