#charles hatfield

[dynamobooks]

Charles Hatfield: Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby (2012)

[archivist-crow]

On this day:

RAINMAKER CHARLES HATFIELD

On January 16, 1916, after a two-year drought, rain fell in San Diego thanks to Charles Hatfield, "moisture accelerator." Before San Diego, Hatfield had been successful in bringing rain to revive parched farms in California's San Joaquin Valley, filling prospectors' sluiceboxes in the Alaskan Klondike, dousing a forest fire in Honduras, ending a drought in Italy, and proving he could make it rain anywhere in the Mohave Desert. He earned between $50 and $10,000 a downpour.

Hatfield began his career in pluviculture when he realized that large storms often followed great battles involving cannon fire, and the cannons' smoke somehow caused moisture in the air to form drops rather than disperse. Experimenting on his father's Kansas farm, Hatfield mixed formulas in large wooden vats, allowing them to stew under cover for twenty minutes before removing the lid with a long pole and watching the noxious vapors rise until he got rain. Quitting his job as a sewing machine salesman, Hatfield then grabbed his hat and umbrella and went to work.

To bring rain to San Diego, Hatfield erected tall wooden towers by Lake Morena, a reservoir sixty miles from town. Chemicals, water, and acid, 300 times the average strength, were added to the towers. Twenty-four hours later, wicked-smelling vapors rose to the sky, and soon the rain began to fall. It stormed for twelve days over the next three weeks, causing the San Diego Exposition and the Tijuana race track to flood. The rain swept away 110 of 112 bridges, telegraph and telephone poles, and houses, boats, and dams. People and animals died, and hundreds of snakes arrived in the city streets. The city was isolated for a week and refused to pay Hatfield. Hatfield later died and never revealed his secret formula for making rain.

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

Charles Hatfield - Wikipedia

Charles Hatfield - Wikipedia

[riversidearchives]

Floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. Back in January 1916, southern California suffered devastating floods that resulted from excessive rainfall after a severe drought.  

Several dams failed, including the Sweetwater and the Lower Otay, both located in San Diego County. Roads, bridges, and railroad tracks were washed away, along with homes and businesses.  

The flood is also known as “Hatfield’s flood” because the City of San Diego had hired Charles Hatfield, a so-called rainmaker, in 1915 after the long drought.

These images are from the Office of the Chief of Engineers. Los Angeles District. Project Administration Files, 1896-1943. N-27 Flood Control Projects.

You may view the full and detailed U.S. Geological Survey report on the January 1916 floods here.

For information and resources on preparing for and staying safe in case of flooding, please visit https://www.ready.gov/floods 

[wtf-fun-factss]

Charles Hatfield - WTF fun fact

[pepikhipik]

Co byste dělali, kdybyste čelili největšímu suchu v historii? Když sledujete, jak úroda chřadne, jídla ubývá a dokonce začíná vysychat pitná voda, možná byste byli v pokušení udělat extrémní kroky, abyste přivolali déšť. Přesně to udělalo město San Diego.

View On WordPress

[informationatlas]

During a severe drought in California 100 years ago, the city of San Diego hired a rainmaker named Charles Hatfield to induce rainfall. Hatfield's methods seemed to work, as San Diego experienced record-breaking rainfall after his intervention. However, the heavy rainfall led to devastating floods and the city refused to pay Hatfield for his services, leading to a lengthy legal battle. Despite the controversy surrounding his methods, Hatfield's rainmaking career continued until his death, and his legacy has sparked ongoing debates about the effectiveness of cloud-seeding and rainmaking techniques.

“I do not make rain. That would be an absurd claim. I simply attract clouds, and they do the rest.”

Charles Hatfield

(via When San Diego Hired a Rainmaker a Century Ago, It Poured - JSTOR Daily)

[lilithsaintcrow]

“Hatfield tried to settle for $4000 and then sued the council. The suit continued until 1938 when two courts decided that the rain was an act of God, which absolved him of any wrongdoing, but also meant Hatfield did not get his fee….Hatfield's fame only grew and he received more contracts for rainmaking.”

Honestly if they refused to pay, one could refuse to let the rain stop, but...

[unbfacts]