The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 26, 1898, Page 23

» THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, UNDAY, MAKING A GEYSER OF THE LIQUID AIR. From a Photograph. of the Cosmopolitan Magazine The Call presents here ginal account of the liquefaction of air by Charles E. Trip- j ler, the man whose long and patient work has made the seemingly ble. ble po: cubic foot of the reader to understand some of the experiments which rvelous even to the scientist, Mr. Tripler brought a cubic foot to the photograph gallery of The Cosmopolitan, and the astrations will be found to aid the reader greatly in un- the experiments of which he speaks. an contained a cubic foot of liquid, which was colorless, ex- —so0 it seemed to the imagination—a tinge of that blue which the heavens on a perfectly cloudless day. A number of those d these experiments could recall that in the standard natural » which they nad studied as boys, the statement had been /0 that the air which we commonly breathe is not capable of be- Yet here were eight hundred cubic feet of air compressed into a quid held in an uncovered ice cream freezer. Here was a liquid secured by subjecting the air to thousands of pounds’ pressure; but the liquid which had been under such dangerous pressure, now rest- ed quietly a within vounds. Stra the bottom a tin can, requiring no bonds of steel to hold it nger still, we are presently to see this harmless-looking liquid be- come again the most powerful of agencies when reconfined in a steel cham- ber. And these seeming paradoxes were to be presently thrown into the shade when Mr. Tripler, taking a cup made of ice, it this liquid with a temperature several hundred ceeded to insert into the liquid air a steel rod which, when set fire t and having poured into degrees below zero, pro- o by means of a common match, sizzled and burned and melted—yet the melt- ing of steel in an ordinary crucible is an operation requi quiring many hun- dred degrees of heat for its consummation. 5 7 It is said that the first ounce of liquid air cost an English laboratory three thousand dollars for its production. American, not content with the mere fact of discovery, to bring the result of his experiments to that practical ‘While this was going on an sought successfully basis which would place it within the every-day use of the scientific mercantile world. Honor, - ) then, to this American who has waved the magic wand a which open up so broad a field of possibilities. N describing his marvelous experi- ments Mr. Tripler sald: “There is no such thing in na- ture's laboratory lute all are rela- nce tive in ten upon the ear it subj fn the sun; h would beco heat such there is I that the sun's 1 ultimately lose their power y predicted by many d that the earth shouid cooled to the temperature vater upon its artz, while to liquefy dew or rain, forming new an 1 oc the investigations with been occupied for nearly such a state of affairs is nor incredi- mplest of my e gives rise to re Niagara of this character. it T have only to dip up itaining v about a , the v attened edge of the stream to fall upon the cataract appears markably perfect repre- with foaming waters and it out cup, over the allowing v clouds of mist. “Liguid air is simply alr such as we from which most of the heat, v derived from the sun, has This T am now able to v and cheaply by me- chanical me; As a result some 15 minutes after the process is started a clear, frosty looking liquid begins to pour down from a tube about an inch in diameter and speedily fills the re- ceptacle placed beneath to recelve it. This rate of production can be main- tained all day If desired. Fach cuble foot of liquid represents nearly 800 cu- bic feet of ordinary air, and in its ex- pansion as it returns to {ts gaseous state 1ies a power of the highest effl- clency, easy to control, ready to be har. nfaseg and utilized. Its temperature, as already stated, s about 312 be- low zero Fahrenheit. Jogrees be “If a tumbler be filled with the liquid ted. nd produced results it boils vigorously, absorb of the heat e Doglon around it, and at the end of half an hour has 1pi e : E pietely disap- peared, indistinguishably mingled \\'x‘t”h the air around us, from which it differs only in its greater purity. “For transportation—th ansportatic us far onl for experimental use—I place the liqu!g In a large tin can, or cylinder hoiding from three to six gallons. This I wrap with a layer of felt, and for protection against rough set it in slightly larger can of tpe Over the top T 1s thick e hair felt, which keeps out h preventing free escape of ing gases. With t s simple arrange- ment I have kept the iquid for 36 hours an shipped it New York to Washington and to Boston. There is no diffieulty nor danger in handline prul\'v‘lmi reasonable precaution and the gases are not confined. Tt cf be dipped up with a tin cup ana nmn-:g into almost any sort of dish, like so much water. If you chance to drop the dipper, however, it will sk 3 er like thin glassware. Tt s a curious fact that this intensity of cold makes fron and steel extremely brittle, while it in- creases their tensile strength. This condition is only temporary, of course, Copper, gold, sllver, aluminum, plati- num and most other metals are not so affected. Neither is leather—luckily, for its use in valves, where it is exposed to great cold, is important; but rubber becomes as friable as so much terra cotta. I will now give a brief descrip- tion of a few of the most interesting of the experiments illustrating the qualities of this extraordinary fluid. “First, I pour a quantity into a ba- sin. Thrust your hand into it. No, I am not joking. . You can touch it with perfect impunity, provided you with- draw your hand instantly; you will only experience a slight sensation of coolness. In precisely the same way you might plunge your finger for a fraction of a second into a pot of mol- ten metal Without harm, provided the finger were moist. - “All the time that we have been en- gaged In these experiments—indeed, ever since it was drawn from the pro- ducing apparatus In my laboratory— our supply of llquid has been slowly boiling away. You will observe that it now appears quite blue, as I pour it out. That is because the nitrogen, be- ing more volatile, has for the most part bolled off, leaving a liquid which is nearly 76 per cent oxygen. The process of separation may be illustrated in the following manner: “I set before you a glass flask, fllled with water almost to the neck. Into ssw reS Ui Dadt s W DIPPING UP THE LIQUID AIR. Copyright, 1 Fro this I pour an ounce or so of liquid air. At first it floats, the nitrogen being a little lighter than water; but as the nitrogen rapidly vaporizes, the oxygen, which is slightly heavier than water, shows a tendency to sink. It gathers in great azure drops, shaped like in- verted balloons, and as big as marbles, which begin to bob downward, but quickly boil away. As the water chills, however, they dive deeper and deeper, gleaming with Iridescent tints, and finally some of them fairly reach the bottom before completely disappearing. “Pouring some of the liquid into a smooth glass tumbler, I dip the bottom into a vessel of water. A thin casing of ice Immediately forms about it, but at once begins to crack .ith the in- tense cold. By repeated immersions, however, adding coat after coat, I pre- sently get a sort of crackle-ware ice cup, thick enough to bear handling after the tumbler upon which it has been molded has been withdrawn. This ice cup I partially fill with a liquid now largely oyxgen; and when I dip into it the end of a steel wire to which a lighted match is fastened, the hard metal burns explosively, like a fuse, with a brilliant effusion of sparks, so that the chilly crystal around it glows like a lamp. “It remains to show the explosive power of this mysterious liquid under varifous conditions. I first take a heavy copper tube about a foot long, sealed at the lower end, and, having poured in few drops of liquid air, hammer a close- ly fitting wooden plug into the orifice. I have scarcely time to step back be- fore the expanding vapor blows out the plug with a loud explosion, driving it against the ceiling with great force; in the open alr I have seen it hurled to a by John Brisben Walker. a Photograph. height of 300 feet. The c« d liquid has behaved exactly as water would act in a tube heated white hot. “Here the action is purely mechani- cal, but, by taking advantage of the intense chemical activity of oxygen, ex- plosions of far ~reater violence may be obtained. To illustrate this, I saturate in the azure-tinted liquid a wad of oily cotton waste, and place it in a steel tube of great strength, open at both ends. When a spark is applied—which must be done from a safe distance— the tube is rent into fragments. If the wad were first wet ° ith turpentine the explosive force wbuld exceci that of guncotton. This compound is well suit- ed for use in shells or torpedoes, and might easily be made a destructive agent of terrible efficiency in war; no thickness of armor-plate could resist its ruthless ener~v. Moreover, there would be no risk in the handling, as it is not exploded by concussion. It can be discharged onlv by the contact with * a spark; the whole effect is produced by rapid—practically instantaneous— combustion.” 5 Of liquid aid Mr. Tripler says that the most obvious application would be for the purposes of refrigeration. The possibilities in medicine and surgery are numerous. By means of this process, air absolutely free from germs could be furnished in any amount, and if the stimulating effect of an excess of oxy- gen were desired it could be had with- out trouble, quite free from the impur- ities which now often make this gas objectionable. The temperature of hos- pital wards, even in the tropics, could readily be cooled to any degree pre- scribed by the physiclans in charge, and by keeping the air about yellow fe- ver patients down to the frost point, the JUNE 26, 1898. 23 nurses would be perfectly protected against contagion and the recovery of the patients themselves facilitated. Again, the cauterizing cnld which liquid alr is capable of producing might be used in cases of cancer with great ad- vantage, as compared with nitrate of silver, since while it absolutely de- stroys the flesh to which it is applied its action is perfectly under control and can be stopped in an instant. This is far from being true of lunar caustic. It is probable, also, that hay fever, asth- ma and even consumption could be greatly relieved without change of cli- mate by this pure, cold, germless air. Its possible use as a high explosive in war has already been adverted to. Further, military authorities are al- ready making inquiries as to its appli- cation to the cooling of guns when in action; and there is no obvious reason why it should not prove highly effica- cious and of great value in this way. Still more important, however, will be its service as a motive force on war- ships—or, indeed, on any ships. It can be handled with perfect safety in an ordinary engine, in the same manner as steam, but without requiring op- pressive heat; for, as we have seen, the ordinary heat of water is quite suffi- cient. Freed from the necessity of car- rying an immense amount of power needed, vessels would be able to make voyages of any length at a speed equal- ing that of the swiftest torpedo_boats, running at a rate of from 40 to 45 miles per hour. And in submarine boats the motor itself would supply all the air required for breathing, abundant, cool and pure, instead of generating over- powering heat and stifling gases, as is the case at present. It is also worth while considering its MAKING BILLOWY CLOUDS OF MIST WITHOUT WATER. application in connection with the dif- ficult problem of aerial navigation, which would probably be solved, since all that is now wanted, practically, is a motor sufficiently light and strong and safe. With liquid air no fire would be needed—the heat of the surrounding atmosphere would be entirely ade- From a Photograph. quate; and for this reason, and because there would be no moisture to affect them, the boilers could be made of pa- per. Aluminum, scarcely heavier than paper, yet nearly equal to copper in ductility, could be used for the coils and other necessary parts of the mechanism. The potential applica- tions of liquid air are simply revolu< tionary; it is probable that even elec- ty is not destined to be of greater vice to mankind. At present, in the ines, 90 per cent of the energy ally existing in_the coal con- sipated. This enormous will enable us to obviate. theoret: sumed loss liquid air THE ABUSE OF OUR SOLDIERS. By Poultney Bigelow. Special Correspondent of the London Times. Poultney Bigelow, who recently returned from a trip devoted to studying Spain and the Spaniards, has just completed a visit of the American camps in the Southeast. According to his idea, after comparing what he has recently seen with the camps and captains of Europe, the brains and patriotism of our army are crushed by politics and incompetence. AMPA, Fla., Saturday.—Do not laugh, good warrior friends of the regular army. This is not written for you. I am address- ing only major generals of recent creation, and amateur soldiers gen- erally, who are playing havoc with the health and welfare of our brave army. The state of that army at Tampa can be compared to a set of modern electric machinery dumped upon the beach of an African Sultan. The machinery is magnificent, but no one can put it to- gether. At Tampa is an army of inva- sion estimated by the tens of thou- sands. It contains individual men and officers unequaled fn the armies of Eu- rope for physique, military training and courage, yet these elements are rendered impotent because the direc- tion of them is intrusted to men unfit for command. Suppose, now, we set to work to turn the incompetent men out of the army. It will make a tremendous void, but it must be done before the army can move successfully. We must begin at the top. Who is in command? To-day no one knows. Let us determine that immediately. Let the President name some general as commander of the troops, and let it be understood that henceforth he and he alone shall be held accountable for the conduct of the campaign. What would we think of a ship with three on four captains aboard? Yet our little army has been distracted for the last month with half a do-en commanders in chief. There should, then, be no more back stairs intrigue against the head of the army. General Miles would consult General Schofield if he saw fit, but the papers would not henceforth be print- ing paragraphs to the effect that the President was getting advice from Schofield and ignoring that of the nom- inal commander of the army. I do not say that Miles is the best general in the United States. If a vote were taken among officers of the regular service the choice might fall upon Wes- ley Merritt, whom Secretary Alger has deported to the Philippines. But any general at the head is better than this present rule of chaos. Any order is better than no order. Nothing is worse for soldiers than to feel that they are without a leader. Once we have a head to the army the first thing he will do. if he has the courage, will be to ap- point a board to inquire into the fitness for command of the many who have been recently pushed into high military places by political or money influence. This board will weed out perhaps 75 per cent of the total recently appointed, and that will make room for good men. After the battle of Jena, in 1806, near- ly every fortress commander of Prussia was court-martialed for cowardice and incompetency. But that was a mis- take. The one to have been court-mar- tlaled was the King, who allowed in- competent old men to remain in office. No earthly power can give a man brains or courage, but there are many ways of ridding the service of those who have neither. And this is better done before a battle than after it. The armies of Europe have all been remodeled since the Franco-German war. The most important element in their present efficiency is that no of- ficer remains in a givea grade more than a certain number of years, and that no promotions take place except- ing after proof of competency. Thus, if a man has been a captain for a few years and is not promoted when his turn comes he is expected to resign for unfitness. Now, men of practical business habits think that the best man t. command a brigade is the officer who has proved a good commander of a regiment. So think all soldiers. But not so our acephalous War Department in Wash- ington. I see men who left the army when they were lieutenants now thrust back again over the heads of officers who have remained consecutively with their regiments. I see men made briga- dier generals who on any kind of test examination would be unfit to take charge of a company. Can we expect soldiers to fight with enthusiasm under generals whom they do not respect? The French catastrophe at Sedan was largely due to political jobbery in the army. There is a little of this in the Spanish army, but not so much as in our own. Besides, in Spain, the soldiers do not read the papers so freely as with us, and are not accusto. .ed to our ways of doing things. In any other trade than soldiering the men would strike by reason of the incompetent bosses placed in charge of their com- fort and safety. And now for the staff. What is a staff? There appears to be a no- tion at Washington that a staff officer is selected by the gen- eral's wife, with special refer- ence for his capacity for holding a parasol or writing out a French bill of fare. That is the notion of the staff as it prevalled in Eurone fifty years ago. To-day we are the only nation, with the possible exception of the Chinese, who treat our staff positions as means of gratifying personal and political friends. We are preparing disaster for ourselves. To-day the staff should be made up of not merely soldiers in the ordinary sense, but soldiers who have become specialist in certain branches of mili- tary knowledge. An army machine to- day is vastly more complicated than it ever was before, and the mere fighting it calls for knowledge not readily ac- quired excepting by years of prepara- tion. ' In the German army officers who desire to go upon the staff are first subject to examination for speclal fit- ness as ordinary soldiers. They must be highly recommended as men fit to lead troops in the field. Then, when they have successfully passed these tests, they go to a special war college, where they. take what we might call postgraduate courses, which are in the nature of an extension of the West Point course. ~ When our troops reached the end of their weary railway journeys at Tam- pa, Lakeland and Chattanooga they found that nothing had been done for their comfort, that the staff officers were merely ornamental greenhorns and that they had to do the best with- out any help. Regiments pitched their tents without any reference to their neighbors, and in most cases the col- onels did not get any information as to where they could draw rations, except- ing by making purchases out of their own scant pay. Regiments sent to Tampa have been handled like cattle on the railways. The officers in command have had nothing to say regarding methods of transport- ation, and no staff officers have been on hand to see that the railway com- panies fulfilled their contracts or treat- éd the men with half the decency ac- corded to horses and cows. In Ger- many during the two last great wars I well recall the interminable trainloads of soldiers moving to the front amid every mark of good will along the line of travel. At every station were pails of water, if not beer, offered to the thirsty men and horses. Sandwiches and cigars were thrust upon them, not here and there, but at every halting place. The men were in the best of spirits, for they were well cared for, and, though the journey frequently lasted many days, the men had chances to get a nap now and then on the benches. The First United States Infantry was twelve days coming to Tampa from San Francisco. No staff officer accompanied them, and no one knew what the con- tract was between the United States Government and the railway which did the transportation. They were sent at a time when the Government was shouting for an immediate invasion of Cuba, and when, therefore, great speed ‘was desirable. That regiment took .twelve days to come. They were handled as freight, and not' even as perishable livestock. They were shunted for indefinite per:- ods whenever the company saw fit to make way for more paying if not mcre important traffic. No provision was made for the men cooking their food at regular hours, and in those twelve days they were treated with a disregari of comfort that would have been impossi- ble in an emigrant ship. Nothing that George Kennan has told me of the treatment of political exilos in Russia exceeds in brutality the treat- ment of our American soldiers going at the call of their country to set free -he patriots of Cuba. This suffering was not made necessary by the war. Thers was no such brutal treatment of sol- diers by Germany in her great war. ‘What I mention here is the resuit merely of ignorance in positions where ignorance means cruelty. If we selected for staff officers only army officers of good military record we should have none too good a staff. But to fill up these most important posts with men who are unfit means to furnish amateurs with a license to play with the lives of brave soldiers. We need staff men who can take charge of feeding and equipping men in the fleld. We need specialists in the matter of transporting troops. We need men who are famillar with the needs of war. To-day our men are sweltering under their tents, dressed in winter clothing, while the thermometer is tropical. For a month they have been in neeed of suitable clothing. They ask if there is any one who is looking out for them!