The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 115 - Rainmaker Charley Hatfield

Episode Date: September 16, 2015

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds discuss rainmaker Charley Hatfield. SOURCES TOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH  

When you're staying at an Airbnb you might be like me wondering could my place be an Airbnb and if it could what could it earn? You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. That in-law sweet guest house where your parents stay only part-time Airbnb it and make some money the rest of the year whether you could use a little extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. Hello! My name is Dave Anthony. Sure. This is a historical podcast of historicals. Each week I read a story from American

history to my friend. Gareth Reynolds who doesn't have any idea what the topic is gonna be or something like that. Did we forget how to do it? It's rusty. It's been a while. Well that's the best we can do. Good night everybody. Thanks all. Do you want to look who to do? I'll do one buck. People say this is funny. Not Gary Gareth. Dave okay. Someone or something is tickling people. Is it for fun? And this is not gonna come to tickling podcasts. Okay. You are queen fakie of made-up town. All hell queen shit of lies though. A bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do what? Fray. Hi Gary. No? Is he done my friend? No. Rainmakers had their heyday in the Midwest. In the 1880s. I'm gonna need you to calm the fuck down.

Rainmakers had their heyday in the Midwest. In the 1880s and 1890s. And these are gentlemen who make it rain. That is correct sir. Yeah. Like NFL safeties in the strip club. Much like that. Yeah. There had been a belief for centuries that artillery explosions caused rain. After the Civil War. I mean we have pinned. We're really stupid. When bombs go off. After the Civil War a man named Edward Powers wrote a book called War and the Weather in which he said that most Civil War battles caused rain. I mean it just has no connection to reality right. I don't know. Americans also believed prairie fires caused rain and that the Chicago fire drenched itself. Obviously after the city fire. After the city burned down. I mean the fire department is really just if you're

in a rush. I mean because otherwise fires will put themselves out. Yeah because they burn so much that then they start rain. Yeah for sure. Congress spent over twenty thousand testing the explosion causing rain theory. But it did not bear out and the theory sort of faded away. But then the fume theory took hold. Finally. The fume theory was also an ancient idea. It is was believed that noxious fumes like the smell of bodies on a battlefield caused rain. OK. This led to a whole new breed of rain makers in the U.S. each having their own secret formula. Oh this is going to be so disturbing. No it's not. Is it not. I mean like from what I heard so far body. I just thought that we were going to really jump in real quick. Some dude's going to be feeding some family people and being like it'll rain soon. Trust. Oh no the rain

makers are coming. Head to the hills. There were big name rain makers like Frank Melbourne. Melbourne. Known as the Australian Wizard. It was his name really Melbourne. Melbourne. Yeah. Wow. He was called the Australian Wizard and G.B. Jewel who practiced from a specifically equipped boxcar that he would. What. Take her out on. Just rolling around in a boxcar that made it rain. Train tracks. Wait so he's just rolling in a solo boxcar. He'd roll it. Yeah he'd roll in a solo boxcar. It didn't even work. Make it rain. Come on that guy's awesome. I mean he's not he's not not awesome I'm curious about how he's rolling around in a boxcar from town to town. You'd have got to pull it. It's got to be some ass. I was like you really know how to make it rain. Yeah I'll show you. Keep pulling.

And then there was Charlie Hatfield. Charlie was born in 1875 in Kansas. His father owned a sewing machine agency but sold it and got into real estate. In 1886 they moved to San Diego. Though they were no longer in the sewing machine business all the Hatfield kids learned to take sewing machines apart adjust and repair them. Cool. At the age of 11 Charlie became a news boy selling the San Diego Union. Then the San Diego. Oh then the San Diego economy ground to a halt. And at the same time Los Angeles was having a real estate boom. OK how unusual. So the Hatfields went to LA ending up in Pasadena in 1893 where Charlie went to high school. OK. After graduating he became a salesman. The country went to war with Spain in 1889 and Charlie tried to join up

but he was rejected. OK. Being too thin. Oh boy. Hard target. Skinny Charlie. Right. Yeah. Hard target. Take him. Turned sideways he can't hit him. Yeah. Be like oh god damn it. It's just a twig. But Charlie had another calling. Oh boy. He spent much of his free time in public libraries looking at rainfall stats and about the science of rain makers. So actually finally somebody who was like isn't this bullshit. Just after a nice stretch. I mean this is really horseshit. I mean it's really bullshit. Right. A drought had been going on since the mid 90s. It was not just affecting farms but now everyday life in Southern California. What a crazy time. I know. Where does that sound. A housing boom and a drought. Not my LA. Never heard of that. In 1899 a well-known rain maker named

W. B. Hughes had tried to get a contract to make it rain from the city of Pasadena. His cost was $5,000. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce rejected the offer. Fools. Charlie attempted his first rain making on a ranch his family bought in San Diego County in 1902. OK. He got to work on the top of a windmill tower on the ranch. There he apparently set off explosives. Good. Get that rain out. A longtime family friend named Fred Hansen said that Charlie's mom said the explosions would someday make her son a great man. That's my boy Charlie up on a tower making explosions. It seems like he's a real troublemaker. He's going to be president. Take care. But Charlie always said he evaporated a fluid from shallow pans and didn't use explosions even though people could see the

explosions. OK. Either way rain began in San Diego County in April of 1992 in July almost an inch fell. Oh boy. Charlie claimed he'd made it. I did it. I made a boom boom. I'm special. Charlie was said to have an almost religious zeal. The attitude of a man with a mission. Though he was kind and acted like a gentleman. He always wore a business suit when conducting his rain making work. Well you got to respect the sky. You're basically given a job interview to a cloud. You got to show up. When Fred Hansen asked him how he handled as a salesman houses with signs that said no peddlers. Charlie responded. I don't believe in signs. Hey. Not a lot of people with that policy. I don't believe in law. I just don't think it's not there. Yep. I don't believe in cops. Fucking asshole. I

don't buy jail over the next year. Charlie with the help of his younger brother Paul built three more towers to experiment on one he built in to hunger. Canyon November 6th through November 9th 1902 more than three inches of rain fell in the area and one point nine five inches in Los Angeles. The other towers he built in big to hunger and Inglewood. He said he created half an inch of rain in Inglewood in September 1903. OK. He's fucking banging it out. Yeah. He's really creating a lot of rain with his towers. Yes. Then he was offered his first pro ray making gig. Finally. The big leagues. Yep. After three years of horrible drought Southern California was desperate. It was so bad that Catholic and Protestant churches got together and requested in the newspapers for a day of prayer for rain on Sunday

January 31st 1904. Whoever you're praying to please pray to them. Just take a break from the Super Bowl. Got to cover our bases. The prayer was not effective. What. I know it didn't work. Did they say please. I maybe God was out of town. Yeah. He's busy. Two days later Charlie Hatfield was setting up shop. The rain season usually begins in late January in Los Angeles. Sure enough. Two days later at 6 p.m. it started raining. What. I know how heavily and it rained on and off for the next week over an inch downtown. The downpour sent the Los Angeles River on a rampage killing two people tearing out the 7th Street bridge and overflowing the 4th Street sewer. He's too good. He's right. He over asked. Kids fucking got it. Too much. Kids fucking. No one to say when. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. He showed us didn't he. Yeah. Right. For sure.

How about you reel it in next time Charlie. Yeah. Just build less towers asshole. The papers immediately said it was the work of Hatfield completely ignoring all the prayers. Yep. And they continued writing about it for days. It was written that he had set up a high tower in La Crescenta on the corner of New York and Foothill. About eight blocks from where I live. Far. There's a 76 station there now. Thank you. And Hatfield and a T-shirt store that went out of business called MOOCs. Why did it go ahead. I can't understand why MOOCs were not a business either. I mean very clear who they're targeting. They're great. There it was said Charlie said he mixed chemicals and sent vapors into the air. He said it would take summer between three hours and five days to bring rain. OK. So a window. That's a great wind. I mean that is a good wind. I mean

that's that's fine. Yeah. If you can make it rain if they're in a drought. Sure. OK. I mean. Right. Because of this miracle Charlie became known as the wizard of Esperanza the Spanish word meaning hope. I'd be like can you please change that. I'm a wizard. Look it's the Wizard of Esperanza. Please don't call me that. I've said no. After the rain stopped Charlie and his brother Paul dismounted the tower and left. They went back to their jobs as sewing machine salesman where Charlie made one hundred twenty five bucks a month. But word was out about Charlie's rain making and his services were wanted. He then spent a lot of time in central California and his reputation grew. By 1907 farmers in Oregon called for him and word of the rain maker spread across the West. Yeah. He went to Texas Idaho Arizona Kansas and other areas west of the Mississippi

River. In 1912 he had two very lucrative rain making jobs. One was in Carlsbad Texas and the other was in Hemant in San Diego County. He now called himself a moisture accelerator. Oh wow. That's terrific. That is so politically correct. Rain makers actually get were kind of sensitive about that. Yeah. I'm a moisture accelerator. It's just a little insult. It's just what it's just that's not what I do. I'm not a rain maker. I just accelerate the moisture. Right. So it's more appropriate. Thank you. I'm the worst. Don't call me. Thanks. But so at this point he has to be buying this shit. I mean he has to be believing that he's actually doing stuff. I would imagine so. Right. Or is it like the symptom of like where a preacher is like maybe I can actually heal people who are paralyzed because he's faked his way through it so much. I mean he I think he's

I think he's a one percent bullshitter. OK. Quote will you guarantee to produce rain a Hemant news reporter asked Charlie replied I certainly will or won't cost the people a cent well but it did rain. Here was the contract four inches of rain for four thousand dollars no rain no pay Charlie would set up his rain apparatus from May March 1st to May 1st for each inch of rain he would get a thousand dollars up to four inches the town would have to pay for more than four inches. Locals agreed to the terms. So I came to habit on March 1st. It was already raining. OK. People assumed many people assumed that would be that and he would move on. Right. But he had a contract and hadn't started rain making yet. Wait. Wait. Yeah. Yes. So wait. Sorry. OK go ahead. He he hadn't done anything. Right. He hadn't he hadn't started his rain making and it started to rain. What was

already raining. OK. Did you have a question. Isn't that a clear enough question. Are you asking if he if he shouldn't make rain. Well he didn't make rain. Well hold on. That's my question. A man named Wyden asked Charlie what he would do since it was raining. Charlie said you may get three inches from the storm. I can give you three and a half. He's outbidding nature. Terrific. So he's an amazing bullshit. Oh well that's tremendous. The carpenters went to work and built the tower near a lake three miles from the town. By the time Charlie started rain making an entire inch had fallen. OK. For whatever reason the locals were mostly supportive of his efforts and why did what he was doing. Well I guess you don't want to hedge your bets a little bit too. Hey look Buck I think we can get double the rain with this fella. Hey look more rain than area right. Yeah I mean yeah I mean it might stop raining. It'll be four

thousand dollars. So what's that. The local news reported on the rain making without it all being critical. Hemet had one of their biggest rain years on record. Charlie got credit for more than seven inches of rain. Wow so he's just fucking loaded. The paper wrote. So well pleased are the ranchers in Mr. Hatfield's work that there has been that he has been prevailed upon to store his apparatus and Hemet until next season when he will likely come back and take a bigger contract. Hell of a game the rain making game. God it's fucking. I mean sorry the moisture accelerating game. He then went to Texas where he was also very successful. Charlie then went to San Diego in 1915 which was beginning to be concerned about not enough water. Although oddly the city's storage was far from critical. Marina Reservoir was said to be holding five billion gallons of its 15 billion capacity. OK. But it was understood that water shortages

in California should be anticipated. Fun times. We've done a good job. We've really handled it well. I just got a 30 gallon toilet. Oh good. San Diego was well acquainted with Charlie Hatfield and his wife who was raised there. One well known man in San Diego who pushed strongly for Hatfield to make it rain was Fred Binney. He was a large lean man with an ample set of whiskers, a squeaky voice, an English accent and a belief in socialism. Binney found himself speaking for Hatfield in front of the city council when one councilman smirked. You do not smirk in front of Binney. And Binney yelled when a man comes in with a simple sensible idea you treat him as though he were a lunatic and he stormed out. That's the behavior of a lunatic. That's awesome. You just made our point. Binney smirking. Did you smirk? That's it. Fuck you all. Fuck you all. Then late in 1915 Binney made an appeal in the local newspaper to get to the people.

This is going to be a dumb appeal. The councilman then showed some interest. Early in December Charlie appeared before the council. The council asked Charlie to put his proposition in writing and to come again. Charlie drew up his own contracts without using an attorney. He usually offered three propositions. His first written proposal stated that by June 1st he would produce 40 inches of rain at Marina Reservoir. This is bold. Free. To be compensated from the 40th to 50th inch by $1,000 per inch. Okay. Okay. Jesus. He also offered to fill Marina Reservoir by December 20th, 1916 or he would cause rainfall of 50 inches by June 1st, 1960 for which he would be paid 500 per inch from the 30th to the 50th inch or $1,000 per inch from the 50th to the 6th. All the plans worked out to $10,000. Really? Yeah. They're all basically the same. I mean, is he not promising shitloads of rain? They were all the same plan

set in different ways. Right. So that he would make $10,000. Yeah. He's promising a shitload of rain. A shitload. A shitload. On December 13th, the council voted four to one to accept Charlie's offer to fill this. That one so validated. Fucking morons. Fine. Yeah. Get him in here. Okay, guys, I'm going to read a book later. What about you? I'm going to pray to know what's inside the book. Okay. So he's supposed to fill the reservoir by December 20th, 1916 and asked the city attorney's office to prepare a written contract. Councilman Moore explained, quote, if he fills Marina, he will have put 10 billion gallons into it, which would cost the city one tenth of a cent per thousand dollars. If he fails to fill his contract, the city isn't out anything. It's heads, the city wins. It would be crazy to not do this. How could we not? It was the catch. There's no catch. It's a perfect crime.

It's free water. It's no downside. Marina Dam had been there since 1897. It was a huge reservoir that could hold 15 billion gallons and had never been full. Charlie did not wait for the written agreement from the city attorney and he went straight to work on January 1st. Your air quoting work. His assistant was not Paul this time, but Joel, the youngest Hatfield brother. Paul returned to selling sewing machines. The tower was built on a slope along the road leading up to the dam. Nearby farmers heard explosions. Then flames were seen leaping from cauldrons and vast billows of foul smoke rose skyward. And he's really buying his own bullshit. The chemical stench was said to be dreadful. Oh, God. Hey, look, you wanted rain. I'm a wizard. Yeah. I mean, just like cauldrons flaming and be like, is this? Why does he have a big point? What's he doing? Yeah, you grew a beard. Yeah.

Newspapers counted off moisture accelerate. He's got like a wand. Come on. Excelsior. Newspapers counted off the days left for Charlie to meet his deadline. Bookies took bets. Oh, God. Great. What do you want 50 on rain? What are you looking for? Look, I'm what I'm telling you is I didn't tell you that you needed the guarantee that there'd be rain, but you guaranteed that. Now, if you don't pay up, I'm going to take your fucking pinkies. I just thought I'm going to take your fucking pinkies dummy. Okay. Can I go double enough? No, no, no more. Can I go double nothing on a son? You know how you're going to have to pay me? Yeah, I know rain check. The only the only visitors who were able to get actually close to the tower were Seth Swenson, the damn keeper and his wife, Maggie.

I just love that. There's a damn keeper. Damn keeper. This guy up there. I keep the day. The best job in the world. Hey, honey, you go outside and look at the damn today. It's still there, pumpkin. All right, let's take lunch. So Mrs. Swenson would answer her telephone and relay messages to Charlie, who was two miles away on his tower. On January 5th, the good rain was reported at Marina Reservoir. Wow. The San Diego 1960 rain 16 rains had begun heavier rain started on January 10th. For 24 hours in the back country, it rained hard and almost continuously. From the 15th until the 18th, it continued to rain hard. And on the 14th, it had rained torrents, roof sleep, storm drains that had not been taxed for years overflowed. The San Diego River went over its banks and spread across Mission Valley in the early hours on the 17th.

Real tragedy developed on the 18th in the Valley of the Tijuana River. There, around 40 families, 100 people or more lived in a colony. By the way, the whole colony, that whole colony, I didn't go into this, but it was a whole colony built around the idea of irrigation. Oh, God. Well, they never had a chance to try it. The river left its channel and overflowed their homes. Wait, what's irrigation? Oh, shit. We're being irrigated. Oh, we did it. A cutting-edge channel destroyed many of the homes, carrying them away. Two women were drowned. Main highways and railroads were closed. Lower Ote Reservoir filled and started flowing over. It became apparent that people were interested in the activities of Hatfield up near the dam. The San Diego Union's main headline on the 17th red is a rainmaker at work.

He's a moisture accelerator. Thank you. Hatfield continued working on his rainmaking apparatus. The sun found they came back out. Crews went to work on the railways and highways. By the 24th, automobiles were able to drive north again, but the damaged rail lines and the coast highway could not be repaired that quickly. On the evening of January 25th, another heavy storm approached. This time, a river of water rushed out of the canes of Bilboa Park down 15th Street. All businesses were stopped. People gathered on cliffs overlooking Mission Valley to watch the flooding. It felt like the rains would never end and the damages would continue on forever. The San Diego River was a mile-wide torrent now covering Mission Valley.

Well, you asked for the fucking rainmaker. Seriously, you can't put the genie back in the goddamn bottle. You asked for the rainmaker, right? Here we go. You want me to stop it? Let me light some water on fire. Remember when you were like, it's heads we win, tails we lose. It's what everybody's fucking losing. All right. Trees tumbled, sticks of lumber, railroad ties, and parts of houses floated around. The sheep and goats tried to run about. The Santa Fe bridge was ruined.

The coastal highway and Santa Fe rail line were cut in several places. Debris of all kind, including broken parts of buildings piled up 20 feet high at obstructions on the beaches at the mouths of canyons. The adobe bell tower at the pile of Mission fell down. More than 200 bridges were washed out. The hills were severed. At 505, the dam at Lower Otay began disintegrating. Wow. A wall of water 40 feet high rushed down the valley. Jesus Christ. Total disaster.

The coroner's office would estimate the dead at 50. Oh my God. Charlie was in another world up in the mountains. Whistle. Whistle. Whistle. Whistle. Whistle.

Whistle. Whoa, boy. You see how much rainmaker there is? Yeah. Boy, oh boy. Boy, this is nice. This is nice up here. Get away. Get up here with my cauldron making rain. Keep it going. From a marine dam between storms, Charlie had telephoned the San Diego Union.

So between the first storm when there was just mild flooding and the second the earth is over storm. Right. And he was quoted as saying, I understand the newspapers are saying I didn't make the rain. All I have to say is that Marina has had 17 and a half inches of rain in the last five days. And that beats any similar record for the place that I have been able to find. Give me my money. Charlie got a message from someone named, from someone via Mrs. Swenson. He was told to go back to San Diego immediately and sign an agreement with the council because he had not done so yet.

Okay. Without one, he would not be paid. Right. Charlie said he didn't take the message seriously and continued making rain instead. What? It's your money. You're a swindler. I like making rain.

You know what? I don't make so much rain. They're not going to be able to not pay me. They'll float up here with the checks eventually. Mrs. Swenson said one day she told Charlie, it's sure raining now. And Charlie replied, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait two weeks and it'll really rain. No, Charlie.

Don't help anymore. Like a psychopath. Charlie, no. I'm going to make it rain. It's all fucking bad. You're all going to regret it. Who wants to buy some sunshine? You son of a bitch.

Have you met my brother, the sun maker? This is Dennis. He's a light accelerator. Charlie, and this is my other brother. He makes fog. How are you guys doing? He's not. We have different dads.

Does he want fogs? He's a half brother. But he can make fog. It'll calm down from the hills. He's special. You want to be able to see the mountains? You know, he's not so much. We pretend he makes fog.

Really what he does is he makes these little plates that he paints. And he sells them out of a chest. I like the smash plates. Yeah, but also he makes fog. Anyway, if you want to get us. I can't see you through the fog. He's blind. He is fully blind if you're asking.

He shouldn't have his glasses off. Charlie and Joel stayed at the lake until three days after the big storm. On that day, the phone line to the Swanson's college was repaired. That's when Charlie learned of all the damage. Damage? Squeeze me? And he was told someone was organizing a party to come up and lynch him. That's not much of a party.

Surprise! We're going to kill you. Charlie decided it was time to leave. As Charlie left, two men who worked for the San Diego Water Utility were coming up the mountain to confront him. But they never saw Charlie. Could you imagine two guys coming up and going, what the fuck did you do Rainmaker? Yeah. So great.

But they never saw Charlie or his brother because Charlie saw the men coming and hid until they passed. Smart. Yeah. It took Charlie and Joel two days to walk the 60 miles to San Diego. When they got there, Charlie held a press conference. What else would you do? Just be anonymous. It's just the thing to do right now.

People have died. What's the best way to handle that? 50 people have died. Go have a press conference. In photos, he and Joel looked all cleaned up, well rested and very nice. He said he was surprised by the devastation. But at this point, he had learned people wanted to deny him his fee. And that's what he was most interested in talking about.

It's a press conference. You got to see your heart goes out to people just real quick. First, Charlie talked about his rainmaking career and disclosed a bit about his methods. I mean, it's just, it's like a psychopath. About me? No, nobody asked you that asshole. First, I want to say I've done this in Los Angeles. I've done this in Turlock.

Do you understand how many people have died, sir? I went up to Alaskan and did this. You only keep a name in the States? No, nobody asked you to name anything. In a lot of places. I'm a rainmaker. Right. And I use fumes.

The man with the weird glasses who looks like he's trying to make fog next to you. That's my brother. He makes fog. How are you guys doing? Oh, boy. Did you want fogs? He's eating the mics. Charlie said he would be willing to give his secret to the US government.

And then he expected... I'm full of shit. He expected the city to pay as agreed. But that makes sense. Then the reporters started asking questions. There were reports that the council did not intend to pay. Will you sue Charlie? He said he did not want to cross that bridge before he reached it.

I don't want to cross that bridge before I've ruined it with rain. I mean, there's no bridges. Hey! Am I right? Boom in the back. Next. If Hatfield were to get credit for the rain, would you accept liability for the damage? Charlie said the benefits would exceed the damages.

Those benefits were not only all the water, but also the jobs that were being created to repair the roads and bridges. Hey, it's a real... it's the new coal. And built coffins. Yeah. Perfect. You're making a lot of money in those industries right now. Coffin making has never been hotter. You know what?

You might as well call me the money maker. Hello! In the back! Oh, God. How about the deaths he was asked? How about them? Hey! The deaths were terrible, but Charlie said he did not feel responsible.

The city should have taken adequate protections. Good. Good. Great answer. Fair. Great answer. Great answer. He's obviously been talking to a PR person.

He gets it. After the press conference, Charlie knew the man he needed to speak to, city attorney Cosgrove. Okay. Cosgrove did not want to pay Charlie his fees. Charlie expected a bit of a confrontation, but Cosgrove was the opposite. Cosgrove was super nice, business-like, and very disarming. That was probably because he knew that he held all the cards as the contracts Charlie had written up were complete shit.

Who needs a lawyer? They seemed like a legal contract, less like a legal contract, and more like something a guy who sold sewing machines would write. Cosgrove told Charlie to file a written statement detailing what he claimed to have accomplished and in how much time. I mean, really, just for a laugh, right? Could you write up everything so I can prove you didn't do it? Sure.

Yeah, I can do that. I can do that. Sure. I can write up a bunch of bullshit. Yeah. I'm a huge bullshitter. I'll just write this stuff up. Here you go.

And then you'll pay me. Here's a bunch of horseshit. Now pay me. I've written seven pages of garbage. And I'd love to get paid. Charlie wrote up a seven page claim that was basically a sales talk. He argued that while he was operating, the city only had three days of sunshine. Since he stopped, the sun had been shining daily.

So obviously the council owed him money. It's irrefutable. Couldn't be more clear. There's no holes. It's your holes. Couldn't be more clear. In his claim, Charlie made the mistake of claiming to have been directly responsible for four billions of gallons of water that ran into Marina Dam.

Charlie then appeared before the council on February 17th and asked for his $10,000. How much, as Cosgrove, do you claim to have put into Marina? Charlie said, four billion gallons, if not more. But you agreed to put in 10 billion gallons, said Cosgrove. There were five billion gallons when I started work and it required 15 billions to fill the reservoir. I claim that through the instrumentality of my work... Instrumentality's good.

Four billion gallons were put into the reservoir and the other was the indirect result of my work. Okay. So any questions or feel good? It's direct and then it's indirect. Thank you. Okay. According to his own statements, this is Cosgrove, according to his own statements, this man

has admitted that he put only four billion gallons of water into the reservoir. He offered to deliver 10 billion gallons. Therefore, he has not fulfilled his contract and there is no liability on the part of the city. The council then voted to refer the matter to the city attorney, which is the guy saying... Excuse me? We're going to refer the matter to you? Right.

The guy saying that you're full of shit? Yeah. We're going to refer it to him. Right. So he's the guy you want to talk to. Sorry, but... We just voted. Right.

But he... He does not like you. Yeah, he's already said that he thinks I'm full of shit. Right. And he's handling things now. Good to see you again. So I think you're still full of shit. So basically, did I pay him?

The real reason the city attorney did not want to pay Charlie was that if they did actually hire Charlie legally and they paid him for producing the rain, then the city would be claiming responsibility for making the rain and then the city would be held liable for all the damages and the flood and claims were at 3.5 million. The stakes are pretty high. Charlie hired an attorney to file a lawsuit. But in reality, he was just trying to force a settlement. Charlie offered to take just $4,000.

Look, I don't want to be weird. Look, I made some rain. I get it. Give me four grand. Things got weird. Four grand. I'll get out of here. Four K, I'll be out of your business.

I'll leave my brother here. He's the fog guy. Walk right out the door. You can have the fog. You can have sunshine Tommy. Sunshine Tommy right there. Dennis the sunshine. Well, let me give you a lightning gym, you know what I mean?

The hole. And this is me. Lightning gym? Lightning gym. Don't make me do it again. I can't. Lightning is a little bit strange. And then my other brother's sand store.

Hello. Who no one seems to want. Let's go, sand. Sit down, Sammy. It's the worst superhero weather team. It's like the Captain Planet people. Sand. Lightning.

Guys. Fog. I'm the fog. Hey, it's not plural. I disagree. Bring on the fog. Here's the fog. So then Charlie offered to take even less than 4,000 and that's when Cosgrove said he

would pay the entire 10,000. Okay. If Charlie would sign a statement taking responsibility. Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, baby. This is not the kind of, this is like what a boy band signs their first contract. You got to think. Read the fine print here. Charlie did not take the offer.

Okay. Good. Still, two damaged lawsuits brought by residents of San Diego did reach the courts. The courts found that Charlie was not responsible and that the flood was an act of God. Which is both great and insulting as fuck. He's like, no, I want to, I'm in such a tight spot. Well, I am. If I lose the lawsuit, I am a rainmaker.

I win the lawsuit, I'm not a rainmaker. Yeah. It's almost like a witch trial. But the city, the city still made cash settlements to people who would settle out of court. Okay. Because they hired a rainmaker. Yeah. Yeah.

So they were like, yeah, whatever we got to do to pay to get this problem out of here. Charlie Hatfield's fame only grew after San Diego and he received more contracts for rainmaking. But now he made sure all contracts were signed before he started rainmaking. No shit. In 1925, Stanford University president David Starr Jordan revealed Charlie's quote, con man methods. Writing that his technique was to just arrive at the end of the dry season. Then he would produce rain within 30 to 60 days just as the normal rain cycle predicted. But no one seemed to care.

He was still hired all over California. We're smart. In 1929, he tried to stop a jungle fire in Honduras after being hired by banana farmers. What? Those poor guys. There's the movie. Yeah, right. Yeah.

Banana farmers hiring a rainmaker to stop a fire. In 1928, Southern California secured the rights to water from the Colorado River. And the need for a rainmaker like Charlie quickly went away. We need him now, right? During the Great Depression, he had to return to his work as a sewing machine salesman. His wife divorced him. Well, you're no longer famous. I'm not even a fucking rainmaker.

I could still make rain. I just have to stitch, too. God, I never wanted to be married to such a common sewing machine asshole. Oh, God. We used to live the goddamn life. We got to met it to the Oscars. I wish I could make it rain. New options for partners.

Charlie Hatfield died on January 12, 1958, and took his chemical formula with him to his grave in Forest Lawn Morial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Where it rains all the time. We get to find it and rain on it. Yeah. Charlie's lawsuit lingered forever, though, nearly 22 years. It was finally dismissed in 1938. Jesus.

Just before his death, Charlie told the reporter, quote, To this day, I've never felt right about that San Diego City Council. To this day. No shit. When we started, there were 112 bridges in San Diego. And when we got through, there were only two. Imagine that. There wasn't a train into San Diego from Los Angeles for 32 days.

Everything had to go by boat. He excitedly recounted. What an asshole. Yeah, they're like, no, don't. It's a bad thing. Yeah, 50 people died. I literally did it. It was awesome.

I shut down all the road. Yeah. Yeah. So there's that guy. Well, I mean, just people. I just, I would love, I mean, it would be nice if we could just give. At this point, we should try to, any one of these people like that, we should try to hire to get a little rain going here.

Yeah. We need it. Yeah. So what we're saying is we want a rainmaker. Really? Yeah. If there's a hat field out there. If there's a hat field out there, we've got, we need you. We beg. Hat field.

It's time for a hat trick. We beg it for you. Please. Send the fog guy too. Love a little morning fog. It's going to be fog nights and night, boys. No, boy. I got a check.

Has he slept? God, he's masturbating again. Come on. Let's make some fog. You can't see me. I made too early fog. That's right. I've got the Cloak of Foggery on.

To the hills. He's found dead the next day. Cloak of Foggery. He, he fell pretty hard off one of these cliffs. He did not think anybody could see him and he thought he was fog. He thought he could walk on air and he took a nasty fall. Died on impact. That's the only good news we have from this one.

Enlightening, Jimmy, vows for Venge. All right. Right this way. The whole goddamn valley is going to pay for what you did to my family. We got our hands on your hard drive and some stuff the police need to talk to you about. What? It was research for a book. Interesting.

Thank you. You're very welcome. Thanks, everybody. Thank you for. Thank you. God bless. Thanks, guys. We took a little trip down to America.

Hey. And we learned a little bit about ourselves. A little fun with American history. This is what we do on the hashtag dial up. What made this country? You're finding out. Yeah.