The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-06-09
Oil and Coal

\ united movement is soon to be
/ launched by the oiImen Of California t.
induce the United States governme #
to make more general Use Of petrol 4um
| as fuel in the navy. They have been
encouraged to this step by the recent
action Of the government in ordering
that all small craft Of me navy that
J 60 to the yards for repairs be equipped
with facilities for burning oil. The use
| Of the California liquid ctal to the ex-
tent that local operators say is prar-
teal would create a market for the
produce that would insure stead:ness
of price and an era Of vast develop
ment
The navy department 5 discovery
that oil is a practical fuel for The Sc
| Of ocean going steamships has MT oc-
casioned much excitement on the Pa
citic Coast. for the reason that the ll,r-
chant marine in this part Of the World
made the same discovery more than 10
years ago and has been reaping the
benefits thereof ever since. In the
carly days of the use of liquid fuel it
was confined to coasting craft. Then
in 1900 the Oceanic steamship company
converted the twin liners Alameda ami
Nariposa into oil burners and the ship
ping world sat up and took notice.
Even the navy department took no
tice and on one of the Mariposa 5 first
voyages TO Tahiti q navy engineer made
the round trip on the liner. His report
was an Endorsement Of oil as a practical
fuel, but no action was taken on it
until year or so ago. when the coast
defense steamer Cheyenne was con-
verted into an oil burner for expert
mental purposes. The experiments
made on the Cheyenne still further
convinced the navy department and
now all the smaller vessels that 90 20
the navy yards for repairs are % be
equipped with oil burning apparatus.
Today on the Pacific Coast the mer-
chant steamer that burns coal is the
exception and the reasons for the
elimination of the black diamond as
fuel fer steamships are as numerous as
the steamships that now burn oil.
1t was liquid fuel that enabled the
American-Hawaiian line TO send its
big freighters from New York to San
Francisco via the Strait of Magellan
without stop. This could have been
done with coal, but only by sacrificing
| a large amount of space that the use
of oil left available for freight.
| Ten years experience has demon
! strated that liquid fuel is not only more
economical in every way than coal, but
| that it does more efficient work. The
| element of danger is almost negligible
| and the exercise of the same intelli-
| gence and care that prevent fires in the
| coal bunkers viii insure against any
| damage from the explosive gases con
| tanned in the oil Where accidents have
| occurred it has invariably been shown
| that some ordinary precaution has been
| overlooked. Similar carelessness on the
| part of water tender would have
| caused boiler explosion, something
| that has not occurred on this coast,
| outside the navy, for many years.
In the matter of economy the use of
liquid fuel in the place of coal on sea-
| going steamships is remarkable. At
a liberal estimate based on practical
experience four and quarter barrel.
Of oil equals one ton of 2240 pounds Of
coal that win eVaporate eight and a
| half pounds of water from and at 21Z
degrees. The four and a quarter bar,
rels of oil VIII weigh 1923 pounds. OF
a saving Of ST. pounds in favor of the
oil.
To illustrate the difference in cost
! the records Of a steamer may be taken
that formerly used 135 tons of coal q
day and is now getting better results
by the use Of 500 barrels Of oil. The
| coal nj Sc - ton cost &q1 u The