New York City Probes Howell's Real Potency

The ability of University Meteorologist Wallace E. Howell to make rain is still being investigated by the City of New York, the "New York Times" revealed by inference last week. Howell was hired by New York City at $100 a day to make rain during the drought two years ago. Now the City is being sued for a total of $2 million by upstate New York farmers who claim the resultant downpours ruined their crops.

The Times reported that among those present at the meeting of the American Meteorological Society in New York last week were two investigators from the city who pored over reports and politely but firmly questioned scientific research workers.

According to the Times the investigators replied to all inquiries that "The city is being sued by upstate farmers for rainmaking. We gotta find out, did we make rain or didn't we."

Howell could not be reached for comment last night.

Howell was one of the first American scientists to experiment with the production of rain by means of precipitating moisture in the atmosphere with dry ice of silver iodide crystals.