The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-02-13
IS KEROSENE THE
COMING FUEL?

COMING FUEL?
A bet that no real sporting man
would think of taking in these days,
Lest he should be designated as skin,
is that the price Of gasoline will be
higher tomorrow than it is to-day.
Some embittered autoiStS are speaking
Of the day as not far distant when
gasoline can be purchased only for
an equal weight of radiun. The price
OF gasoline began to go UP some time
this there have been discussions as to
whether mechanical device could not
be produced in which kerosene could
be used a substitute for gasoline.
Motor Age reports that carburetor
enthusiasts in many states are exper-
imenting with enbryotic kerosene car
bureters and obtaining generally good
results. These inventors realize how
much success would mean to them,
inasmuch as the price of. kerosene is
eight cents per gallon, while that of
1--WE; moreover, greater mileage could
be obtained from kerosene, gallon for
gallon. than from gasoline.
It Is not entirely an undeveloped
field The various agricultural com
petitions of the past summer, in which
asoline-propelIed tractors using kerr
utmost success. nearly AL Of them
starting on gasoline and switching on
TO kerosene after the motor has warm
ed up. The switching from one fuel
to another has been so simplihed that
it is not any more difficult than
switching from a battery to a. mag
tank Is readily Incorporated with the
main fuel tank, and a small quantity
of fuel Is sufficient for many weeks of
starting
experimenters in America in which the
starting gasoline tank is eliminated
ana the use Of gasoline confined to
printing the cylinders.
With such carbureterS not more than
three minutes are needed to sufficient
~ warm the motor 50 as to permit
used for printing purposes, it would
seem desirable to use it as fuel for
three or four minutes after starting,
50 that scarcely any delay, more than,
day, would be necessary
CarDureter engineers are approach
ing the kerosene fuel problem from
different viewpoints, only some of
which have come to the public atten-
ton to date. There are several who
are experimenting with heat that is
sene up to a certain mark before
spraying or mixing it with air, the
assumption being that the fuel must
be vaporiZed before Lningling with the
air, otherwise it is considered difncuIt
to get economic consumption. The heat
question is one Of easy solution, as
almost inexhauEtibIe heat, sufficient at
all times to give any desired tenpera-
ture to the fuel.
While some are. experimenting with
heat, others are entirely ignoring it
and aim to produce a new carbureter,
which, because of Its inherent design,
will be capable of handling kerosene
in a manner as satisfactorily as the
carbureter to-day dtspenses the gaso-
line.
No matter what may be the carbu-
reter solution, one thing Is certain
the arbureter-makers. some of them
at least, will be equal to any eInergen-
cy that the fuel situation may de-
n1and. With every step in the use of
heavier gasoline there has been the
general cal-to-armS Of carbureter
brains, with good results; and even if
May were to see a general intro
duction of real kerosene it would find
many satisfactory carbureting devices
capable of handling It,