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THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



taining a high average pressure on the 

 I)ower stroke on account of its burning 

 instead of exploding. By keeping the 

 pro])ortion of fuel low, it can be seen 

 that all of the objections of kerosene 

 fuel are overcome, and then crude oil is 

 on an equal basis with gasoline in all 

 but i)rice. The price is so much lower 

 than that of gasoline that it is hardly a 

 fair comparison. In a few years I firm- 

 ly believe that Diesel crude oil engine 

 will be made in small enough units for 

 automobile use, and then the price of 

 gasoline will go down almost to where 

 it was in the beginning. 



Crude oil is less expensive in operation 

 than gasoline, kerosene or alcohol. Crude 

 oil sells at about seven cents a gallon, 

 gasoline at twenty-five, kerosene at 

 twelve and alcohol at twenty cents a 

 gallon. Crude oil may also be used as 

 a lubricative. The laws have not made 

 any provision for the manufacture of 

 alcohol in large quantities so the price 

 remains high. These facts show that if 

 crude oil can be vaporized, it will be 

 beyond doubt the coming fuel. On the 

 other hand, we see the price of gasoline 

 going up, and the price of crude oil about 

 the same. Looking back a few years, we 

 see that in 191 1* gasoline sold at retail 

 for 13 to 15 cents a gallon against this 

 year's figures of 22 to 25 cents a gallon, 

 In 191 1 the crude oil production in- 

 creased only 3^%. Of this less than 

 10% was classified as gasoline and naph- 

 tha, while an additional 45% was kero- 

 sene. The former totaled only 20,000,- 

 000 barrels, while the kerosene added to 

 these figures would give a total of 117,- 

 000,000 barrels. The price of kerosene 

 is not very variable ; it remains about 



*(This information was obtained from the 

 Scientific American, Jan. 15, 191.3.) 



the same. The use of electricity for 

 lighting purposes has brought the price 

 of kerosene down. The supply is not 

 so large as it used to be because the de- 

 mand is decreasing owing to the above 

 reasons. 



Crude oil is the easiest and cheapest 

 to produce. When I discussed petro- 

 leum, which is another name for crude 

 oil, I said that it was a natural oil — that 

 is, it is pumped out of the ground, 

 strained, and barrelled. It does not need 

 any factory process of refining. Hence 

 there is no skilled labor required to put 

 the oil on the market. It is not a diffi- 

 cult or expensive process to get the oil 

 out of the ground. Wells are driven 

 similar to artesian wells, a rotary pump 

 is attached to the pipe, and then you 

 have your oil on tap ready to be strained 

 of foreign materials and be barrelled. 

 Crude oil is not a dangerous oil to 

 handle. A man may smoke with perfect 

 impunity about a crude oil reservoir as 

 long as no sparks fall on the hquid ; it 

 will not go off spontaneously. When it 

 does burn, it burns slowly, and one would 

 have plenty of time to get away from it 

 or find means of fighting the flame. It 

 is a lubricative as well as an explosive. 

 Crude oil is used for the body of most 

 lubricating oils. It is tinned out with 

 sperm or whale oil so that it will be more 

 fluid. However, it is a very fair lubri- 

 cative in its natural state and could be 

 used on large engines. 



I have proved by figures and facts 

 that the price of gasoline is rising, while 

 the supply is not increasing in proportion 

 to the demand. These facts show that 

 a substitute of lower price such as crude 

 oil is needed. I have shown by facts 

 that there has been great improvement 

 in carburetion devices in proportion to 



