The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-06-21
OIL FOR FUEL.
Predicted That Its Abundance Will
Cause II to Displace Coal.

Minneapolis Journal:
E. E. Rittenhouse of the Federal
Crude Oil company, who is here tenn
porarily after recent visit to the
Beaumont oil fields, says:
Minneapolis will be using fuel oil
inside the next six or eight months.
There is a demand everywhere for
cheaper fuel Oil solves the problem.
Transportati on is all that is needed.
Tankships, barges and pipe lines are
being built now. Fuel oil can be
brought to the head of navigation on
the Mississippi and that, in turn, will
force reasonable rates from railroads.
With unreasonable rate, fuel oil can be
sold here much cheaper than coal. 1t
is.aEEclean fuel. No SCOT, smoke, Gin
ders, sparks nor ashes. 1t is perfectly
safe.
An idea of the magnitude of this
discoverysaand its.swonderful possibili-
tiess.as wealth producer, can...be had
from the fact..sathat, while the oilapro-
duct of the world has beer. but about
13S, 600, 0OO.barrels per year, orss37S, 900
barrels per day.. the flow of the eleven
gusherss at Beaumont exceeds 500, 900
barrels per day. lIt..sscosts nothing..to
produce.the oil. therefore, being....in
such amazing quantities, lit can and
should be sold cheaply-It is the gen.
eral.belief that the pricesswill be about
90 cents per barrel. Big profits could..be
made at 20 cents per- barrel at the
we'll.
The market for the oil will be as
certain as the market for coal 1t will
be utilized for all kinds of heating,
from private residences to sky scrapers,
and for producing steam in everything,
from tea kettle to an ocean grey
hound. One ton of -. this crudessoil....is
equal in heating ..--efficiencys..to..ssfrom
three.to four tons of soft coal. Thrust
necessarily be..-cheaper.-s than. coal, for
ACKNOWLEDGMENT be a great
saving Undergraduates, and also in the
cost of handling it. Take the railroads,
for..instance. ..There-are seven of them
penetrating the Beaumont. field, land
they::will all use....this oil..--on their en-
gines for producing steam as soon as it
is.placed on the market. The Mexican
Central was the first to....announce..that
it..would..use.oil on..--its engines, and it
is.preparing to do so now. .In.the case
of..ocean... steamships, :. their. carrying
capacity willsbe largely increased.by
using..oil, because, ss..by. doing so, they
will..save both bulk and-~.tonnage.over
coal. Then they..will save the--scost of
an army of=-ssstokers, .. Of. handling--sthe
tons of ashes, and otherrrwork made
necessary by burning coal under their
boilers 1t is..an easy matter--to.. titan
for burning..ssoilss--to any
boiler. ssAll that is necessary is an at
tachment for..ssending spray of....oil
into the frebox
There is no.-s-question... but. that..the
Beaumont oil field is todayssther great
est.oil--feld in the.world. Millions. have
been invested there, although not..a
barrel of oil has yet. been..ss..marketed.
The.price of..landsin the....vicinity..--of
the:gushers has gone up to--rrsuch.fabu-
lous.. figures. Observation-Disclosures
a..company..--with large...-capital can
buy..it. The mansof moderate..s- means
cannot.even consider,'%%ir. --ssaaThe only
way OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES to
share in the prosperity of the Beau
mont oil fields is to buy stock in some
companysz--that has land. inssthe gusher
district, where the oil is not prospec-
tive, but actually is known to exist.