Bancroft I fhrcry 



The Oil Industry. 



MILLIONS of dollars are expended every year in the development of 

 the oil industry In California. It has grown from a question of 

 venture to a fixed and stable business enterprise, and to-day there 

 is no more important industry in the State. In the present number 

 of "For California," devoted to the oil industry, the California Pro- 

 motion Committee has called upon the men in the State who are 

 best posted on the various branches of the industry, and their responses have 

 been prompt and satisfying. 



L. P. Crane, of Alameda County, President of the Pacific Coast Petro- 

 leum Miners' Association, gives a most interesting and instructive article 

 on the history of petroleum, showing that the beginning of this industry 

 was so far back in the annals of time as to preclude the possibility of 

 knowing when it was first used. 



The Use of Petroleum and its Products for Production of Power is the 

 title of a most conclusive and able article from the pen of John H. Hopps, 

 who is a recognized authority on this subject. 



The manufacture and use of asphaltum is written about by John Baker, 

 Jr., who is known as a careful student and close observer. 



A. M. Hunt writes of petroleum as a fuel on locomotives and steam- 

 ships, and shows clearly and entertainingly the advances made by the use of 

 this new fuel on the California coast. He shows the relative merits and 

 cost of the fuel as compared with coal, and gives some figures that will 

 attract attention. 



Dr. C. T. Deane, Secretary of the Pacific Coast Petroleum Miners' 

 Association, covers the oil industry in the State in a most comprehensive 

 and complete article, showing deep research and close thought to the 

 subject matter. Dr. Deane's article is one well worthy of preservation for its 

 conciseness and clearness of statement. 



Charles G. Yale, than whom there is no better authority on the mines 

 and their products oiF California, has a most complete article covering the 

 production of oil in the State since its earliest discovery. This article is 

 reinforced by a series of tables whose value will strike the reader at a 

 glance, as they show conclusively and effectively the production of oils 

 in all the counties with the values of the product. 



Taken as a whole the present number of "For California" is one that 

 will be well worthy of preservation for future reference, and for the investor 

 or manufacturer it contains much that will assist in the advancement of 

 all business. The subjects covered in the articles are those of most import- 

 ance in California, and they have been covered in a manner that gives the 

 most information in the least space. Owing to the lack of space an article 

 on making good roads by the use of petroleum was crowded out. The 

 making of roads in California is an industry that is now attracting the at- 

 tention of all the officials who have the subject in charge, and the oil of 

 California is recognized as being the best in the world for this purpose. 

 The natural asphaltum base of the crude oil makes a road that cannot 

 be improved upon even by the use of the famous Trinidad asphaltum. 



This fact has now become so well recognized that in nearly all of the 

 counties of the State roads are being made with petroleum, and the result 

 is that it will not be many years until this will be practically a dustless 

 State. 



The Promotion Committee feels. In presenting the present number of 

 "For California," that It is furnishing an epitome of one of the great indus- 

 tries which will soon place California in the first rank as a producer and 

 manufacturing State in the world. With the coming of cheap fuel through 

 the development of oil wells, California can do better than any other State 

 because of the fact that we have here all the raw products necessary for 

 a perfect manufacturing State. 



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