Volume 040-3 - July 1986 (8 pages)

_ Rainmaker Hatfield “ Visits Nevada County by Lorraine Bergtholat It is well known that Southern California is, for the largest part, essentially a desert. In the early days, the days when only Indians lived there and also later, during the time of the Spanish and Mexican occupation, this did not matter much. The rivers, the Los Angeles, the San Gabriel and the Santa Ana still carried water the year around, enabling the missions and perhaps some secular people to engage in horticulture and agriculture. After the American occupation, the natural water supply soon was insufficient. The Anglo settlers discovered that the soil was fertile and needed only water to yield luscious crops. They answered this need by means with which they were familiar, the artesian well. For quite some time this system was sufficient but gradually, due to the steady increase in cultivated acreage and the dropping of the water table by overpumping, the wells ceased to provide sufficient water. In addition, the growing cities, notably Los Angeles, required more and more water. At the turn of the century, the situation became difficult and, to solve the problem once and for all, water was brought from Owens Valley through an aqueduct system, 238 miles long, to the San Fernando Valley. In later years this system was extended; it now reaches as far as Mono Lake. The demand for water increasing exponentially, more water was obtained from a new aqueduct, taking water from the Colorado River. In recent years, efforts have been made to bring the water from Northern California across the Tehachapi Mountains and, who knows, perhaps some day there will be an aqueduct reaching Alaska. The natural source of water, in any region, is rain. In Southern California, rain is not unknown. The trouble is that rain does not come at the right time and when it comes, it is torrential, causing floods, landslides and other havoc. Therefore there is an elaborate system to send the rainwater to the ocean as quickly as possible. Prolonged periods of drought were not uncommon in Southern California; they were especially cumbersome at the turn of the century when the artesian _ wells were giving out. It stands to reason that, in time of drought, it would be valuable for the owner of a large farm to have an inch or so of rain at the right time. This is where Charles Mallory Hatfield came in. It is reported that Hatfield obtained his method of rain making from a book by a certain Edward Powers which was published in 1871. Hatfield started experimenting in 1902 and the next year he was ready to offer his services. His first job was near Los Angeles where he managed to produce one inch of rain in five days. To produce rain, he erected large tanks, filled with chemicals, the nature of which he kept a secret. After his first success, the demand for his services rose rapidly. Among the spectacular successes he achieved are the following. Being contracted to fill the reservoir of the Hemet Land and Water Company, he produced eleven inches of rain, raising the level of the reservoir by twenty two feet. During the first four months of the year 1905, he produced eighteen inches of rain in the Los Angeles area. His most spectacular result was achieved in San Diego when he contracted to fill their eighteen million gallon reservoir by a given date. He produced the greatest downpour San Diego had ever witnessed, causing sixteen inches of rain to come down in two days. The reservoir, which never had been filled over one third of its capacity, was filled to the brim, the water flowed over the dam, causing great havoc. Railroad bridges were washed away, cities and towns flooded, attendance at San Diego's World Fair dropped to zero (this happened in 1916). The city refused to pay his fee because they received much more water than they had contracted for. Soon the fame of Hatfield spread beyond Southern California. He received contracts from all parts of the United States and even abroad; he was active until the late twenties. One of his last feats was to produce forty inches of rain near Randsburg in the Mohave Desert. Today, rainmaking is not uncommon. The technique is to insert silver halides from an airplane into a cloud. But Hatfield, at least initially, could not use an airplane (there were not any) and he apparently did not use them when they became available. To my knowledge, the nature of his chemicals was never revealed, strange, for it would not have been difficult to monitor his purchases of the chemicals which he needed in great quantities. What was his secret? David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University, was of the opinion that Hatfield was a keen student of weather charts. He waited until the dry season was well advanced and then proposed to produce rain within a given period, say one month, During this period, there were bound to be a few days when there was sufficient moisture in the air to open his evaporators and bring the moisture down. Evidently he could not produce rain from a cloud which had no water in it. It appears that Hatfield’s work in Nevada County was one of his early efforts. Whether he was successful we will leave to the reader to decide. : Editor Talk of a possible drought this year makes this account of 1905S all the more timely, This is the way Nevada County attempted to cope with a lack of rainfall which had prevailed since May 3. The first mention of help being on the way appeared in the Daily Morning Union on November 3, 1905 and was headed, ‘Lack of Water Begins to Pinch’. A number of miners at the North Star Mine and other mines had been laid off, but were to alternate with others who were working at general labor, each group working a week at a time. It was expected that the Empire would be forced to lay off its men due to lack of water and so the same alternating rule would prevail there. By November 9th the water supply was falling fast. There was a persistent rumor that the South Yuba Canal Comipany was decreasing the local water supply to the mines by one half. If so, nearly 500 miners would be out of employment until the heavy rains set in. Headlines on the 10th stated that “Scores of Miners Were Out of Work”. The Empire Mine shut down “‘tight as a drum” at 7:00 a.m. that morning and nearly 200 men were let out. Only the pumps were to remain working. But help was on the way! The Union on November 14th read: “Hatfield Offers to Break the Drought”. The previous day the Union had received a dispatch from Hatfield, the rainmaker of the Orange Belt, reading: “I will guarantee inside of one week to break the drought. If I fail, no compensation. Raise through public subscription or otherwise $250. If you accept, telegraph at my expense and I will leave for your city immediately”. On the 15th the Union headlined: “Hatfield Coming”. ‘“‘The man whom part of Los Angeles claims is responsible for the rains last winter and whom the other part claims had nothing to do with them, will make his appearance in this city within the next few 21

_ Rainmaker Hatfield “ Visits Nevada County by Lorraine Bergtholat It is well known that Southern California is, for the largest part, essentially a desert. In the early days, the days when only Indians lived there and also later, during the time of the Spanish and Mexican occupation, this did not matter much. The rivers, the Los Angeles, the San Gabriel and the Santa Ana still carried water the year around, enabling the missions and perhaps some secular people to engage in horticulture and agriculture. After the American occupation, the natural water supply soon was insufficient. The Anglo settlers discovered that the soil was fertile and needed only water to yield luscious crops. They answered this need by means with which they were familiar, the artesian well. For quite some time this system was sufficient but gradually, due to the steady increase in cultivated acreage and the dropping of the water table by overpumping, the wells ceased to provide sufficient water. In addition, the growing cities, notably Los Angeles, required more and more water. At the turn of the century, the situation became difficult and, to solve the problem once and for all, water was brought from Owens Valley through an aqueduct system, 238 miles long, to the San Fernando Valley. In later years this system was extended; it now reaches as far as Mono Lake. The demand for water increasing exponentially, more water was obtained from a new aqueduct, taking water from the Colorado River. In recent years, efforts have been made to bring the water from Northern California across the Tehachapi Mountains and, who knows, perhaps some day there will be an aqueduct reaching Alaska. The natural source of water, in any region, is rain. In Southern California, rain is not unknown. The trouble is that rain does not come at the right time and when it comes, it is torrential, causing floods, landslides and other havoc. Therefore there is an elaborate system to send the rainwater to the ocean as quickly as possible. Prolonged periods of drought were not uncommon in Southern California; they were especially cumbersome at the turn of the century when the artesian _ wells were giving out. It stands to reason that, in time of drought, it would be valuable for the owner of a large farm to have an inch or so of rain at the right time. This is where Charles Mallory Hatfield came in. It is reported that Hatfield obtained his method of rain making from a book by a certain Edward Powers which was published in 1871. Hatfield started experimenting in 1902 and the next year he was ready to offer his services. His first job was near Los Angeles where he managed to produce one inch of rain in five days. To produce rain, he erected large tanks, filled with chemicals, the nature of which he kept a secret. After his first success, the demand for his services rose rapidly. Among the spectacular successes he achieved are the following. Being contracted to fill the reservoir of the Hemet Land and Water Company, he produced eleven inches of rain, raising the level of the reservoir by twenty two feet. During the first four months of the year 1905, he produced eighteen inches of rain in the Los Angeles area. His most spectacular result was achieved in San Diego when he contracted to fill their eighteen million gallon reservoir by a given date. He produced the greatest downpour San Diego had ever witnessed, causing sixteen inches of rain to come down in two days. The reservoir, which never had been filled over one third of its capacity, was filled to the brim, the water flowed over the dam, causing great havoc. Railroad bridges were washed away, cities and towns flooded, attendance at San Diego's World Fair dropped to zero (this happened in 1916). The city refused to pay his fee because

they received much more water than they had contracted for. Soon the fame of Hatfield spread beyond Southern California. He received contracts from all parts of the United States and even abroad; he was active until the late twenties. One of his last feats was to produce forty inches of rain near Randsburg in the Mohave Desert. Today, rainmaking is not uncommon. The technique is to insert silver halides from an airplane into a cloud. But Hatfield, at least initially, could not use an airplane (there were not any) and he apparently did not use them when they became available. To my knowledge, the nature of his chemicals was never revealed, strange, for it would not have been difficult to monitor his purchases of the chemicals which he needed in great quantities. What was his secret? David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University, was of the opinion that Hatfield was a keen student of weather charts. He waited until the dry season was well advanced and then proposed to produce rain within a given period, say one month, During this period, there were bound to be a few days when there was sufficient moisture in the air to open his evaporators and bring the moisture down. Evidently he could not produce rain from a cloud which had no water in it. It appears that Hatfield’s work in Nevada County was one of his early efforts. Whether he was successful we will leave to the reader to decide. : Editor Talk of a possible drought this year makes this account of 1905S all the more timely, This is the way Nevada County attempted to cope with a lack of rainfall which had prevailed since May 3. The first mention of help being on the way appeared in the Daily Morning Union on November 3, 1905 and was headed, ‘Lack of Water Begins to Pinch’. A number of miners at the North Star Mine and other mines had been laid off, but were to alternate with others who were working at general labor, each group working a week at a time. It was expected that the Empire would be forced to lay off its men due to lack of water and so the same alternating rule would prevail there. By November 9th the water supply was falling fast. There was a persistent rumor that the South Yuba Canal Comipany was decreasing the local water supply to the mines by one half. If so, nearly 500 miners would be out of employment until the heavy rains set in. Headlines on the 10th stated that “Scores of Miners Were Out of Work”. The Empire Mine shut down “‘tight as a drum” at 7:00 a.m. that morning and nearly 200 men were let out. Only the pumps were to remain working. But help was on the way! The Union on November 14th read: “Hatfield Offers to Break the Drought”. The previous day the Union had received a dispatch from Hatfield, the rainmaker of the Orange Belt, reading: “I will guarantee inside of one week to break the drought. If I fail, no compensation. Raise through public subscription or otherwise $250. If you accept, telegraph at my expense and I will leave for your city immediately”. On the 15th the Union headlined: “Hatfield Coming”. ‘“‘The man whom part of Los Angeles claims is responsible for the rains last winter and whom the other part claims had nothing to do with them, will make his appearance in this city within the next few 21