HELIUM, THE NEW BALLOON GAS 



449 



torch promptly went out. Several more 

 attempts were made, but the gas abso- 

 lutely refused to burn. Gloom descended 

 on the assemblage, and visions of cheap 

 fuel and manufacturing wealth * went 

 glimmering. 



A sample of this gas was sent to the 

 University of Kansas for analysis and 

 the secret of its fireproof qualities was 

 at once revealed, for it was found to con- 

 tain only about 14 per cent of the com- 

 bustible hydrocarbons which ordinarily 

 make up natural gas, and to consist for 

 the most part of nitrogen. 



MILLIONS OF FKKT OF HFJJUM GAS 

 WASTED 



As nothing like this had been discov- 

 ered before, Prof. H. P. Cady, of the 

 University of Kansas, examined this 

 inert portion of the gas further and 

 finally discovered helium in it. He at 

 once collected samples of gas from a 

 number of other localities in Kansas and 

 elsewhere and found a little helium in all 

 but one ; but the Dexter sample, which 

 contained 1.84 per cent, was the richest 

 of all. 



I may add that all our recent work has 

 confirmed this relation ; gases high in 

 nitrogen, and therefore poor in heating 

 value, are likely to carry considerable 

 helium ; and, on the other hand, no high- 

 grade hydrocarbon gas has been found 

 to carry enough helium to be of value. 



The announcement of Professor Cady's 

 discovery created some interest in scien- 

 tific circles, but as no one knew of any 

 practical use for helium it had no com- 

 mercial value. 



After the Dexter episode similar gas 

 was found at many points in southern 

 Kansas, but because of its poor burning 

 qualities it was contemptuously called the 

 "wind gas." It was generally encoun- 

 tered at shallow depths by wells aiming 

 for the deeper-lying oil sands, and, being 

 usually under enough pressure to inter- 

 fere with the drilling, was regarded as a 

 great nuisance. 



It was customary to allow this wind 

 gas to blow wild into the air until ex- 

 hausted ; and how many million cubic 

 feet of valuable helium have been wasted 

 in this way no one can ever estimate. 



No one seems to know just who con- 



ceived the idea of using helium in bal- 

 loons, though apparently it originated in 

 England. Like all great ideas, it is beau- 

 tifully simple; yet, so long had helium 

 been regarded simply as a chemical curi- 

 osity, that apparently the stimulus of war 

 was necessary for the correlation of two 

 well-known facts : first, that helium would 

 be ideal for balloons; and, second, that 

 plentiful supplies were available. 



At any rate, within a few months after 

 the war began a search for helium in the 

 gases of English coal mines was started, 

 but it met with no success. It was later 

 extended to Canada, but the quantities of 

 helium found in the natural gas there 

 were too small to be of value. 



Italy, when she entered the war, also 

 took a hand in the search, and unsuccess- 

 ful attempts were made to extract helium 

 from the volcanic gases that issue from 

 the fumaroles around Naples. 



ORGANIZING THF CAMPAIGN FOR HFJJUM 

 PRODUCTION 



When the United States joined the 

 Allies, the military value of helium was 

 at once brought to the attention of the 

 Army and Navy authorities, and a vigor- 

 ous campaign was begun for the produc- 

 tion of helium in quantities sufficient not 

 only for this country, but for England 

 and France as well. 



The two main problems were obvious : 

 first, to develop methods of extracting 

 helium from the natural gas; and, sec- 

 ond, to determine the geologic occurrence 

 of the gas, and so to locate adequate 

 supplies. 



The task of developing methods of ex- 

 tracting the g-as was accomplished by the 

 Bureau of Mines, acting in cooperation 

 with the Army and Navy. Late in 191 7 

 two small experimental plants using dif- 

 ferent methods were erected in Fort 

 Worth, Texas, to treat the gas of the 

 Petrolia field ; and some months later a 

 third plant, using still a difTerent method, 

 was erected in the field itself. 



As the apparatus used in all these pro- 

 cesses requires rather delicate adjustment 

 and manipulation, some time was natu- 

 rally consumed in determining the most 

 efficient working conditions ; but just 

 prior to the armistice the first shipment 

 of 150,000 cubic feet of helium, com- 



