costly, that the Boards of Supervisors throughout the State are gradually 

 learning. It takes about 150 barrels of oil to oil a mile of road (the oil 

 has to be heated to get the best results), and it costs less than $200 per 

 mile. 



Nearly all the gas companies in California are now using oil in the 

 manufacture of that illuminant; there is in the neighborhood of 20,000,- 

 000 feet of gas used a day. These consume nearly 2,000,000 barrels of oil; 

 the gas made from oil is so superior to coal gas that there is no question 

 but that this demand will largely increase. Oil gas can be put into the 

 holder for less than 20 cents a 1,000 feet. 



Another important product of the refineries is the production of 

 asphalt from crude oil; this asphaltum contains 99 per cent bitumen and 

 is absolutely impervious to water, consequently asphalt refined from oil is 

 pure, while that imported is a natural product, not a true asphalt at all, 

 but a bituminous rock, filled with foreign substances, which are soluble 

 in water, therefore easily destroyed by rains. 



To give some idea of the increased production of this refined aspnalt 

 it will only be necessary to give the following figures: In 1898 the output 

 was 12,000 tons, while last year, 1904, it had increased to 60,000 tons; 

 of this last figure 90 per cent was exported to the Atlantic States and to 

 Europe. 



Another point in favor of California asphalt is its uniform standard, 

 while that imported from Trinidad is variable and unreliable. Where the 

 two come into honest competition, ours always wins. A satisfactory pave- 

 ment can be laid at $1 .60 a square yard. The railroads have recently re- 

 duced the freight on California asphalt to the Atlantic Coast to $10 a ton, 

 hoping thereby to encourage its use beyond the borders of the State. 

 Every 50 cents taken from this price will increase the consumption. 



The amount of asphalt required for paving purposes alone in the 

 United States aggregates over 200,000 tons per annum. There are so 

 many uses for this valuable by-product of our oil wells, both In building, 

 roofing (which, strange to say, is almost fire-proof), laying the floors of 

 cellars, etc., etc., that a large amount of our oil production will be ab- 

 sorbed in this way. It takes about 20 barrels of oil to produce one ton 

 of refined asphalt. 



There have been paid by oil companies in the Kern River field alone 

 in the past three years over $2,000,000, and this does not include any 

 profit made by the "Associated Oil Company," a great corporation with a 

 capital of $40,000,000, which owns more than half the best lands in the 

 district. This company has a large number of wells now pumping and 

 producing over 1 5,000 barrels of oil a day. They have recently purchased 

 a pipe line and steamers from Coalinga to Monterey Bay, and have ex- 

 pended on betterments over $7,000,000. Another very large and pros- 

 perous company is the Union Oil Company of California. This company 

 has a large acreage in almost every oil field in the State, besides refineries, 

 tank steamers, etc. The Associated and Union Oil Companies are California 

 companies and their capital is all California capital. 



I have mentioned above that oil was a better and cheaper fuel than 

 coal for steam purposes, and the following table will give a concrete ob- 

 ject lesson, which will explain itself. 



Sixteen tons of 1 5 degrees gravity oil generates as much steam as 25 

 tons of the best Welsh coal. The evaporation per pound of coal at 212 

 degrees is 9 pounds. The evaporation per pound of oil at 212 degrees is 

 15 pounds, thus 1,362 pounds of oil seem equivalent to 2.040 pounds of 

 coal, which gives a ratio of efficiency of oil to coal of 1.65 to 1. 104 bar- 

 rels of oil equal 25 tons of coal in heating power. One barrel of oil weight 

 about 300 pounds; one barrel, 42 gallons. One of the ferry boats uses 

 143 barrels of oil in 48 hours, formerly the same boat used 40 tons of 

 coal to do the same work; this equals 3 1-2 barrels to a ton of coal, or in 

 money: 40 tons of coal at $6.00, $240.00; 143 barrels of oil at 70 cents, 

 $109.10, saving $139.90, or over 58 per cent. 



