Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-05-08
Contributions may be left at the business
Snes Of Every Evening.
orent RenefIts of Loo AIoohol.

! Great Benefits OF Free Alcohol.
The benefits that are expected to--fol-
low in the train Of the bin to leave dc
paturized alcohol free oi tax. in the event
OF its enactment, are so manifold, and so
manifest. that only seven Of the tariff
'standpattors' in the House Of Reprosen-
tatiyos had the hardihood to stand out
against t. An the other members voted
IN lis favor But the fate Of the bill in
the Senate Is IN doubt, on account Of tho
hostility Of Senator Aldrich, the special
friend Of the Standard Oil monopoly, and
other tariff "standpatters" in that body,
to any changes whatever in our taxing
system.
This bill proposes TO permit the with
drawal from bond, free of tax, Of domestic
alcohol when rendered unfit for beverage
or liquid medicinal uses by mixture with
suitable denaturing materials, producing
what is called denaturized alcohol, which
may be largely used for the purposes Of
light, heat and power. This does not
aim to directly affect tariff taxation, it is
true, but It is 10 the line Of tariff reduction
because it would open the markets to
cheap alcohol in donaturizcd form, and
thus afford a powerful competitor to the
costlier products Of the tarif-protocted
Standard oil monopoly.
In the favorable report with which this
bin was returned 20 the House of Repre-
sentatives by the committee Of ways and
means, it is stated that in Germany the
bulk Of free denatuized alcohol is used
for the purpose Of light, fuel and heat.
A lamp is now made with a Wclsbach
mantle which produces very strong,
steady, and high grade light by the use
OF alcohol Experiments have been made
testing this lamp with the most improved
patterned kerosene lamps with round
wicles and Of equal candlepower; Il was
found that a gallon Of alcohol would keep
the alcohol lamp burning twice as many
hours as would a gallon Of kerosene burn
ing in the most approved pattern Of kero-
sene lamp which is in general use. In
other words, one gallon of alcohol is equal
to two gallons Of kerosene for lighting
purposes Hence, Il follows II the price
Of alcohol methylated is less than double
the price Of kerosene, It's use, especially on
the farms and in the villages of the coun-
Try, would become enormous.
During the past few months expert
ments have been made in adapting gaso-
lene power engines TO the use Of alcohol.
This has been successfully done in Ger
many for several years, though there
they generally mix 25 per cent Of gasoline
with the alcohol TO obtain a moro ready
ignition Of the fluid, which is forced into
the cylinder Of the engine in the form Of
vapor Experiments in this country
have developed the fact that alcohol can
be used just as readily as this mixsure
with gasoline or the gasoline ITSELF and
the operation Of the engine with It's use
is perfect. The use Of small motor
engines running with gasoline has be-
come very large. In the estimate before
the committee, Il would appear that
800, 1000 Of these engines were now in use
and that the annual output is more thar
a hundred thousand.
These engines are especially adapted
to farm use for pumping water, cutting
feed, filing silos, threshing grain, onc
the multiplied uses to which a stationary
power on farm is adapted The prin
cipal objection TO gasoline, aside from Il,
cost, Is the danger % the farm building.
from fire. A gasoline FIRE can not b,
quenched with water. On the othoi
hand, water seems to scatter the gasolin,
and increases the danger. But an alcoho
fire is easily put out by the use Of water
large numbers Of these motors are ais,
used in automobiles the number Of viii oh
is increasing with wonderful rapidity, an,
for motors IN small boats.
The one question Of substitution O
alcohol in great part for gasoline. is tha