Evening star., 1921-02-13

only country in the world able to Sc,
cure helium in large ommerclai
quantities, which necessarily gives II
a distinct advantage over otner ma
tions both in times of war and peace.
Helium is secured from a particular
variety of natural gas. large pro-
portion of which is found in Okla
homa and in the vicinity OF Fort
Worth, Tex. Immense plants nave
been established at the latter place by
the government, where the hellum is
taken from the natural gas on its way
from the wells to the cities Of Fort
Worth, Dallas and smaller towns,
where it is used for heating and
lighting homes and business houses.
The removal of helium from the gas
as it comes from the wells really I'M
proves its burning and heating quail.
tiles, due to the fact that helium will
neither burn nor explode. 1t would
seem as though nature had made 1t Tor
the express purpose of use in Amerl-
can balloons, thus enabling ngnting
men of either the Army or Navy 10
calmly sail over enemy countries with
out the least fear of being suddenly
hurled into eternity. 1t Will also
make it possible for the business men
of America to profitably invest their
millions in dirigible passenger. eH :,
press and freight lines. making travel
to all sections of the United States
matter of safety, speed and comfort
And, in the event OF a little scrap, two
or three helium dirigibies could calm
an uprising with far greater speed
and efficiency than half dozen regi-
ments Of soldiers. A helium dlrlglnle
could in few hours, prowl into
mountain Businesses and drop things
into deep canyons that would bring
the enemy into the open and to terms.
"Dr. Moore, would you mind telling
some Of the inside facts. concerning
the use of dirfgibles by the Germans
and your discovery and development
of helium as a non-infammable and
non-explosive gasT' asked the inter-
viewer.
Before the war;" he replied. "the
Germans had spent many years in the
which received the name of Zeppelin.
after Count Zeppelin. their inventor.
These ships were constructed of a
number of separate compartme nts,
and had a rigid framework built
either of aluminium or later Of an al
Low of aluminium, called duralumin,
which has a tensile strength of mild
steel and a specific gravity only
little heavier than that Of aluminium.
With a capacity Of from one to two
and half million cubic feet feet OF hydro;
at from fifty to seventy-five miles
per hour and to make long journeys
without. serious trouble. A trip of
1000 miles was a small undertaking.
aid even 1000 miles was not impos-
RIA, a British dirigible. in crossing
the Atlantic is typical of what may be
expected from these monsters of the
air.
X X X X
IsIN the early stages of the war the
L Germans used their dirigibles
largely for bombing purposes. par
ticularly over London and the NUM-
tions districts of England. Although
the damage done from these bombing
excursions was somewhat minimized
at the time, there is no question, from
postwar information. that it was
much greater than the public was al
lowed to believe while the war was
in progress.
Another use for the dirigible
which did not appeal so strongly to
the public, but which was recognized
by military and naval men as prob
ably being more important than the
one already enumerated, is the spe-
cial adaptability of the dirigible for
scouting purposes. The Germans
used their air feet to good purpose
along this line. The German Meet
would never venture from port with
out two or three dirig1bles floating
overhead. and those were able to in
form the ships below at all times
of the near approach Of British war
vessels. In this manner the German
feet could or coult not, as it saw fit,
accept battle or retire to its base.
1t has been stated that at the battle
of Jutland dirigible circulating
above the grand fleet kept the Ger
mans fully informed of the position
of the British battleship division
while they were engaging the British
ssxnnopeA cruisers.