April, 1933 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Page Seven 



Hi-Ball Gas Proves Popular 



Users Are Enthusiastic About New Motor Fuel, Hope For Legislation 



GASOLINE diluted 10 per cent 

 with anhydrous (dry) grain 

 alcohol makes a better motor fuel 

 than either ordinary or the so- 

 called "premium" brands of undi- 

 luted gasoline. This is the conclu- 

 sion reached almost unanimously by 

 users of the new blended fuel who 

 have been testing it under actual 

 daily driving conditions 

 in ten down -state Illi- 

 nois counties. 



A total of 300,000 gal- 

 lons had been dis- 

 tributed by the County 

 Farm Bureau Service 

 Companies up to March 

 29. In their opinion, the 

 alcohol-gasoline blend is 

 superior in every depart- 

 ment of motor operation 

 to straight gasoline of 

 whatever test. Only a 

 negligible minority dis- 

 sented from this opinion 

 in the slightest particu- 

 lar. 



Throughout most of 

 the month of March, 

 Illinois Farm Supply 

 Company has been distributing 

 through the County Farm Bu- 

 reau service companies, the new 

 "Hi-Ball aasoline," diluted with 

 anhydrous alcohol at the ratio of 

 10 to 1. It was distributed to con- 

 sumers at 3 cents per gallon higher 

 than ordinary gasoline. The dis- 

 tribution of the new fuel was made 

 possible by a permit from the Fed- 

 eral Bureau of Industrial Alcohol 

 secured by the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association and the American Com- 

 mercial Alcohol Corporation of Pe- 

 kin. 



Laboratory Experiment 



Distribution of "Hi-Ball" gas was 

 in effect a gigantic laboratory ex- 

 periment conducted under the 

 strictest supervision in an effort to 

 determine the facts concerning a 

 gasoline-alcohol blend as motor 

 fuel. Wide publicity had been given 

 the proposals for such a blend as 

 a means of supplying the farmer 

 with a market for his surplus grain 

 and of advancing grain prices. Bills 

 were introduced in the Congress. 

 Claims had been advanced that the 

 plan offered the only real hope of 

 farm relief and there was consider- 

 able misinformation circulated re- 

 garding the scheme. 



At the instance of Earl C. Smith, 

 president of the I. A. A., a national 

 committee was formed headed by 

 C. V. Gregory of Prairie Farmer to 

 Investigate the plan from all angles. 

 Dr. L. M. Christiansen, of the Iowa 

 State College at Ames, one of the 

 first to experiment with alco-gas 



blending, supplied the committee 

 with much information. Chester 

 C. Davis, vice-president of the 

 Maizewood Products Corp., was 

 retained temporarily to assemble 

 the data. 



Very little concrete information 

 about the fuel was available and 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association 



ter and nine thought that the new 

 fuel made no difference. Only 

 eleven out of 240 users thought that 

 anti-knock qualities were not im- 

 proved by the new fuel while 229 

 were sure they were improved. In 

 this classification not one user 

 found that gasoline's anti-knock 

 properties were superior to Hi- 

 Ball. 



More Power 



Administration Investigates 



News dispatches from Washington state that 

 Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace has as- 

 signed investigators in the Department of Agricul- 

 ture the task of gathering complete information 

 about diluting gasoline with alcohol made from 

 grain. The results of the experiment among several 

 thousand users of Hi-Ball gasoline will be made 

 available to the Secretary together with data being 

 compiled by Chester C. Davis for the Committee of 

 Farm Organizations. Large numbers of replies have 

 been received in response to questionnaires sent out 

 by the Illinois Farm Supply Co. to County Service 

 Companies in the Peoria and Bloomington areas. 

 This information is being tabulated and analyzed. 

 Results of the first reports received are outlined in 

 the accompanying story. 



determined to make a test so that 

 all agencies and groups interested 

 might have actual facts upon which 

 to base reliable conclusions. Illinois 

 Farm Supply Company and its as- 

 sociated service companies were 

 ideally situated to conduct the 

 test. 



300,000 Gallons 



Up to date, approximately 300,000 

 gallons of Hi-Ball Gas have been 

 distributed in the counties of 

 Peoria, Knox, Fulton, Tazewell, Lo- 

 gan, Mason, DeWitt, Henry, Mar- 

 shall, Putnam, Woodford, Living- 

 ston, McLean and McDonough 

 counties. The return of the ques- 

 tionnaires supplied each purchaser 

 of the new fuel has led to the above 

 conclusions. 



Of 240 users who compared "Hi- 

 Ball" gas with ordinary motor fuel 

 178 reported increased mileage. 

 (The average increased mileage per 

 gallon for all cars with Hi-Ball was 

 3.07.) Only one out of 240 reported 

 a decreased mileage and 78 did not 

 report either increase or decrease. 



In the other various departments 

 of motor operation results were re- 

 ported as follows: 



Two hundred seventeen reported 

 better starting with Hi-Ball gas, 

 two reported better starting with 

 ordinary gas and 21 could see no 

 difference; 228 got better accelera- 

 tion with Hi-Ball, one with ordinary 

 gasoline, and eleven could see no 

 difference. In smoothness of op- 

 eration, 231 preferred Hi - Ball, 

 none thought ordinary gas was bet- 



Only one user reported 

 that he got more power 

 with ordinary gasoline, 

 while 231 were of the 

 opinion that their mo- 

 tors developed greater 

 "pull" with Hi-Ball, and 

 eight could note no dif- 

 ference. Two hundred 

 thirty - four expressed 

 the opinion that their 

 motor performance was 

 generally better with Hi- 

 Ball, not one thought 

 that gasoline gave better 

 motor performance and 

 in the opinion of six it 

 was about a stand-off 

 between two fuels. 



One question developed an ex* 

 ceedingly interesting answer. 

 Asked whether they would be will- 

 ing to pay two or three cents a gal- 

 lon more for blended fuel, provided 

 its use would provide a market for 

 surplus com, 239 declared they 

 would willingly pay this premium 

 and only one said he would be un- 

 willing to do so. 



A special comparison is being 

 made of the results obtained with 

 Hi-Ball Gas and high test or pre- 

 mium motor fuel. Out of thirteen 

 such users, 10 reported an average 

 increase of 3.74 miles per gallon, 

 not one reported a decrease as 

 compared with straight high test 

 gasoline and three did not report 

 any change. 



Aids Motor Operation 



The following tabulation covers 

 other departments of operation. 



Premium 

 m-BaU Om Ko 



Better Better Difference 



Starting ft — 3 



Acceleration 10 1 1 



Smoothness of 



Operation 11 — 1 



Power 10 1 1 



Anti-Knock .0 — R 



General Motor 



Performance 9 — 3 



Of the thirteen reporting, 12 ex- 

 pressed their willingness to pay a 

 premium of 2 to 3 cents per gallon 

 for the new fuel and one decided he 

 would stick to high test at the lower 

 price. 



After the fuel has been tested for 

 a period of 60 to 90 days depending 

 (Continued on page 15) 



