The 23 secret ingredients of Charles Hetfield: how an American caused rain

This amazing man saved dozens of farmers from ruin, could put out a natural fire and fill a dried-up reservoir with water. Charles Hetfield went down in history as a man who could cause rain, and from all the other "lords of the rain" who periodically appeared in different parts of the world, he was distinguished by his scientific approach and the stability of the results. But no one has yet been able to repeat his success, and the composition of the magic powder has remained a mystery, known only to Hatfield.

Charles Hetfield, who was far ahead of his time, was a native of Kansas, and in the 1880s his family moved to California. The future "lord of the rain" got a job at a company that manufactured sewing machines, and worked as a salesman, simultaneously doing unusual research. In his spare time, Hatfield studied chemistry, physics, and meteorology, experimented with various substances, and set up experiments. The seller of sewing machines tried to find an effective way to get rain in the right place at the right time.

Such unusual addictions of a young man are quite explainable. America of the beginning of the XX century is a country of amazing opportunities, which enterprising citizens hastened to take advantage of. Most of them were outright crooks and schemers of various stripes. But Charles Hetfield was not one of them, although he was motivated by a desire to become rich and famous.

In 1902, he finally managed to develop his own formula for the desired mixture, which included 23 ingredients. In order to provoke precipitation, Hatfield heated the mysterious mixture in huge metal pallets, which, evaporating and entering the atmosphere, caused rain. The percentage of successful experiments was very high, and Charles decided that it was already possible to abandon the trade in sewing machines and begin to realize his dreams. In 1904, he advertised in California newspapers, where he offered his rain services for a modest $ 50. Such an original proposal was very popular, because in dry California, a farmer could easily lose a fortune due to lack of rain, but in time precipitations promised him profit and prosperity.

Charles Hatfield became famous and rich overnight, and he achieved this in a completely legal way. Orders for rain came not only from California, but also from other states, and even from other countries. His younger brother joined the business, and the Hatfields traveled across the continent, signing lucrative contracts and giving people precious rain. Orders were received not only from individuals, but also from officials who wanted to fill the reservoir with water or calm the rioting farmers.

History has not yet known such a successful enterprise for producing rain using a chemical mixture. It should be noted that in America, the brothers had several competitors who also offered their services in organizing precipitation using mysterious devices or spraying mixtures of chemicals. But Hatfield achieved success in almost 100% of cases and during his career organized about 500 rains on order, which no entrepreneur could boast of. The brothers' business flourished and successfully existed until the beginning of the Great Depression of the 30s of the last century. The ruined farmers were no longer interested in rain, and the unique enterprise fell into decay in just a few years. From the seller of rain, Hatfield again turned into a seller of sewing machines, but he did not reveal the secret of his miraculous powder.

The modern method that causes precipitation is called cloud sowing. The main substance is silver iodide, solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice"), potassium iodide and some others. Substances must be sprayed from aircraft or using ground-based generators. But since this method of obtaining precipitation is very expensive, it has not received widespread use in the world. Chinese engineers also hope to increase rainfall in the arid regions of the country, and in one of our materials we talked about how they plan to do this.