362 ROSA: SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT 



GASOI.INE AND MANUFACTURED GAS 



20. Gasoline is getting scarcer and dearer every year, and 

 yet not enough is being done in a systematic way to show how to 

 economize in the use of gasoHne. A thorough investigation of 

 carburetors and fuels, and certified tests of the performance of 

 all makes of automobiles, would be of great value in economizing 

 in the use of gasoline, and giving the public as much service as 

 possible for a given expenditure. The Bureau of Mines and the 

 Bureau of Standards have studied different phases of this ques- 

 tion, but neither has been able to do as much as should be done. 

 With millions of automobiles in daily use, and gasoline con- 

 stantly rising in price and deteriorating in quality, can the public 

 afford to have the government fall short in a matter of so great 

 economic importance, and of serious personal concern to so 

 many? 



Manufactured gas is used for cooking and lighting by many 

 millions of people and by the industries for scores of uses. A 

 large part of this gas is made by the use of petroleum oil to enrich 

 blue water gas of low heating value. Recently this gas oil has 

 become scarcer and dearer, and it threatens to become still more 

 expensive and perhaps impossible to get in sufficient quantity. 

 That will necessitate the use of lower grades of oil, or the pro- 

 duction of lower grades of gas, or a change of manufacturing 

 equipment at enormous expense. Individual gas companies 

 cannot study so fundamental a question comprehensively; 

 individual cities or states cannot assume the responsibility of 

 solving the problem for the entire country. The proper agency 

 to take up this question is the federal government, with the 

 cooperation of the gas companies and the oil companies and the 

 state and municipal authorities. Such a comprehensive and 

 constructive study would be of great value and would have the 

 S}'mpathy and support of all the important interests. It should 

 include the matter of raw materials, manufacturing methods, 

 and the relative usefulness of the various grades of gas that can 

 be produced. 



