Character Sketch. 



365 



from the t.ir, out of which the oil will then be distilled 

 and made ready for use in the Diesel engine. Kiectrical 

 works will he established where the gas will he con- 

 verted by means of gas-engines and dynamos into 

 electricity, which will be conveyed h\' mains lo all 

 parts of the country. The half-million miners whose 

 ser\'ices underground will be dispensed with will find 

 employment in the gas. chemical and electrical works. 

 The coke alone wijl need to be carried off by the 

 railway. 



This i^ an industrial re\olution which will afford 

 the planners of Garden Cities a great opportunity. 

 For all our colliery villages will have to be laid out 

 afresh, liut upon that we need not dwell. 



The Dicstl engine not only economises fuel, hut, 

 what is still more important, it economises space in 

 the hold and economises labour. The following table 

 shows the dilTerence between an ordinary steamship 

 and a Diesel-driven vessel carrying the same amount 

 of cargo : — 



Ves^l St::tin .is to-day. 



Capital cost £40,000- 



/J 50, 000 

 Fuel 30 days 3, 000 tons 

 Space occupied 



180,000 cubic feel 

 Weight of machinery 



and 15 d.iys' fuel, 



2,700 tons 

 Repairs and TJeprecia- 



•ion/o5.ooo. 

 Men rt<iiiiit<l 40-50 



Vcssc-I u.sing Oil. >.i\iri(;. 



Capital cost ;f 15,000 i /25,ooo-;/^35,ooo 



Fuel 30 days 650 tons 2,350 ions 

 Space occupied 150,000 culjic ft. 



30,000 cubic feet 

 Weight of machinery 2,230 tons. 



and 15 days' fuel, 



470 tons 

 Repairs and Depre- .,{,4,000 



ciation^^ljOOO 

 Men required 7 j,i~4j ""'" 



Instead of needing 1 10.000 cubic feet for machinerv 



of propulsion, the Diesel ship only requires 21 .000 cubic 

 feet, a sa\iig of 80 per cent. 



Wherever coal is dear oil has evervthing its own 

 way. Dr. Diesel quotes some remarkable figures, 

 showing that on the Congo a steam engine with coal 

 fuel costs 6d. to generate one horse-power per hour. 

 The cost with a Diesel engine is only one-fifth of a 

 penny per horse-power per hour. 



One of the great advantages of oil over coal is that 

 the force of gravity is sufficient to secure its distribution 

 throughout great stretches of territory. The use of 

 steam-engines in the interior of continents not yet 

 bridged by railways is almost impossible owing to the 

 cost of hauling coal. Hut when oil is used a pipe 

 line is laid down, and the oil, by the aid of a few- 

 pumps, flows to its destination free of charge. There 

 are said to be 25,000 miles of pipe lines conveying 

 subterranean rivers of oil from the oil wells to centres 

 of consumption in the United States. The cost of 

 mineral oil for use in the Diesel engine varies from 

 43s. to 48s. per ton, and as one ton of oil in one 

 Diesel engine does the work of nearly five tons of coal 

 fed lo an ordinary steam engine, poor old King Coal 

 is simply knocked out. 



In an interesting pamjjhlet on " Tne lou.ing of 

 I'etroleum," published by Curtis, Gardner and Co.. 

 the writer says : — 



liut ihe use of oil or its products is not likely to be confined 

 to machinery for raisini^ power. .'Vlniost every day great strides 

 are being made in tlie way of improvements in the methotis 

 employed for the gasification of petrol, kerosene, and other" 

 hydro-carbons. It is not at all unlikely that oil-gas in one form 

 or another will in the near fuuire be a rival to coal-gas or 

 electric light for illuminating purposes. Indeed, a growing 

 industry has already been created in this direction ; ana petrol 

 gas plants for iiluminaling purposes are already installed in a 



••■•-•""■•'' ,/...-.".,.;/o- /.f.,r.,f„/.„ ,..„,. ,:r /■l,..t..i,.,f,; /,i [II.,,.. ul. 



Mr. Vernon Hartshorn. Mr. Thomas Ashton. Mr. Robert Smillie. 



Keprcscnlativ. ol thcSouth Wales Miners. Secretary of the Miners' I'tderation. Vice-I'resident nf the Mineis' Kcdcration. 



