The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-01
THREE HUNDRED BELOW
Terrific Cold at Which Air
Becomes Liquid.
HOW IT is PRODUCED
How 1t Will ReIegate Modern
Motors and Explosives.
HOW IT IS PRODUCED

naming gas. helium, a close idea can be
formed of what the world would be with
cut heat.
Helium is the Hghte9t of all known sub
stances. 1t is found in the deep crevices
of the earth where it has been confined
through all the ages. If it were permit
| ted to escape into the outer atmosphere
it would Immediately fly away into space
and disappear.
Charles E. Tripler, Of New York city, is
able 10 produce a greater degree of cold
for longer period Of time than any other
experimental.
| 1 visited Mr.. Tripler's laboratory not
long since. and he explained 10 me for
the first time his cold-producing machine
by means Of which he reduces the ordin-
airy air Of his work room, no matter how
warm it may be, to a liquid that looks not
unlike water, although it is not wet This
liquid is so cold that it actually burns
Ike red-hot iron, and It boils as violent
ly when placed on a block Of ice as water
on a red-hot stove.
Wonderful as It is to see ice that is made
! Of air it is not so wonderful as Mr. Trip
ler's story Of the meaning of this phe-
romenon.
when the earth frows so cold that the
air is liquifed," Mr.. Tr1pler says, ''of
course all the water on the earthwill long
/ ago have been frozen solid. Indeed, it
/ viii be as hard as rock crystal and not
unlike that substance in color and texture.
After the air is all in the form Of the lakes
or oceans, the cold will continue to in
] crease they in turn are frozen hard. After
! that the hydrogen, helium, and possibly
| some other very light gases, of which We
may now have no knowledge, will fall in
the form of rain and then the world will
! be absolutely dead and inert, frozen as
hard as the moon"
Until a few years ago, all scientists
| believed that there were what they called
! permanent gases'-that is gases which
could not be liquified. Some of the best
| experimenters had tried COMPRISING the
/ two gases which compose our air (OXy-
| gen and nitrogen under thousand OF
pounds to the square inch, all to no re-
! suit. They also tried heating them in re-
| verbatory furnaces and cooling them to
| the greatest known depths of cold, but
! they still remained gases. Finally the
| the idea of combining immense pressure
| with great cold occurred TO French sa-
want, and one day he astonished the en-
| tire world Of science, by exhibiting a few
| drops Of a clear transparent liquid-liqUd
! oxygen. An English experimenter who
| followed him, produced a whole wine glass
! full of liquid air, but it cost him about
5000.
! Now Mr.. Tripler, the American inven-
Tor. has succeeding in building a machine
v Mich will produce liquid air in very large
quantities at an expense so low that it
may be said to cost nothing at all. From
a mere laboratory curiosity this marvellous
! substance has suddenly given promise of
| almost unlimited commercial uses so that
| those who know say that It must soon
! rival electricity IN the variety of It's adap-
| tations. Ships viii run with It, guns will
| fire with 1t, it will be used as a motive
! power for operating locomotives and auto
| mobiles and in driving great manufactur-
! ing concerns. Mr.. Tripler even predicts
| that by the agency OF liquid air, practical
aerial navigation is assured. The problem
which has hitherto defeated the purposes
/ Of aerial nsvigators has been the difficulty
of producing a propelling machine sufl-
GENTLY light and yet strong enough to
! keep the propeller In motion. Liquid air
requires no boilers nor fuel nor smoke
stacks, and the machinery necessary to
its use will be a mere feathers weight
| compared with the ordinary steam engine
The principle of the liquefaction of air
and all other gases is exceedingly simple
| When a gas is compressed, it gives out
| heat-that is a well known fact in physics
!
must take up from somewhere the heat
! which it gave out. After a series of ex-
/ pensive experiments extending over eight
years, Mr.. Tripler has at last evolved a
| wonderful machine for utilizing this prin-
| ciple. He has so arranged the Hquefier
portion of his apparatus that when the
air, which has been highly compressed by
his steam engine. IS allowed to expand,
il takes up the heat from another pipe
containing compressed air, thereby re-
dUcing the heat or in other words, pro-
ducing cold in this pipe
| BY means Of this process he PRODUCES
a cold 50 intense that the air finally drops
down in liquid form. and by the twist OF
a small valve it is allowed to run out
This epoch-maI.ns has only just been COM
ple-ed. and the pa .ent Office in Washing
ton has declared i- 10 be an original in
vent.on and has permitted Nj Tripler 10
take out patent on il. The uq.id air -
it comes from Mr.. Tri0ler's Equehzr is a
erayish-looking fluid substance which CIV
IS of "A cold, heavy vapor. which rolls up
over the sides II the receptacle in which
IL Is placed and rolls our along the aoor.
II this vapo- touches a mans Lex or foot.
he at once feels the sensation Of coolness.
Mr.. Trp,er keeps the LIQUID air in a
double tin ear. not unlike an ice cream
freezer. which IS insulated from the action
Of heat by means Of a wrapping IF felt.
The top or the freezer = always leg,
open except for thin wad af FELIX around
which the expanding vaDor passes readily.
Liquid air IS very tender 81 its liberties.
FOR every gallon Of X contains $40 gallons
Of ordinary air. 81 that SITS expensive pro
perttss are something tremerduous. \ lit
tie II the substance confined IN Il rich-
iron pipe VIII bow il .u,o atoms in TWO
seconds Il = 90 De urfe~s-ar5 r7wev.-
that liquid air is not an explosive. tnat il
can DE handled as easily as water. and
wiki quite as much safety ana NJ T;ri0-
Ter says there w.ll never be any 7s,s.-s-r,-
OF combining il 20 make u useful Tor c,n-
mercial purposes
The cold necessary u liquefv air * 80
degrees below zero Of our Fah-s-7l,a--. -,,.-
mome-er. Some i'd "a u The terrible IN
tensity Of this cold may be had by e,-,-s~-
.ns II with -he freezing point OF rDa-o,,-,.
} which Is only 81 degrees below za-a Al
c3hoL which has been Used ser register
Ing All rha degrees ~ lou --,,--