GASOLENE 19 



out a scheme of distillation under pressure which 

 cracked up the heavy oils into lighter fractions. To-day 

 the Standard Oil Company of Indiana has 800 pressure 

 stills which can produce 2,000,000 gallons of gasolene 

 a day. This makes possible the running of 2,000,000 

 motor cars. In recognition of this achievement the 

 American Chemical Society bestowed upon Mr. Burton 

 the medal that bears the name of Perkin, the discoverer 

 of the first coal-tar dye. The profits of this process are 

 so great that stock in the Standard of Indiana bought for 

 #100 in 1911 would be worth $37,200 ten years later. 

 Crude oil is now made to give on the average 28.5 per 

 cent, of gasolene by cracking and this amounts to 54.4 

 per cent, of the value of its products. 



Another new source of motor fuel is the saving of the 

 gasolene vapours that are contained in natural gas. 

 These used to be lost but are now condensed by cooling 

 and provide about 8 per cent, of our present supply. 



What the invention of the steam engine did for the 

 world we can read about in any modern history. What 

 the invention of the gasolene engine has done we can 

 see for ourselves if we only look about us. The signing 

 of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which we 

 yearly celebrate by going on a picnic, was a much less 

 important event in the history of the world, even in 

 our own history, then the contemporary discovery of 

 the possibilities of steam power. Watt has had more 

 influence over the current of human affairs than Wash- 

 ington. 



The Age of Steam lasted a hundred years. In 1876, 

 when we were celebrating our Centennial at Philadel- 



