Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-01-08

crew of well trained seamen" (mean-
ing airmen?)
In yesterdays press appeared an
interview with the captain of the
greatest steamship upon the ocean.
the Leviathan, in which he predicted
that probably within his own life
time such ships as his would become
as much out of date, through the de-
velopment of air navigation. az the
buggy has been outclassed by the
automobile.
When, in 1921, the first heliun1 was
produced at the latest production
pant near Fort Worth Tex, it cost
sooo per 1000 feet Cost had not
been considered during the World
War, and when the armistice was
signed some 100000 cubic feet of the
gas was ready for shipment to the
'front.' After the war, the Govern
ment began pushing the production
with all the power at its command
ana improvements in the proce sses OF
extracting it from natural gas have
now brought down the cost to $50 Der
l,OOO feet. 1t is promised that with
IN a year or less the cost will not
exceed $50. But still the matter OF
cost is almost negligible in the light
49, iIipOTldUCe, so long
as we cannot initiate but one airshiu
without debating the other, and while
we are upon the verge of vastly in
creased demands through the build
ing or other Government ships with
Twice or four times the capacity OF
the two we now possess, and many
others for commercial routes.
naval experts say 1t would be folly
70 increase the number of airships
until we can produce helium to in
iiate them. The present supply OF
the nellum- bearing natural gas is
sufnctent only to run the helfum plant
at three-f1fths of its capacity. Added
machinery would avail nothing with
out added sources for the natural
gas. and while the Army and Navy
helium commission is Undertaking 10
pipe to additional units, the results
are yet to be demonstrated
A large factor in the cost of heIium
is the cumbersome and expensive
method of transporting it from the
production plant in Texas to the
hangar in New Jersey. The units OF
tanks OF steel contain only 17S cubic
reef or helium and weigh 1900
pounds. Nearly 100000 such tanks
must be transported half way across
the continent by rail- before an air.
ship can be inflated with sufficient
gas. The day may come when the
airships may be stationed nearer the
helium supply.
One of the problems is how to hold
the surplus gas If ever the production
catches up with the Nations imme-
date demand. 1t must not be left in
the ground, unextracted, for there II
would be useless in case of emer-
gency. 1t cannot be stored in reser-
voirs without great leakage. The
present situation of the difficult
problem most favored by the helium
board is to sell the gas to American
commercial airship companies, with a
lien on it and upon the airships and
their crews in case of war That
will probably be the policy adopted.
There is an outlook for the follow
ing commercial airship routes. as
soon as the Goodyear-Zeppelin Com
pany at Akron completes the ships
now planned:
New York and London, via Halifax
New York and Lisbon, via the
Azores.
New York and Panama, via Porto
Rico.
New York and the east coast OF
South America, via Porto Rico and
Trinidad.
New York and the west coast OF
| South America, via Panama
lcopyughA 1925 hy- Paul m COsiins1