The San Francisco call., 1910-08-24
GOVERNMENT TO
MAKE Use Of OIL
Several Big Warships to Burn
California Grease" as
Well as Coal
Congressman KnOwland For.
wards Editorial From The
Call TO Washington

cate clearly that more general use
Of oil as fuel is contemplated on Amer
lean war vessels. The congressman has
followed the campaign conducted by
The Call for z wider use of oil in the
navy and for its adoption as the fuel
for the transport service. He for
warded recently TO Washington an
editorial printed in The Call outlining
he advantages of oil as a steamship
fuel and urging more liberal recogni-
sion by the government
The reply received by Knowland
from the navy department contains
much encoUra cement for the oil opera
tors. It is stated upon the authority
OF Beekman Winthrop, assistant sec
retary Of the navy, that the designs
for the new torpedo boats call for oil
instead of coal 1t is stated also that
oil has been adopted as an auxiliary
fuel for the battleships.
While il is a source of satisfaction
that some headway has been made, the
steps taken to the present are regarded
merely as a beginning. The petroleum
industry will look for a readjustment
before long, by which those vessels in.
the Pacific service, at least shall all
burn California grease
The reply of the war department to
KnOwlands letter of inquiry viii not
be read with the same measure of sat
igfaction. It reports that the modi-
flcation of the transports for the use
Of oil fuel is not considered in any
way advisable" It is stated that the
coal for the transports costs only s3.45
a ton and that five barrels of oil are
required to do the work of a single
ton OF coal 1t is figured that at 81
barrel, the oil would be more expensive
than the coal
OIL Is CHEAPER
The system of figuring differs from
that OF the private steamship COM
panies at this port It has been demon
strated repeatedly TO the satisfaction
Of these local steamship companies that
oil is far more economical 1t has been
the practice to regard four barrels of
oil as equivalent to d ton of coal Oil
is obtainable today on, large contracts
which would place the figure very lit
tie above the S3.45 coal. This coal, by
the way, is obtained at Nagasaki One
element that makes for its cheapness
is the system Of labor, which includes
women and small children in the load
ing process.
The tests applied at this port have
converted to oil such steamship COM
panies as the san Francisco and Port
land a Hartman concern; the Togo
kisen kaisha. running TO the Orient
which by the way. finds the California oil
more economical than its own Nagasaki
coal; the Oceanic, running to Hawaii
and the south seas; the North Pacific
and lnnumerable steam schooner COM
panies operating along the coast
Irrespective of the first cost of the
oil as compared to the transport coal.
II has been amply demonstrated that
Oh makes for great. efficiency. provides
an economy in space, reduces the wear
ana tear on the machinery, requires a
much smaller crew than does coal. and
eliminates bulky equipment required
for coal.
OF the steam shipping that centers
al san Francisco, 80 per cent uses oil
as more efficient and economical. The
transport service is with the 10 per
cent that clings to coal.
LETTER TO KNoWLAND
The following is the letter from the
navy department TO Congressman
Knowland:
Department of the Navy.
A., Washington, August 9, 1910.
Ny dear Congressman:
Your letter of July 2S 1910 with
lnolosed editorial from the San
was received on the I'd instant.
Ihe department is not ONLY Ioolx
ing INTO the matter of oil fuel for
the navy, but has gone so far as
70 adopt II as an auxiliary for use
and TO use il alone as fuel for the
torpedo boat destroyers now build
ing, and IN the designs for those
which viii be contracted for this
fall
The amount of saving in cost of
Iuel per ship, If any, the depart
ment Is not yet in a position to
state, as none of the vessels burno
ing either oil fuel alone, or oil fuel
IN combination with coal, have been
in service for sufficient length of
Ohfaln Ia Of
upon which TO base estimate of saw
ing 70 be expected.
Faithfully yours
BEEKMAN WINTHROP
Acting Secretary of the Navv.
The letter from the war department,
bearing upon the use of oil for the
transports is here given:
War Department,
Washington, August s. 1a1n
Dear Sir: Referring to your let
Ter OF zeth ultimo, and its inclos-
1re, an editorial clipping from the
san francisco Call, relative to the
use OF oil instead of coal for gem
erating steam on army and navy
vessels, l beg TO inform you that
tne acting quartermaster general
OF the army, TO whom the matter
was referred, reports under date
OF 5th instant as follows:
Ihis department investigated
the subject Of installing oil burn
ing apparatus upon its vessels sev-
eral years ago, and accomplished
the actual installation of such an
paratus on one of its steamers at
san Francisco in 1904. since which
time other installations have been
made, and there are now at least
nVe steamers on the Pacific Coast
operated by this department using
oil as fuel IN lieu of coal. such
installations having been made
wherever II was considered adyis-
able and economical. The subject
has received the consideration of
this Office ever since the use of oil
fuel was proven commercially
practicable for steam vessels but
the results which have been OBJ
tained on the q. NJ steamers on
which the system has been installed
have not borne out the marked
efficiency and economy indicated hv
the inclosed clipping.
The cost of the coal used on the
army transports in service on the
Pacific ocean is very much less
than that stated in the clipping
submitted by Mr.. KnoWland most
OF the coal used on the transports
costing less than one-half the
amount stated per ton, and ii is
considered that the use of coal
much of which costs only $345 per
ton. is more economical than the
use of oil, which now costs the
department under contract SlOO
per barrel. fully five barrels being
required to do the work of one
ton of coal.
The modification of the trans
ports for the use of oil fuel is
therefore not considered in any
way advisable"