Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-12-02
HELIUM SUPPLY IS HELD KEY
TO FUTURE OF DIRIGIBLES
United States Has Advantage Over Other
Nations Through Control of
Source of Gas.

The future Of dirigible service on
successful commercial basis Is depend
ent upon the continued productivity
of helium, the n-inflammable gaseous
element, discovery of which has been
called one of the romanceS Of modern
science.
This is the opinion of scientists of
the Bureau of Mines, Department OF
Commerce, who declare that only
through the use of helium can the
safety factor necessary for successful
commercial operation be obtained. The
United States, SO far as is known to-
day, is the only nation having suf1l-
Gent supply of this rare gas to develop
a commercial supply for dirigible serv-
ice, the bureau holds.
Hydrogen Gas Dangerous.
'"The successful transatlantic fight
Of the monster dirigible Graf Yep
pelin, and the announcement by the
Navy Department of the awarding of
contract for two Leviathans OF the
air of far larger dimensions" the blu
reau officials stated, "have aroused keen
interest in the possibilities of safe and
rapid travel by means of these huge
lighter than-air craft. Great Britain is
constructing two palatial dir1gibles, in
tended for tranSoceanic service, and
private American interests have taken
up in earnest the manufacture Of gi
gantic air liners.
"If these argosies of the air are to
offer the real assurance of safety nee
eSsary to their completely successful
use, 1t is essential that they depend for
bouyancy on a n-indammable gas
The only gas of this description hav
ing the requirement of lightness is
heliun, that very rare element which Is
found, in small proportions, in certain
natural gases. AS is well known, the
hydrogen gas used as the lifting agent
of the Graf Zeppelin is extremely eX
plosive, and the accidental ignition of
hydrogen has been responsible for dis
Dirigibles operated by the Army and
Navy of this country, the bureau point
ed OUT are provided with helium,
though all foreign owned aircraft must
depend on hydrogen for bouyancy. The
chief difficulty surrounding the use of
helium on a commercial basis is its
limited occurrence in nature. In the
rare natural gas deposits which con-
tain any helium at all no more than
between l and 2 per cent by volume
of the gas can be extracted as pure
helium.
"The known natural gas fields to
which the United States can look for
obtaining its helium are not inexhaust-
ible," the Bureau of Mines report con-
tinued. I'm fact, the Petrolia field in
northern Texas, which has been the
principal source of supply, Is now in
the last stages of its life after produc-
ing gas for more than 20 years. Where
then, are to be obtained the large sup
plies OF helium which will be necessary
for the continued safe operation of the
two air monsters recently contracted for
by the Navy and other ships which will
be built from time to time?
New Supply Is Discovered.
1.-THE maintenance of these vital
helium supplies is one of the Jobs
which have been put up to the Bureau
Of Mines, the scientific bureau which
has kept the United States in helium
for the past several years. For years
the chemists of the Bureau Of Mines
have been analyzing samples of natur-
| al gas obtained from many gas fields
| located throughout the country, always
| in quest of the characteristic bright
| yellow line, which, viewed through the
| spectroScOpe, announces the presence
| of the priced helium.
This analytical work has resulted in
accommodating valuable data regarding
our helium resources, and the answer
| to the question as to where Uncle Sam
is to obtain his helium, for some time
to come at least, has been found, it is
considered, in the Cliffside natural gas
structure lying to the northwest of the
city Of Amarillo in the Panhandle dis
trict Of Texas. -.