Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1898-07-13
A TERRIBLE AGENT IN WAR
That Is What Liquid Air Just Dis.
covered Would Be.
Furnishing Power for Engines, Explosives fol
Filling Shells, with Impulse for
Firing Them.

Garrett p. Serviss, scientist and
lecturer, contributes to the press
the following article on liquid air
1t is strictly within the range OF
possibility that before the nine
teenth century, already on the
brink Of extinction, has ended, a
United States battleship lying in
the middle of the Atlantic or Pa
cific ocean may hurl its enemy to
destruction with thunderbolt pow
er rammed into its guns out OF the
invisible air.
Liquid air may drive its engines,
fill the shells in its magazines and
send its projectiles on their resist.
less course; and every particle of
this tremendous, many sided
power may be manufactured be-
hind the steel turrets of the vessel
that uses it.
Liquid air, the explosive and
the driving power of the future, as
there is good reason to believe it
will be, is simply air condensed to
the last possible degree. What Mr..
Tripler effects, with almost magi-
cal ease, is the production of
compressed air, packed by the
withdrawal of its heat and by the
force of gravitation into the densi
ty of liquid. When he shall
have applied it to hurl a projectile
from thirteen-inch rifle with
more than the power of prismatic
gunpowder, he will simply have
perfected the airgun.
There can be no question that
Mr.. Tripler is entirely right in as
serting that this power now exists,
waiting to be utilized. His ex-
periments have fully demonstrat-
ed that. If he had reached, say,
two years ago, the point that he
has attained today, and il the
present war had then been fore
seen and prepared for Commodore
Dewey could have smashed the
enemy's fleet and Notifications at
Manila with explosive energies
generated from the very air whose
breezes rippled the waters of the
harbor, and might now be entire
ly independent of home sources of
supply for his ammunition. Draw
ing the atmosphere of the Philip
pines into his condensers, as Mr..
Tripler draws the air of New York
into his laboratory apparatus,
Commodore Dewey would have
had an inexhaustible supply of
power to navigate his ships, to
lombard the enemy, and to meet
any fresh feet that might be sent
against him.
With the air of Manila lique-
fed, he could have battered Mani.
la into subjection; with the air of
Iloilo he could have conquered
Ilollo, and with the air of the
China sea compacted in his cy-
finders he would now be ready to
crush any armada Spain could
assemble-and no thanks to sup
plies from home.
1t is not necessary to point out
what could be done with the fleets
around Cuba and in the CaIib-
bean sea if Mr.. Tripler had been a
year or two earlier with his
achievement. No running back to
Key West to fill the magazines;
no need to spare ammunition in
knocking the San Juan fort to
pieces for fear that Cervera might
come along and catch our ships
short of powder. And, perhaps
still some important, no towing of
colliers or seeking friendly ports
for precarious supplies of coal.
Mr.. Tripler says that with the
aid of machinery driven by liquid
air and actuating auxiliary tur.
bines, many knots can be added to
the speed of our present ships,
and saving of perhaps nine
tenths of their coal could be
effected. With fifty tons of coal
ship furnished with liquid air
power could sail as far as similar
ship driven by steam power can
now sail with $50 tons.
The application of liquid air as
a substitute for gunpowder, gun.
cotton and other explosives could
apparently be easily effected. Mr..
Tripler believes it would not be
difficult to construct cylinders