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Show Thursday, June THE 10, 1937 TIMES-NEW- WHY DID THE HINDENBURG CRASH? The Jlllllfe By WILLIAM C. UTLEY must be no more "'"pHERE J-flying with hydrogen. We must make an about face. We must use helium." Thus spoke Dr. Hugo Eckener. he who i known as the world's greatit est authority on lighter-than-- a craft, after being informed that Germany's proud Hindenburg had crashed spectacularly upon com pleting her maiden 1937 Atlantic crossing at Lakehurst, N. J. There have been several theories advanced as possible causes of the disaster, but no one Is yet sure which is the correct one, and it Is doubtful if anyone ever will be. Sabotage was suggested, merely no possibility be overlooked, and immediately rejected. J It might have been static electric-rAt- y f wllicB 8et a toe highly 'plosive hydrogen gas. All aircraft are apt to accumulate it, especially when flying through or near a thunderstorm. But this seems unlikely in the case of the Hindenburg, for her ground lines bad been down three minutes before the crash, and presumably all charges of static electricity would have passed into the rz-- rz-mm,- c T: Spontaneous Combustion? Another theory, more complicated than the others, was that of Prof. Otto Stern, of Carnegie Institute of Technology, and formerly connected with the Zeppelin works in Germany. Professor Stern expressed wonderment that the accident had not happened sooner, due to peculiar action of the proton of the hydrogen atom. The hydrogen proton, he explained, is charged with positive electricity, which is offset by a charge of negative electricity in the electron, which covers the proton like a shell. When the gas is leaking under pressure, many of the protons lose their electrons, and race madly about seeking new ones. This causes spontaneous combustion. so rapiaiy am ine names enguu the ship, the versions of witnesses as to the cause were varied (fire swept from one end of the Hindenburg to the other in 32 seconds). Several insisted, however, the rear port engine was throwing sparks from its exhaust as the ship came to the mooring mast.-Ththeory considered most probable at the time of this writing is that these sparks, whipped by the wind, haps, ignited hydrogen being valved out as the ship came down. It is customary to valve gas in landing. Whether one of the conditions cited in this brief review was the cause of the explosion, or whether the true cause has' not yet even been suggested, one thing is certain: An explosion of the highly inflammable hydrogen gas wrecked the airship. And no such explosion could have occurred had the Hindenburg been filled with inert, helium gas. Thereby hangs a tale. The Germans are the only nation which has continued to make progress with lighter-than-acraft. The United States abandoned it when a series of dirigible crashes culminated in the loss of the Macon off Point Sur, California, February 12, 1934. Great Britain said, "No more crashed dirigibles!" when the October 4, 1930, with 46 on board, including prominent ministers, at Beauvais, France. France forsook ir R-1- I H tm.. Vl x ' I I'M " - . AND HOW WORKS Festivals of Various Kinds Call Attention to "Bits By BOBERT MERRILL of Europe" Here. NE of the important func- tions of the Supreme ..It fi.M -- iPKrninna . . Of r3i .I ,; ii'h i -- ' v- I- f - l is ? . I -- . Sit- - - ' . Z -- Employees of the United States bureau of mines at work cryogenic laDoraiory, wnere rcsearcn oam necessary lor ncuum Won ana purification are aeveiopea. basis our government is not permitting other nations to buy its helium, despite the fact that our navy is without airships to use it The only airship we have left, the Los Angeles, which Germany turned over to us as part of the spoils of war, is over age, decommissioned and in hangar at On the present Lakehurst. Hydrogen, the lightest gas known, most practical for airships, except for the fact that it is also one of the most explosive things on is the i s x. (Of ' - , i ' h .' In the proauc- - solar spectrum. He assigned to the new element the name which Lockyer had suggested for it Germans Lucky In Fast The United States, with her plenteous supply of helium, has used it in operating her airships, but the Germans have always been slightly skeptical about the American enthusiasm for the gas. It is, next to hydrogen, the lightest gas known, yet its pay load efficiency is 20 per cent less. Despite this fact hydrogen costs about $2.50 per 1.000 cubic feet as against many times that amount for helium. At that rate it can't be wasted cheerfully in maneuvering a ship. Up to the time of the Hindenburg crash, the Germans had been very expert and not a little lucky in handling their many airships without losses due to fire and explosion. The Hindenburg was the 129th of a noble line (the official number of the ship was Of her predecessors, 10 were never completed, 25 were lost by storm and accident 6 by causes unknown, 21 were dismantled, 46 were wrecked by the war, 11 were turned over to the Allies after the war and 7 were sabotaged that they need not be surrendered. The Graf Zeppelin and the Los Angeles are the only ones left The old Graf carries on like the veteran she is, her comings and goings between Germany and South America hardly occasioning comment any more. She landed a t Frankfort from Rio de Janiero the day after the disaster, with 23 pasand was immediately sengers, grounded indefinitely. She will not take off again without helium. Before the World war helium was worth hundreds of dollars per cubic foot. It was obtained from minerals such as cleveite, fergusonite, thorianite, and other radioactive minerals, as well as the uranite used by Ramsay. But it was not until war-tim- e that the United States bureau of mines solved the problem of producing it from natural gas in quantities sufficient to inflate giant airships. The victory of the bureau is con sidered an epic of science. e The first helium plant was at Petrolia, Texas, but the compressors and other apparatus for extraction were later moved to Amarillo, a better location. Here the government has a complete plant producing helium from a gas field which is one of the world's richest in the inert ble gas. Nazis Never Enthusiastic In addition, Uncle Sam has established helium reserves in just the way that he has oil rein the LZ-129- ). Dr. Hugo Eckener, Zeppelin expert, who says all airships must now be inflated with helium. earth when mixed with air in the right proportion. Helium has not quite the lift of hydrogen, but it is safe. "He 4," as helium is known by its chemical formula, is described as "an inert, colorless, gaseous element of density 1.98." Sir Norman Lockyer was the first to discover it During the eclipse of 1868 he detected its existence in the sun; it was a bright yellow line in the solar spectrum which could not be associated with the spectrum of m Constitution, only enough of its in dependence to assure regulation for the common good in matters of national concern. Frequently one state believes that a neighboring state has deprived! or is depriving it of certain rights. It may believe that some of its territory is wrongfully claimed by its neighbor. Or it may think that another state is polluting a river whirh run. throueh. or bounds both states. Perhaps the waters of an interstate river are being diverted Dv an upper state, so that the lower gtate Is deprived of some of its ben .:, gv jr uuniinai uioi-eau. A. omerence ters may also demand a decision by ,mpartiai umpire. Constitution Provides Umolre. rinrior uch circumstances, the state which believes Itself to be in-- j will ask the other to repair the alleged damage, give up the dhv puteC land, or make payments of money claimed on loans, etc. Often the state on which such demands are made disputes the claims. What are the possible results? The disputing states could, in such a situation, have a difficult time. When similar disputes arise between independent nations, the choice lies between diplomatic conferences and war. But here, under the Constitution, the Supreme court is prepared to meet such situations. What were some of these differences, amicably settled by submitting them tor decision to our National Umpire? Here are a few: In 1832 Rhode Island asked the Supreme court to determine the cor rect boundary line between that state and Massachusetts. Both claimed title to the land under their respective charters from the Brit ish crown. Massachusetts Wins. After determining that the evidence showed the territory in dispute had been possessed and occupied by the people of Massachusetts for over two hundred years, the court de cided in favor of the Bay state. "It would be difficult" explained the opinion, "to disturb a claim thus sanctioned by time, however unfounded It might have been in its money-makin- e, war-tim- non-inflam- serves. In the past steps have been taken to permit the sale of Uncle Sam's Interior of the compression building of Uncle Sam's helium plant at Amarillo, Texas. Each of the cylinders in the foreground holds about 1 cubio feet. The capacity of the Hindenbnrg was 3,700,000 cublo feet. Imagine the number of cylinders it would have taken to fill jthe airship to capacity! any element then known. He suggested the name for the element which is taken from "helios," the Greek word for sun. In 1895 Sir William Ramsay found that when the mineral uranite was decomposed by acid it gave off a gas which would not combine with oxygen to "burn." Further, when examined spectroscopically by means of an electric discharge, it showed a bright yellow spectral line which Sir William Identified with that which Lockyer had found . helium to Nazi Germany, to insure the safety of airship flight but Germany had never been overanxious or insistent Indeed, one version has it that the United States offered helium to the Zeppelin company, but certain German experts considered the expense of the safer gas too great for commercial use and, furthermore, cited the greater lifting power of hydrogen. The President has been given discretionary power to sell helium to a foreign nation, if he has the recommendation of the secretaries of interior, war and navy. According to Watson Davis, director of Science Service, to whom the writer is Indebted for much of his information, "There is admittedly a war angle to this question of whether America should relinquish even to a limited extent its nature-give- n monopoly of helium. But there was a growing feeling that the airship line across the Atlantic should be made as safe as possible. That would mean extending to Germany the courtesy of helium, just as the navy has given them the facilities of its Lakehurst airship station, the only suitable landing field for airships in eastern United States." C Western Nnwipapar Union. resi. festiva, period dents in Dutch costumes. A "Little Greece" in Florida. "Holland is one of the largest Dutch communities in the United States. Until recently, many of its factory workers spoke only Dutch, and neighboring farmers wore wooden shoes. "Tarpon Springs, about half Florida peninsula, is the home of many swarthy, mustachioed Greek sponge divers and their families. They came to the warm blue waters of Florida fisheries from the sponge fishing grounds of th Mpfiitprranpnn. nnd hav maae .tarpon springs iamous as a sponge ciiy. ineir Drignuy painted diving boats are patterned after those used in Greek waters. The town supports a Greek Ortho-jure- d dox church, and on January 6 an nually ceieDrates ureeK cross day, a religious fete brought from the homeland. "Northwestern Pennsylvania has its Russians. Nearly half a "Old some Believers,' century ago, descendants of seceders from the Russian church in the Seventeenth century, settled in Erie. The Rus sian colony now numbers about origin." In another case, Missouri and Kentucky could not agree as to the ownership of an island in the Mississippi the boundary between the two states. The main channel of the river had been fixed as the dividing line. From the evidence submitted the court decided that at that time the main channel had been on the west side, and therefore the island was part of Kentucky. Numerous wars have been fought In the course of history because one country thought it should have part of another's territory. Many not dissimilar disputes between our states, however, have been settled so quiet ly by our National Umpire that few people were even aware that differences had arisen. Court Recalls Old Treaty. In 1921, for example, the Supreme court was asked to decide a dispute between Oklahoma and Texas, in volving a strip of valuable oil land claimed by both. To avert possible armed conflicts between parties claiming title from the state of Texas and others claiming title from the state of Oklahoma, it became necessary for the Supreme court to assume charge of the territory through a receiver, until the dispute was decided. The case was settled in favor of Oklahoma, after the court found it necessary to consider a treaty between the United States and Spain, signed back in 1819. On another occasion the Supreme court ordered Colorado not to divert more than a small amount of the waters of a river within its boundaries, because such action would deprive the people of Wyoming of their right to have the river, on whose waters they depended, flow through their state. In these, and other cases, the Supreme court by its decisions determined the law for the whole people, and fulfilled its purpose as guardian of their rights. ffi "l V0"? Western Newspaper Union. Bunion Joints Displacements Bunion joints are displacements and not primarily enlargements They are caused by the slipping of the tendons that hold the great toe straight as a result of which it buckles at the base and is jammed against its neighbors. The "enlargement" is nothing more than the normal head of the bone, upon which some callus may be formed from irritation. - YOU Folk songs are sung to balalaika accompaniment by bearded men and women. Finns Settled in Forest Lands. "Although Finns dwell in small numbers in every state in the Union, they have not found the South appealing, and have settled chiefly in Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Washington. From Finland, 'the Land of a Thousand Lakes,' they have been especially drawn to Minnesota. Their physical stamina and expe rience as lumberjacks in Finland's vast forests have fitted Toiml, and Toivola are some Minrnt.ny of them particularly well to nesota place names that tell of take part in America's lumber in Finnish population. Shipping Lures Dalmatians. dustry. "For centuries Dalmatians hava "The Finns retain their love of education, flocking to schools and either tilled the soil or sailed unRagusan and other flags all night classes. As in their home der land, they build log bathhouses over the world. Today these dark, in which to take steam baths, and spirited people, with blood of bold carve from birchwood skis which sea rovers in their veins, not only fishing carry them over the fields in rig man the orange-saile- d orous winters. Finland, Suomi, boats off the Dalmatian coast, but they man American ships and work in fisheries of Louisiana, Florida, and California. Somehow the Proverh 'From green vineyards, gray Sounded a Bit Off olive groves, fig and orange orchards steeped in almost perpetuHe had only recently joined the al sunshine along the Dalmatian ranks of politicians, and he was coast, have come many of the anxious that his first speech to his large commercial fruit growers of prospective constituents should be the Pacific coast, particularly a great success, says London An those in Santa Cruz and Santa swers. Clara counties. Watsonville, south He spoke for a long time, warn of San Francisco, has a population ing his hearers of the dangers of almost entirely Yugoslavian. war and the importance of keep "The majority of fishermen in ing a large army. Wishing to fin Provincetown, Massachusetts, are ish with some quotation, he Portuguese. ancestors Their thought of the proverb about lock- sailed there on whalers from Poring the stable door. But he want- tugal and the Azores. The city ed to be a bit more original. directory is filled with names that sound strange among those of Suddenly he had a brain-wav"Ladies and gentlemen," he most New England towns: last cried, "don't, I beg of you don't names such as Silva, Ramos, wait till your house catches fire Costa, Zora, Dutra, Cabral, before calling the' fire brigade. Almeda, Agna, and Corea." long-haire- d Like Individuals, the 48 states tn loving Americans descended on the Union do not always agree on Holland, Michigan, to witness the matters which affect them In cora.:,own.s annual tulip festival. The mon-'gay blooms stretching for eight I In many respects each state U In- - miles lure visitors eacn sprjng to dependent of every other state. Each thi8 iargely Dutch community has its own government, constitu-- ; with Dutch names and tion. and laws. Each surrender, to sprinkled f ilh I' V 1 Your Job realize that your job is the most important affair in the world. Just because it is your job? The way you look at your job makes all the difference to your career. Do g you regard it only as a stunt? Or do you consider it a position to be proud of? If you put your heart and soul into your effort, you are bound to make good and will wake up one fine morning to discover that you are one of the indispensabics. The world respects you because it cannot get along without you. Geoffrey Rhodes. 2,000 inhabitants. court the United States ylp festival to call one's attention 'consists in protecting the to the many 'bits of Europe' scat- throughout the United nponle of one state from bulletin from the Bavs states" of their "finis.Nationai Geographic society. ,ing aepnvea by a neighboring state. "Recently thousands of flower- - "'- - update, airships when the Dixmude disap--eare- d December 21, 1923, presum-i!irtl- y having been destroyed by lightning over the Mediterranean. U. S. Owns All Helium. But the Hindenburg accident has convinced the Germans that they can no longer operate their ships with hydrogen. And where are they to obtain helium? The United States has a monopoly on all the world's helium! Only in American natural gas does helium exist in sufficient quantity to extract and fill airships. Thai-Resis- t i ex-V- earth. COURT America r0 the Melting Pot in Disputes Between States ,fat ' PAGE THREE Spots SUPREME Cause Is Still Uncertain, Though Use of Helium Would Have Prevented It. But Uncle Sam Owns All the Helium! ; NEPIII, UTAH S. e. Fur-tad- o, will know the minute you see YOU tire why car owners everywhere gives patented process of greater protection against blowouts and call it the greatest tire ever made to sell is used only in Firestone Tires. at these low prices. 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