^66 



The Review of Reviews. 



i;rcat many liuiKlings nnd ilwclliiig-liousos Ihruiiyliout llio 

 icmiUry wliuie coal-gas is not conveniently available. More- 

 over, petrol gas is found lo be eflkient, clean anil economical. 



In the Kilson lamp for street lit;luing compressed air is used 

 to raise the oil to the burner, where it is vaporised, and by 

 means of the flame thus olitaincd a large mantle is heated to 

 incandescence. A light of i,ooo candle-power is thus produced 

 at the very low cost of id. per l,ooo candle-power. This 

 represents, it is stated, the highest economy hitherto obtained in 

 the use of mineral oil, and compares with — 



2}d. for the incandescent table lamp. 



7}d. for the duplex lamp. 



1 jd. coal gas. 



IS. 2d. electric light. 



Oil has lately been discovered at Willesden, but at 

 pfcsent it is not believed that oil can be tapped in 

 paying quantities in any part of the British Isles. 

 At present the oil output of the world is produced 

 almost entirely outside the British dominions. 



-♦•Increase Percent- 



1910. i9o> or .igeof 



— Decrease. Total. 



Metiictons. Metric tons. Metric tons. igio. 



27,228.270 24,284,570 +2,943,700 63'2i 



yi3'7.y3* 8,853,232 + 464,704 21-64 



. 1, 762, 563 2,076,740 — 314,180 4'o9 



. l,soo,ooo l,474,75r + 25,249 348 



. 1,352,289 1,297,257 + 55.03a 3'i5 



900,000 890,202 + 9,798 2'09 



350,000 331,832 + 18,168 o*8i 



250,000 268,321 - 18,321 o'58 



150.000 143,244 + 6,756. o'3S 



260,000 242,537 + 17,463 o-6o 



Unitjd States 



Russia 



Gaticia 



Dutch Intlits* 



Rc^mania , 



British East Indi.:s * 



Mexicot 



Japan* 



Germany* 



Other Countries* ... 



Total 43,071.055 39,862,686 +3,208,369 loo'oo 



* Approximate. + Estitnated. 



John Bull and King Coal have reigned together, 

 and it would seem as if they were so loyal to each 

 other that no oil would flow under the shadow of the 

 Union Jack. As they have reigned together so they 

 may fall together. Like Saul and Jonathan, it may 

 be .said — with a pardonable effort of the imagination 

 — lovely and pleasant were they in their lives, and in 

 their deaths they were not divided. For John Bull's 

 industrial supremacy has been based on the possession 

 of the best and cheapest coal in the world. Now the 

 sceptre is passing to oil, which John Bull will ha\e 

 to buy from his rivals. 



It is extraordinary how many substances can be 

 extracted from crude petroleum. Here is a list of 

 some of them : — Motor spirit for aeroplanes, motor 

 spirit for cars, best illuminating oil, illuminating oil 

 lor ordinary use, oil for enriching gas, lubricating oil 

 (light), lubricating oil (heavy), residue useful for 



ftiel, paraffin wax, asphalt, coke, water, dirt, anrl i 

 waste. I 



How soon the Diesel engine will drive the steam j 

 engine off the field no one can say. But those who | 

 have seen the motor-'bus practically annihilate the | 

 horse 'buses of London in less than five years, will 

 not question the rapidity with which a new invention 

 can demolish its rivals. There are said to be v6o,ooo 

 motors and motor-cycles in the United Kingdom. 

 Ten years ago there were only 2,000. How many 

 Diesel engines there will be in another ten years who 

 can say ? 



If, as is asserted, the oU engine — not a Diesel, but 

 a steam engine burning oil instead of coal — can haul a 

 train 80 per cent, further with a ton of oil than a 

 similar engine can do with a ton of coal, and if the 

 cost is only half — as it is where oil is cheap — what 

 chance has King Coal ? In California the railways 

 are said to have saved £6,000,000 in the last five years 

 by substituting oil for coal. 



On everv side we hear of new applications of oil. 

 The Great Central Railway starts a petrol-driven 

 railway car. Builders are overwhelmed with orders for 

 motor-engines for canal-boats, fishing-boats, and all 

 manner of small craft. The oil engine works automati- 

 cally almost without the need of human oversight. 

 Mr. W. Pollock tells us in the Evening News that — 



Recently a trial trip was given of a full-powered fishing 

 vessel fitted with a Bolinder crude oil engine without anybody 

 being in the motor-room, not even the driver or engineer ; in 

 fact, all hands were ordered up on deck and the engine-room 

 locked up whilst the official and speed trials were taking place. , 

 This was done to show wdiat little attention is required. 



An oil-engine incurs no loss of time in " getting up 

 steam." At present the use of oil is kept back by the 

 high freight. But when the fifty floating oil-tanks now 

 under construction are launched, freights will fall, and 

 it is only a question of time when coal will follow wood 

 into the limbo of discarded fuels. All the new American 

 battleships are to be fired exclusively by petroleum, 

 with the result that they will save space in bunkers and 

 time in recoaling. They will be able to dispense with 

 stokers, and carry, in consequence, heavier guns and 

 thicker armour. If, as is asserted, one ton of oil fed 

 into the furnace generates as much steam as three 

 tons of coal, and if one ton of oil used in the Diesel 

 produces as many horse-power as five tons of coal, 

 how can poor old King Coal hope to hold his own ? 



