New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-20
High Price of Gasoline Worries
English Motorists.
MULF0RD TO DRIVE MERCER
Former Star of Lozier Team Will
Handle Trenton Car in
Tacoma Race.


Recent advances in the price OF ga soIen.
| in this country have led some America,
motorists to believe that they have been
unlucky in choosing automobiing as
| means OF relaxation. II is a fact that
gasolene is much higher now than fcw
years ago. English users Of cars. however
are paying double the price. and Their, I,
nothing to show that the quality Of The
| fuel furnished them Is any higher than
that handed out in the United States
Comparing conditions in the two countrieg.
an English writer complains that the rezu-
lations for storing abroad are both ungiss
| and expensive. He writes:
| while many motorists at home are com.
| planning concerning the cost Of petrol
which ranges in this country to-day as
! high as IS cents a gallon despite the con
clusion Of the coal strike, few are aware
! that the same fuel costs II cents o gallon
in New York, and the price has not many
weeks ago been only cents gallon
| there. Plainly, therefore, something must
he rotten In the state Of Denmark for SUCH
a condition OF affairs to obtain when the
| tax on petrol IL only cents a gallon
which would mean that Al the current New
York prices. and allowing for the British
| gallon TO be larger than the American one
we should be paying IA cents a gallon for
| our petrol In place of anything UP 70 y
| cents, with some talk OF yet dearer prices
| What is the explanation? Actually there
are many explanations The first Is that
| petrol has TO be brought over here in
| specially built steamers. and that TIE resoI.
| lations that obtain in this country for the
handling and storing Of fuel are extremely
bad and add enormously to the cost ] viii
! give an example merely Of the ignorance
| OF local authorities by citing the cs,n -
| the Ford Company's works In Manchest.r.
| where they naturally require 10 stora petrol
in bulk. I was surprised TO find that the
| huge tank sunk In the ground had. bv
| order Of the local authorities an air space
! round II between It's exterior and the eart1
| pit I'm which IL was buried, with tn. resut
Of course. that II there we're 20 be any
| escape of fuel highly explosiv, mxu;s
would be generated IN the space in CUES.
! tion.
| In America, where they are much more
| sensible and ebusnesslike. when storing
petrol in the bulk you simply bury your
| huge tank in the ground with the earth
| tight up round II, which Is mucn cheaper
, method, incidentally involving a less costly
type Of tank and insuring that there shall
be no possibility of fuel escaping into a
| region where ii could possibly mix with
air and form an explosive mixture 50
TOO. with the manner I'm which the tank
steamers are handicapped as 10 landing tie
fuel, the hopeless facilities for sending f.
I'm bulk by rail and the inadequate ar.
rangements for enabling it to he stored IN
bulk I'm the big centres, with an incidental
! Industrial result that in the case Of Sig
transport strikes motor vehicles are rrec.
tically useless after the first week or So
simply because there IL no fuel available
about the country for running them
Ralph Milford, the driver who turred 70
Knox car after the Lozier company had
Withdrawn from racing, has made another
change. lie has signed 10 drive a Mercer
in the Tacoma road race, and II the little
car runs Its usual high class race II is
quite possible that he will be seen at its
wheel in other contests.
Hughie Hughes. the Mercer pilot, left
Win illS IuOllll LOT ldtOTnd ldst week, ana
on his arrival there he will begin tuning
up Immediately. II Is expected that the
| course will be nearly as fast as the famous
Santa Monica circuit, where Mercer race.
about on May created a new record for
2O0-inch cars by going 1915 miles at an
average speed Of 1914 miles an hour.
The Montamara course Is approximately
fye-mlle circuit, and there are some
| splendid stralghtaways. where record
| breaking speed is expected. IL Is said that
at no point will this course be less than
| thirty feet wide, and there are stretches
double that width. The Mercer Hughes
combination will be seen In the llght car
and frec-for- all-events.
The Goodyear solid demountable tire for
trucks is the result of six years Of expert.
menting and service. The most important
| feature OF this tire. and one which dis
tlnguishes II from other metal base tires.
is IN the fact that the Akron concern hs'
solved the problem Of uniting perfectly the
soft rubber tread with the steel. through
an intermediate stratum OF hard ruooef'
which combines with metal in manner
similar to ferrO-concrete.
p. W. Litchheld. the factory manager
visited Europe in 1896. and brought back
with him the idea OF the hard rubber base
tire Since then the experimental depart
ment has studied carefully and found the
means OF best uniting hard rubber "tn
steel After eXacting tests under All Apo'
OF service conditions the tire recently nas
been placed on the market and Is nhoins
favor among truck manufacturers.