The Springfield herald., 1899-04-07
LIQUEFIED AIR NOW
THE LATEST GREAT MARVEL.
Il can be Aads at . Small T. st aD1 Has
No Limit for UtliiiJ- nay suppl.nr
Steam and Electricity.

The most extraordinary exhibit ever
given In Washington was witnessed at
the Arlington hotel n few nights ago
by the scientific circle of the city,
members Of the Cabinet. Supreme
Court, diplomatic corps and other pub
lie men. 1t was given under the aus
piceS Of the National Geographical So
clety, presided over by Professor Bell,
the inventor Of the telephone and fur
nished an opportunity for Charles K.
Tripler Of New York to show for the
first time in public the new motive
power which he has discovered and
calls liquid air. A description of this
remarkable fluid and Its uses appears
in McClure's magazine for March, and
a more elaborate account is given in
the April Century.
Briefly and simply stated, Mr.. Trip
Ter takes 800 gallons OF ordinary air,
drawn from any window, and by com
preston and cold reduces it to one
gallon of liquid that looks like gly-
cerinc and retains its form Mt tenn
perature of 312 degrees below zero.
AS it warns 1t expands into vapor and
then into mir, just rs water Is expand
ed into steam by heat. BY controlling
this expansion Mr.. Tripler proposes to
furnish n new motive power for the
use of transportation companies on sea
and land, for factories. furnaces and
for every other purpose for which
steam and electicity nre now used. The
expansive force is equal TO 1000
pounds square inch, and without an
exhaust pipe the pressure is so great
that there is now 10 material of sufli-
cient strength to restrain it. In other
words, a pint or quart or gallon OF
this liquid will burst any vessel in
t,I, I,,, tl,.r.,
is an opportunity for its gradual es-
cape.
Liquid air is manufactured by ap-
pnrntus which Mr.. Tripler has invent
cd. The first gallon or two Is made by
the use of coal or any other ordinary
fuel. just as ice is made in Il factory.
but thereafter he is able to reproduce
ten gallons OF the fluid by the cxpcndi-
ture of two. A railway locomotive or
n steamship will, therefore. crente Its
own power from the atmosphere as 1t
passes along its way. and fnctory
engineer will simply turn the key of
ventilation pipe. start his machine and
manufacture fuel as he needs 1t. MIR.
Tripler insists that this energy can be
used with no more difficulty and Mt
cost 20 per cent less than steam, and.
having mastered the secret OF its pro-
duction. he now proposes to apply 1t
to practical use.
Mr.. Triplcr brought six gallons of
liquid air with him from New York,
and in the presence of four or five hun
ded persons performed the experiments
that are described in McClure's Maya
zine. He dipped the stuff out of his
can with an ordinary tin dipper, just
ns milkmnn would dip milk. He
dropped potato In IT. lifted 1t out in
two or three minutes and threw 1t on
nUur, w1Ier. 1t broke into thou
sand little crystals. He took a rubber
ball, immersed It In the liquid and
then broke it ns II II was glass. He
dropped in n piece of beefsteak and in
moment 1t was broken into little
fragments that looked like petrified
wood. He immersed II tumbler Of al
cohol, and in few minutes 1t was
frozen into n block of ice He filed a
pasteboard box with mercury, which
when immersed in the liquid air be-
came as hard as steel, and he used 1t
as hammer to drive nails in the TIA
bic. He immersed copper. tin, iron and
strips of steel in the liquid air, and
they crumbled like piecrust. He dem
onstrated the expansive power of the
liquid in similar manner, and alto
gether performed experiments that
were not only novel but amazing.