Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-06-25
LIQUID AIR VERY OLD
TRIPLER HAS THROWN NO NEW
LIGHT ON SUBJECT.
ITS VALUE Is DOUBTFUL
Arguments to Show It Is Impracticable
for Power or Cooling-Tests Made
Many Years Since-Question of
Cost a Most Important One-Some-
thing of It's History.

Many ears STANDARDIZATION VI
Cost Most Important One-Some
thing of It's History.
Charles E. Tripler's demonstrations,
which have set the public guessing
within the last couple of years as to
the possibilities in store for liquid air
as a means of furnishing power and re-
frigeration for commercial purposes,
are not new, if many scientists may be
believed The claim is advanced by
chemists that no material Roadway has
been made by Mr.. Tripler since he
placed himself before the public as
discoverer of liquefed air as a force
likely TO enter into the commercial
and industrial activities of the world
Experts in chemistry hold that the
recent demonstrations by Mr.. Tripler
were rather a showing Of what intense
cold could do than of the peculiar
properties of liquefed air. 1t is fur
Their held that the latter have been
investigated and noted for the last
twenty or twenty-five years. Expert
ments have been conducted in various
European universities and technical
Institutes and from time to time the
eminent Professor Liebig has made
demonstrations to his pupils, who were
limited to few.
One of the latter, Charles Mayo, a
technical engineer, is now a resident
of Chicago. He, too. has been expert
menting, and asserts that he made
LIQUID air in Chicago some time before
Mr.. Tripler's appearance before the
public.
"Such Investigations are as a rule
not, interesting to the general public"
said Mr.. Mayo, ''and for that reason l
have not gone out of my way to make
announcement of what have done
in my laboratory. Mr. Tripler GER
tainly knows how to make liquid air
and is acquainted with its value to
such an extent that he can go before
the public and juggle with it, as a
magician would with a pack of cards.
Mr.. Tripler suggests that liquefied
air would be valuable as motive
power. There is no doubt that we
can drive machinery with the vapor
of liquefied air, but this does not solve
the problem. The chief question is:
1t is more economical, effective, or
easier of application than other forms
of force now in use? To produce
- ~ rNto nj f1Sny
mon air. When liquid air is used to
drive a machine it returns to the state
of natural air. 1t is an unquestioned
principle of mechanics that in such a
circular process, as it is termed, no
new power is created; therefore, at
best, we may get from liqueied air
only as much work in any machine as
we spend in COMPRISING the original
air to a state of liquefaction.
''Now, l will give the whole history
of liquid air as I gathered it in Pro-
lessor Liebig's laboratory, in the lab
oratory of the University of Berlin,
and from personal investigation, con-
tinued Mr.. Mayo, who is of German
and Russian extraction, and whose
local headquarters are at Is North
Canal street. "None of us appreciates
fully the intensity of the cold realized
in the class of experiments leading to
the liquefaction of what were former
ly called the permanent gases.
History of Liquid Air.
con Christmas, in 1877, at Geneva,
Switzerland, Professor Pictet succeed
ed for the first time in history in oh
tanning about as much liquid air as a
thermometer tube would hold At al
most the same time M. Cailletet OBJ
tanned about a tablespoonful. A few
years afterward two Russians Pro
fessor Wroblenski, in 1882, and Pro
lessor Olenofski, in -liquefed
considerable quantities, in gallon lots
even not only of air but of all former
ly known gases, with the exception of
hydrogen. Since that time three new
gases have been found-namely: cryp-
ton, argon, and helion
Between 1888 and 1894 Professor
DeWar, a Scotchman of London, pro-
uuCSu more Ludu CWOuCy Sd11OuS VI
liquid air in one vessel. He gave dem
onstrations and lectured, precisely as
Mr.. Tripler does now in the United
States. Immediately after the an
nouncement made by Professor Pictet
in 1877, every independent chemist
tried to duplicate his experiments.
Some of them, like myself, succeeded.
I was then in Boston doing work in
chemistry for the state.
"The year 1880 is probably the earli
est date of the experiments in the
United States. From this it can be
seen that no patent with good foun-
dation can be in existence.
''Why was air not liquefied before
Pictet's work in 1877? Natterer, who
liquefied. nitrous oxide, or dentists
laughing gas and carbonic acid, sub
mitted air to a pressure Of 5000
pounds to square inch and to tenn
perature of so degrees below zero, but
without liquefying it. He did not