RAIN

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 86, 5 January 1935, Page 10

RAIN

There will be few to grudge the beneficiaries the blessings of the welcome rain that has relieved apprehensions of a prolonged.and disastrous drought. It has been reported to the public as a piece of first-class news, and hailed throughout the country as a priceless New Year gift. Yet considered as an occurrence in a normal summer the rainfall was. nothing out of the way. Hence the welcome accorded it emphasised the commuiuty’s sudden awareness o/f the importance of water in the economy of' mankind. . People’dp not realise the value of rain till they have been deprived of it. ■ . What a difference a change of weather can make on the fortunes’ anti'spirits of mankind./A message from Auckland tells us that,the recent dry spell has created a shortage in .canijed fruits. It-was a boon to', the ice-makers and the retailers of ice-creams and cooling drinks.- It sent up the,holiday traffic, revenue with a bound in all directions, and even promoted the revival of the straw-boater. Farmers were less enthusiastic about it, but the weather never did satisfy everybody: its very uncertainty has made it a standing topic of conversation and speculation throughout the ages. Our meteorological experts have laboured successfully to reduce uncertainty to a minimum. We know something more about “intense depressions” and “anti-cyclones” than our forefathers did—about their effects, that is. Their causes we are content to leave to the experts. All we are concerned about is whether the weather is going to be good or bad, and from our rudimentary knowledge we know now that an “anti-cyclone' is not the formidable thing it looks 'in print. It it, for us. not against us, as long as we do not have too much of it. But the worst of the weather is that it is liable to overdo itself.