Source Of Nation's Precious Helium Supply -- Steel tank car for transporting helium, on spur track at the Amarillo plant. In a special plant at Amarillo, Tax., the United States nurses its precious supply of helium-bearing gas, obtained from a 50,000-acre tract known as the Cliffside field. Germany has obtained some of the gas for a new dirigible, but further sale of helium has been prohibited until the government acquir77es new supplies. Value of helium, a United States monopoly, is that it may be used to inflate aircraft but is not inflammable. January 20, 1938. (Photo by ACME).