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Show Helium From f4atural Gas. Up to a little more than a year ago helium was a laboratory product made at a cost of from $1,500 to $2,000 per cubic foot, hut toward the close of the war its production had been simplified simpli-fied to the point that 8,000 cubic feet per day was produced in Texas alone. The commercial production of helium he-lium has been stimulated by the need of a substitute for hydrogen, which Is so highly Inflammable that its value for military purposes in dirigibles and kite balloons is gravely Impaired. Although Al-though the substitution of helium for this purpose entails a loss of 7 per cent in lifting power, this Is more than compensated for by the elimination of all risk of fire and explosion. Helium . sniffers less loss by diffusion than hydrogen hy-drogen and cannot he made to burn or explode under any conditions. |