Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-06-16
OIL AS A FUEL.

VI SibstiiUtibn OF HUuln rnei Tor coal
on steamships and locomotives was
out NJ the question. for the reason
thnt the output Of oil was Inadequate
to The supply OF more than a very
small percentage Of the worlds steam
tonnage In proof Of this n is Inter
esiing to refer to the experience OF
the Pennsylvania rallroad when the
rapid development Of the Pcnnsyl
vania and Ohio oil fields led to
m Investigation Of the possibili
lies ri oil ms locomotive fuel. While
tho engineers of this country were
"ngnsed In designing the hes, form Of
nrebox and apparatus for burning oil
II occurred to someone to mako an ee-
iimafe Of the total amount Of oil
which would he necessary to run all
the locomotives on that great system
The result showed that they would
ronsume more oil than the total out
put Of the United States oil neids at
that date.
Although there have been extensive
discoveries Of oil in various parts OF
the world, and great development OF
special nelds. such as that at Baku
RUSSIA. the question Of the widespread
nHo NJ oil for fuel for locomotives and
steamships WAS governed. up to three
or four years ago hy the very limited
supply. The government report on
the subject for 1901 gives the total
ortput Of petroleum for the whole
world In 1900 as 1866 900 900 barrels
The production In the United States
FOR the same year was az 900 900
barrels but In 1901 as the result Of
discovery and exploitation Of the
Texas oil fields. the output went up
goo per cent To 72o 900 o00 barrels
There has been an enormous increase
| also In the worlds production. due to
the remarkable oil ncldp In Borneo
aud Burma II ls impossible to estl.
mate with any accuracy the present
worlds output, hut that II Is sufficient
10 make the supply OF oil comparable
with that OF coal is seen when we
bear IN mind that today there at least
2hn wells In the Texas oil fields alone.
which up 10 last week have shown a
600 barrels per day From this we
se" that during the gushing" period
the rate OF output. assuming an aver.
ngc yield OF say 25 600 barrels per
woll. would be equal to Yield OF
something Ike two billion gallons per
year from the Texas oil fields alone
| The gushers. however. are subslding.
aud the oil win ultimately have to he
drawn ont by pumping: but even al.
| inNtinV M thIa /, Ia A.
oil wells of Texas. California. Borneo
and Burmah the four new fields. will
Weld enough oil to render the general
use Of liquid fuel In steamships OF the
world quite a possibility
| Having eliminated then the question
OF the scarcity of fuel, It can be said
that. looking nj every other possible
condition Of cost bulk. fuel value.
case Of storage. economy OF space and
wonderful convenience of manipula.
ton In firing. there is everything to
be said In favor Of liquid fuel at sea.
| The experience already had with
crude oil proves that there is as much
fuel value in two tons OF oil as in
three tons OF coal at $3.50 n ton. and II
Ia found that oil takes not much more
thnn half as much space. weight for
weight. as coal, 10 cubic feet of oil be.
Ing equivalent to 10 cubic feet Of coal.
Ns regards the relative cost OF the
fuels, taking $3.50 as the average
price per ton Of steam coal as dellv.
cred In the hunkers In New York we
nnd that Texas oil to compete with
this coal. must he delivered on board
al about I5 cents per barrel
There are strong Indications that
before long coal oil will be available
Tor steamships In New York at this
price and possibly for something less.
The question that is confronting the
owners Of the Texas oil wells is not
how much oil Is available. but how
to get the oil out fast enough TO sup.
ply the demand. In spite OF all the
efforts that have boen made the con.
sumption for the past few months has
only been fractional part OF the cas
pacitN OF the wells. n large number of
which have been capped and are only
awaiting increased transportation fa.
cillties by rail and sea before thoy
are opened either to flow by natural
| ifNHNuiN VI u' NThWu upon bN pumps
ing. The railroads are making heroic
torts To transport the oil. and there
arc now several large tank steamers
under construction at the various At
ihnlic shipyards, A number of nine
Nnos have been built from the wells to
| Fort Arthur Mt the mouth of Sabine
Pass aud II Is probable that within
1Npther twelve months the shipments
nm Beaumont will have increased
enormously. As to the price at which
the oil will be delivered in Ne wYork
" Is difficult to predict with an Ger.
tainty There is charge of ten cents
per barrel for carrying oil through the
pipe lines to Port Arthur. At the
wells the oil is selling as low as six
|" eight cents n barrel. and there is
rate OF forty.ive cents per barrel
from Port Arthur TO New York CITY
nor tank steamers, At that rate the
actt@l cost at present OF the oil de.
itYered IN this city would appear to be
something over sixty cents per bar.
reL-seientihc American.