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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May 2, 1887, 



were given by the general public for this abandon- 

 ment of oil as fuel, among them that the supply 

 was insufticient ; that it cost too much, and finally, 

 that it burned the furnaces and boilers out so 

 badly that it cost more than it came to finally. 



As the matter is of considerable general, as well 

 as local, importance, we have obtained some in- 

 formation on the subject, which, being mainly 

 ollicial, will be read with interest. 



In the first place, as to the character of the 

 liquid fuel itself. It is not a crude petroleum, as 

 many suppose. It is a residue or refuse. The 

 Pacilic Coast Oil Co., before selling this material, 

 remove tlie lighter oils, which enables them to sell 

 the refuse at low cost. The first product removed 

 is gasohne of 8-1° specific gravity ; the second is 

 naptha of li" specific gravity ; the third is benzine 

 of 63° specific gravity ; the fourth is what is known 

 as water-white illuminating oil of 48° specific gravity. 

 Then they remove the standard white illuminating 

 oil of ii" specific gravity. This leaves a refuse 

 of about 26° specific gravity, which is the fuel oil 

 used on the steamers. 



The Steameb's Records. 



The liquid fuel was used on three of the largest 

 steamers of the company, the " Thoroughfare," 

 " Piedmont," and " Solano" — the latter the largest 

 ferry steamer in the world. The records of the 

 runs and results of work on these steamers we ob- 

 tain from the office of the Auditor of the Motive 

 Power and Machinery Department of the railroad 

 company. 



The first steamer to consider is the " Thorough- 

 fare," which runs from Oakland Creek to the depots 

 at the southern end of this city, carrying freight 

 trains across the bay. 



Steamer " Thoroughfare," Dec. 1883, to Deo. 1884, 

 with coal: 

 6,1W) tons lone coal at S3.96 .. ^25,617 24 



G2 tons Carbon Hill at S5.50 .. 500 00 



Pay of firemen 



Total cost of fuel and firemen 

 Miles run .. 22,662J 

 Cost per mile in cents — fuel . . 115.27 

 Do do — firemen 13.46 



26,123 24 

 3,049 61 



29,172 85 



Total cost .. 128.73 



Steamer " Thoroughfare," Jan. 1885, 

 to Aug. 1886, with oil : 

 2,135^ barrels of oil at $1.65 

 ll,519i do do 1.70 



Pay of firemen 



Total cost of fuel and firemen 

 Miles run .. 40,800i 

 Cost per mile in cents — fuel . . 50.63 

 Do do — firemen 5;46 



^ ?,'23 16 

 19,582 72 



23,105 88 

 12,227 35 



25,333 23 



Total cost .. 62.09 



The above shows fiG G4.100 cents per mile in 

 favour of oil, or 51 77.100 per cent. In this state- 

 ment it is shown that r)8.14 gallons of oil equalled 

 one ton of coal. 



The " Piedmont," a large steamer, is in the 

 ferry traffic between Oakland Male and San Fran- 

 cisco. She was originally devised for coal, but was 

 afterwards fitted for oil (as were the other steamers). 



"Piedmont," Nov., 1884, to Aug., 1885, with coal : 

 4,029i tons Carbon Hill coal at S5.00 ... ^24.646 25 

 1,285 ton.s Carbon Hill coal at f>.50 ... 7,067 50 



Pay of firemen 



Total cost of fuel and firemen 



31,713 75 

 7,658 04 



.•59,^71 79 



Miles run ... 43,525 



Cost per mile in cents — fuel 72.86 



Cost per mile in cents — firemen 17.59 



Total cost ... 90.45 



Steamer " Piedmont," Sept., 18S5, to Aug. 

 1886, with oil : 

 4.136 barrels of oil at §1.65 

 15,983 barrels of oil at 1.75 



Pay of firemen 



Total cost of fuel and firemen 

 Miles run ... 44,307 



Cost per mile in cents — fuel 76.74 



Cost per mile in cents — firemen 10.25 



S 6,829 35 

 27,174 50 



34,003 85 

 4,541 76 



38,515 61 



Total cost 86.99 



The above shows 3 46.100 cents per mile in favour 

 of oil, or 3 8.10 per cent. In this case it took 

 133.63 gallons of oil to equal one ton of coal. 



The " Solano " is the immense steamer which 

 takes the overland trains, freight and passenger, 

 across Carquinez straits, between Benicia and Post 

 Costa. The run is very short. 



Steamer "Solano," Dec, 1883, to Feb,, 1885, 

 with coal : — 



1,0274 tons Carbon Hill coal at S5.00 ... $ 5,137 50 

 2,090|- tons Carbon Mill coal at 5.50 ... 12,047 75 

 5,724| tons Empire coal at 3.79 ... 21,694 91 



Pay of firemen 



Total cost of fuel and firemen 

 Miles run ... 7,5(14 



Cost per mile in cents — fuel ... 518.12 

 Cost per mile in cents — firemen. 113.96 



38,880 16 

 8,476 70 



47,356 86 



Total cost 



Steamer " Solano, 



with oil : 



2,395i barrels of oil at 8311.65 



16,909 barrels of oil at 1.70 



P?y of firemen 



Total cost of fuel and firemen 

 Miles run ... 7,308 



Cost per mile in cents — fuel ... 447.42 

 Cost per mile in cents — firemen. 116.26 



... 631.08 



March 1885, to Aug., 188C, 



S 3,952 16 

 28,745 30 



32,697 46 

 8,496 84 



41,194 30 



Total cost 



563.68 



The above shows 68 40-100 cents per mile in 

 favour, of oil, or 10 G8.100 per cent. This gives 

 tlie result of 94. IG gallons of oil equal to one ton 

 of coal. 



Last month the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, 

 desiring to get some idea of details of cost of use 

 of oil, with a view to adopting it on their steamers 

 if possible, had Mr. .John Berminghara examine the 

 matter for them. He wrote the following letter to 

 Edwin Goodall, Secretary of the Company : 



" Edwin (Goodall, Esq. — Dear Sir, — I have ex- 

 amined the condensed results of the relative values 

 of coal and oil on the " Solano," " Thoroughfare" 

 and " Piedmont." There is great apparent saving 

 in favour of oil fuel on the two first-named steamers, 

 and a slight apparent saving of 3 3.10 per cent, in 

 favour of oil fuel on the "Piedmont." I have no 

 means of knowing whether the price charged for 

 Carbon Hill coal is excessive as compared with 

 other well-known fuels consumed here, or to the 

 reverse. But there is one very important element 

 that has not been taken into account by the rail- 

 road company's statistician, and that is, the relaline 

 speed developed by the "Piedmont" while using 

 the different fiiela above mentioned. lu journeying 



