Show proves useful in both science and in war H reany PO uses so fot pot exploited the str 00 it balloon agton I 1 explorer 11 II more than phero aft n leg above tile the earth helium dewoods demonstrated grated that it can per odly for science as well as borlo use gerut ful jobs ifor wat ag csc steadily iten dlly UP in spite of the bar th this is aristocratic gas gravity of at lag its preference for the up I 1 iral friits a where it Is much more at level at the earths P S beths ciari at sea bom the atmosphere contains only dose aae half ot of one thousandth of out hut but cent of helium aper away frow from the earth it Is 19 to consist largely of hydrogen id liel illium luni which may finally escape into empty space e between lb at tasteless odorless odor lesi bell colorless Color lesi temperament all its own his it a lo 10 9 ibe lie national geographic society so lety cletY savage tendency to be de full no 0 it t imitate for it Is noninflammable non inflammable and being a iti hermit nature keeps each in U dIvId it particle or atom aloof from fellows helium Is so 90 hadity n ik that it refuses to mix with other lenient unless shocked or jobed aitto i combination by fin an electric dle die daw ordinarily lazy and inert only BI exercise Is to drift heavenward when released being the lightest gas gag except hydrogen hydro seo and to indulge in the lazy sport of conducting in which it ean can be beaten only alf b by neon deon but it makes less effort to struggle through rubberized fabric ahn does hydrogen thereby winning I 1 commercial advantage for less of it II 11 lost from froin a balloon hellund Is stob borall opposed to change remaining tie the irald at low temperatures which maff rubber as brittle ns as glass largest helium plant this latter quality lu allty aids nan man in sep brating helium from natural gas as at soncy about seven miles west of ambrillo texas the worlds largest helium production plant processes natural gag gaa piped 12 miles from wells in the lie structure IMs plant operated by the united states bureau of mines with leased rights to gas from acres of land can produce over twenty four million cubic feet of helium tk a year one year the ile cost of production was estam estimated led at loss less chah it a cent 7 mills per cubic foot of helium and during g one busy month tile the cost dropped to 4 mills la in 1915 when tile the world output was 10 cubic feet the price was nearer 2400 per cubic foot helluin helium ese general notice until the destruction of world wat war airships by fiery cery bullets started the search for inflammable noninflammable non tion gas gaa to substitute for hydrogen which explodes easily even in contact with air U S biggest producer the united states alone has fins hell uni um bearing natural gas in amounts sufficient for commercial production ohio colorado utah northern oklahoma and especially kansas and texas have gas wells producing as high as 7 or 8 per cent helium the sands of the cliffside structure in texas now being worked by the government plant have only 2 per cent helium but have been chosen beca fize they are easy to work hae a stelly steady volume and a market for residue gas it has been estimated that from natural na t ural pas gas a million cohle feet of helium escape dally daily as a rare gas helium Is rare in quantity but not in occurrence for it can be found w warly nearly arly everywhere in exceedingly hig gly small amounts in the older rocks of the earths crust in pas gas from mineral eral springs spring in sea and river water and kid esp especially L lally in natural gas its power to conduct electricity gives helium potential uses which so far have not been exploited its main commercial use me now Is in aeronautics with will possibilities of development in food preservation fireproofing refrigeration era efa tion and i cooling electric motors rs it might also be employed in air conditioning for people who must work under great pressure as in deere deep sea diving caisson work and tunneling scientists find helium helpful as a standard wave length in studies stud les with the spectroscope and as fk a medium for low temperature studies in an atmosphere mo sphere of helium hot metals can be worked without the corrosion they suffer under normal conditions renditions |