Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-06-29
Last General Assembly Passed Law
Requiring Illuminating Oils to Be Up
to Certain Grade and Standard Takes
Revenge History of the Contro
versy.

III sSoutl bdhoLd 10 meet d Stdllddlu
test the people Of the state must here
after pay from $4,000 to $4,000 pre-
MUM a year To the bank account OF
John d. Rockefeller.
| The report OF the South Dakota oil
II inspectors fer 1903 shows that total OF
Il 2,400,357 gallons OF kerosene were in
4 spected Practically all of this came
I from the refineries of the Standard Oil
tCompany, for independent OIL dealers
bobbing up in South Dakota are rap
ped quickly and effectually. On the sal
es of 1902 the advance of a cent and a
trust premium of $50. With the
growth of the state this amount will
| increase This sum must be paid be-
cause of the arbitrary order Of the
Standard.
This tax will be visited upon the state
of South Dakota because it dared to
deny the Standard the privilege of sell
ling any kind of oil it wants to in the
state. After July l no kerosene can be
sold that will not pass a 46 gravity test.
| the test WAS fixed under the recon-
mendation of Professor Akeley of the
chair of chemistry in the South Dakota
university, and others familiar with
the manufacture of kerosene. 1t was
adopted because it was the belief of
those recommending 1t that it is the
| lowest test that will insure even sat
| lii Tlsa -
| ment of the bill followed complaints
| turnout the state, and the fact that the
bill passed the legislature is indicative
of the general demand for the estap-
lishment of the test.
The announcement of the advance
was made by j. A. Gheen, manager for
the Standard OIL company at this
point.
Il can not tell exactly how much the
advance will be-" he said. but think
probably a cent and half. l do not
know why South Dakota wanted TO
pass that bill. We have not heard
any great complaint of the quality OF
the OIL The people were privileged
to buy any grade they wanted"
Have you been selling in South Da-
kota any grade of oil that will meet
the &c gravity test?" Mr.. Gheen was
asked.
Yes, we have been giving the PEG
pie one grade testing that well or bet
ter"
will the price of the grade be adj
vanced?"
Yes. for the reason that heretofore
this grade has been sold in barrels al
most altogether. Now we must put IL
in the tank wagons, which is more eX-
pensive.'
You think the difference of cost in
selling this grade in barrels from that
of selling it in your distributing wag-
ons will be a cent and half, in spite of
the fact that your wagons must be run
anyway"
Yes, it will be probably that much |
You see we have various grades of OIL |
testing as high as 49 gravity. Some
OF them are necessarily lower than the |
South Dakota test. But If all the
states were to demand only the better |
grades of oil, where would it come |
FROM"
The excuse Of the Standard that the
price must be raised because the oil |
must be put in the tank wagons instead
OF the barrels. Will not be accepted by
the people of South Dakota. OF 81
towns in the state there are but twen
ty-four having over 1000 inhabitants.
The combined population of these towns
is 62,50o, being but three seventeenths
Of the states population of 4O1.570.
The people will continue to believe, not
this representation by the
Standard Oil company, that most of
the kerosene sold in South Dakota is
retailed from barrels in the small
stores.
South Dakotans believe that the ex-
planation by the Standard Oil company
as to the reason for the advance in the
price of kerosene is evidence that the
people of the state have not been given
a good grade of oil. They say that if
South Dakota has been offered this
grade of oil. as the Standard claims.
then there would be no extra expense
attached TO putting ii before the people.
They still insist that they We're COM
PEELED TO pass the bill because the
Standard persisted in foisting a poor
of oil on the state.
Professor Alleley, of The South Da-
kota University, offers this explana-
ton of the necessity for the new test:
The bill passed last winter re-
nuires that no kerosene shall be sold
in the state that does not stand 46
degree test. This mears a hydromatic
test, the term Baume referring to the
inventor of the device. The hydrometer
determines the specihc gravity of the
oil.
kerosene is a complex mixture of
HYDROCARBONS and other compounds
Some of these substances are light and
some are heavy.
IN refining crude al. the lighter
are distilled off for gaso-
enc and similar oils. The intermediate
weights are reserved for lighting oil
Or kerosene while the heaviest are used
FOR lubricants. The manufacturers of
might run In some of the
lighter substances to make the hy-
promoter read right, or add the heavier
in short, il is possible to
make the gravity just as The manufac-
-urer pleases.
''To prevent the manufacturers from
making the Kerosene too light, which {
would result in a highly explosive prod |
let. the flash test has been in use here {
md in other states. to determine at
hot tan, ,f,,rn /.