So little rain fell that year during January and February that
Inland Valley farmers demanded something be done. One proposal
was to hire a colorful Kansas native by the name of Charles M.
Hatfield, who claimed he could create rain, literally out of
thin air. Hatfield charged $1,000 for each inch that fell.
Brewing up a cauldron of chemicals whose vapors he said would
create rain, he fashioned himself a "Moisture Accelerator." His
efforts may have even had some science behind it. Today, clouds
are "seeded" with silver iodide or similar chemicals dropped
into clouds to increase the amount of rain from a storm.
Depending on how desperate they were, most people saw Hatfield
as anything from a savior to a charlatan. Rain often did fall
after he did his wizardry - but in those days before satellite-
based forecasts, who knew if it was going to arrive anyway? In
January 1915, San Diego hired him to fill its empty reservoirs.
Within a few weeks, the area was flooded by a number of storms
that caused reservoirs to ove