Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-25
r. in other words. producing cold. in this

pipe
BY means of this process he produces a
cold so intense that the air finally drops
down in liquid form, and by the twist of a
small valve 1t is allowed to run out. This
epcch-making machine has only just been
completed, and the patent Office in Wash
ingtou has declared it 10 be an original in
vention, and has permitted Mr.. TripIer to
take out patent on 1t. The liquid air, as
it comes from Mr.. Tripler's iquefier, is a
graysh-loohing fluid substance which gives
OF cold, heavy vapor which rolls up over
the sides of the receptacle in which it is
placed and rolls out along the floor II this
v&por touches ii mans leg or feet he at
once teeis the sensation of GOODNESS.
Mr.. Triplar keeps the LIQUID air in dou-
bic tin can, not unlike an ice cream freezer,
which Is insulated from the action of heat
by means of a wrapping of felt. The top
OF the freezer" is always left open except
for thin wad of felt, around which the
expanding vapor passes readily. Liquid air
is very tender of It's liberties, for every
gallon of it contains 800 gallons of ordi-
nary air, so that its expansive properties
are something tremendous. A little of the
substance confined in a tight iron pipe will
blow 1t into atoms in two seconds 1t is to
De understood, however, that liquid air is
not an explosive, that It can be handled
as easily as water, and with quite as much
safety; and Mr.. Tripler says there will
never be any necessity of combining it to
nsaKe II useful for commercial purposes.
Meaning of Low Temperatures.
The cold necessary to lquefy air is 312
degrees below zero Of our Fahrenheit ther-
mcmeter- Some idea of the terrible inten-
sity OF this cold may be had by comparing
IL with the freezing point of mercury,
which Is only 10 degrees below zero. AL
cohol which has been used for registering
all the degrees of low temperature, freezes
at 2U2 degrees below Zero that air
hquefies no degrees below the lowest limit
which q spirit thermometer will register.
In one of Mr. Trinier's experiments he
pours little liquid air from a saucepan
INTO glass containing some pure alcohol
This he Stirs up with a glass rod The
alcohol boils vigorously, and in a few min
utes freezes until it resembles wet snow
ana If the stirring is continued the frozen
alcohol can be lifted out of the glass as a
hard fcIcle. To freeze LIQUID air into air.
ice, as Mr.. Tripler is able to do without diff
hculty il his cold-producng machine
temperature of $40 degrees below zero must
he attained. Mr.. Tripler is certain that he
has gone even lower than this, although
ne has had no accurate means of measure
ing such inconceiyable temperatures 1t
Is certain that Prof. John Dewar of Eng
land In liquefyIng hydrogen, produced a
temperature at least $50 degrees below zero
winch Is probably the coolest cold ever
obtained by artificial means. Scientists are
now agreed that the absolute Zero-that is
the cold Of interstellar space where there
is absolutely no heat-is 461 degrees below
degree OF cold only Ill degrees above the
absolute cold, and 1t may be safely pre-
dlcted that some day science will go even
furtner, perhaps discovering the real north
pole OF temperature.
Hundreds Below Zero.
To the human sense of touch a tempera-
ture of 80 degrees below zero is most ex-
traordinary. Mr.. Tripler dips his hand fear
iessiy into q pail OF liquid air, but he is
careful to withdraw it instantly. The rea-
son that it does not freeze him at once is
the same that enables the workman to dip
MS hand into molten lead, the moisture of
the human flesh forming a little cushion of
Vapor, which keeps away for a second the
erect of the cold or the heat few drops
, nela IN my hand for an instant felt exactly
IKE a red hot coal 1t does not really burn
OF course, but it kills, leaving a little red
phster not unlike burn. For this reason
one or Its prospective uses will be for the
pu!pose OF cauterization in surgical cases
1T Is not only good deal cheaper than the
ordinary causttcs. but is much more eff
Gent, and its action can be absolutely con-
trolled. Indeed, well-known surgeon has
already performed difficult operation on
q cancer case with liquid air furnished bv
MT. Tripler. and he has reported the case
to be absolutely cured
Mr.. Tripler showed me some of the curl
Gus effects of intense cold by dipping a
beefsteak and an egg into LIQUID air. The
egg was frozen until 1t was as hard as a
blt or quartz. and when struck 1t with a
hammer. 1t cracked open and the inside
was sharply crystallized- The beefsteak,
when frozen, was as stiff and brittle as
glass. Mr.. Tripler crumbed It I'D in his
hands like so much cracker, and a piece of
1t dropped on the floor shivered into
thousand pieces.
Not long ago I was In Boston" said
MI. Tripder, exhibiting some of my liquid
air to number Of scientists. We were
DINING at the hotel. and waiter brought
in fine piece of beefsteak. 1 dipped 1t in
the liquid abr, froZe 1t stiff, and returned
II to the platter. Then We called the chef
and asked him how 1t happened that he
served such beefsteaks; then l proceeded
to break 1t up into little bits with my fin
gers. You can appreciate his astonish-
ment"
Freezing Iron With Mercury.
Liquid air freezes iron and steel lust as
readily as it freezes beefsteak Mr. Trip
Ter accidentally dropped one of the tin
cups In which he had been labelling out
liquid air, and it at once shivered like so
much glass. 1t has, however, an exactly
opposite effect on copper, gold and the
other precious metals, all of which it rem
ders tougher instead of more brittle. Mer-
curry is frozen into hard block. Mr. Trip
Ter makes a little paSteboard box the size
and shape of q hammer head, fills il with
mercury, suspends an iron tube In 1t as a
handle, and sets 1t down in q pan contain
ing Nquld air. In q few moments X is
frozen hard. so that il can be lifted out and
used for driving nail into a hard wood
block
Not long ago Mr.. Tripler took a can of
liquid air TO the Harlem river and poured
IL out on the water in order to see its ef.
feet Small masses of 1t at once collected
In little round balls the surface of the
river, and being so much colder than the
water, they froze, little cups or boats of leo
In which they began floating about swiftly
and humping up against one another like
so many lively water bugs, finally boiling
away and disappearing, leaving the minia-
| tUre ice boats quite still. If bit of the
| liquid air is placed In a tan jar of water
part of the nitrogen, which is lighter than
water, will evaporate first, then the liquid
| oxygen. which Is slightly heavier than
| the water, will sink in beautiful silyery
/ bubbles.
Mr.. Tripler shows the terrific expansive
power Of liquid air by placing a little of it
, in the bottom of a copper jar, in the mouth
of which he inserts cork perforated by
| four glass tubes. Tho copper jar is then
| placed In pan Of ordinary water, the heat
| of which causes the liquid air to expand
| instantly and blow upward through the
| tubes a perfect geyser of fine vapor like the
| exhaust of steam engine.
1t is curious thing to see liquid air,