Popular Science Monthly 



233 



storage tank 

 ncft vented -V 



Conserve Your Gasoline — By 

 Pouring Water Into It 



IN spite of the fact that gasoline 

 is becoming so scarce, until lately 

 refiners have paid but little atten- 

 tion to the immense amount they 

 lose through evaporation from stor- 

 age tanks. At "tank farms," as 

 they are called, it is not uncommon 

 to see a fog over the tops of the 

 tanks due to gases escaping from 

 vents. Usually the best grade of 

 gasoline escapes, which, if it were 

 recovered, could be used to enrich 

 many gallons of ordinary kinds. 

 Vacuum systems to recover this gas 

 have been tried, but as a rule prove 

 expensive and not 

 very practical. 



Now comes 

 Frederick G. 

 Farr, of Detroit 

 — where they use 

 lots of gasoline — 

 with a system de- 

 signed to prevent 

 all this waste. He would fill all 

 space in gasoline and crude oil 

 tanks with water. Oil and water 

 do not mix, of course — and 

 water always assumes the 

 lower level. Thus the oil is al- 

 ways pushed up 

 against the top of the 

 tank where it may be 

 drawn off. Should 

 gases form, they do 

 not burst the tank — 

 but their pressure 

 simply pushes on the 

 water, causing it to 

 overflow through an 

 "automatic water lev- 

 el tank" into a drain. 

 When some of the oil 

 is drawn off, water 

 takes its place from 

 this tank, a suitable 

 float valve permitting 

 more to enter from 

 the plant water sys- 

 tem, or other source. 



Syphon breaKer 



Various oil outlets 

 in refinery 



noat_:i_f Overflow pipe 

 "to dram 

 ^Automatic water 

 level tanK 



Tank car-5 



Above, Fair system 

 applied to a garage 

 gasoline reservoir. 

 At left it is con- 

 trolling a much 

 larger supply tank 



*-Oil intaKe 



Around the recess are flex 



ible bristle or cardboard 



=- filaments which counter 



feit the action of grass 



You Can Now Practice Putting 

 In Your Own Parlor 



DD RING stormy weath- 

 er, or in the winter, it 

 will no longer be necessary 

 for the golfer to forego 

 his putting practice. 



Eugene McLean 

 Long, of New York, 

 has invented a device 

 for catching and hold- 

 ing a ball in such 

 a manner that when 

 you use it you almost 

 imagine you are on a 

 putting green instead 

 of on the parlor floor. 



The indoor putting 

 green is a circular de- 

 vice having a recess 

 in the center. The re- 

 cess is surrounded by 

 flexible filaments which 

 tip when struck like 

 blades of grass. The 

 underlying idea is to 

 reproduce outdoor 

 conditions as closely 

 as possible. 



