El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-08-04

easily supplied TO the ships. both at
sea and in the harbors. It is also used
on the torpedo boats and destroyers
TO make smoke. OF 'smudEe." which
conceals the fleet from the enemy
In addition TO gasoline and fuel oil
IS the enormous demand Tor lubri-
cauts made from petroleum. This
oleaEinous fluid. which comes from
the industrial world 20 round. Every
kind OF machinery. from the tiniesr
watch 10 the biggest steam engine. is
fabricated with H. Tt is used by our
locomotives, our dynamos and in the
machinery OF the submarines cruisers
and battleshlps. Special oils are used
Tor high speed engines and for the
splndles OF our cotton mills There
are oils for low temperature ice ma
chimes, and others for the hot cyIind-
ers Of zas engines. There is not
big gun that sends il prOjectiIe
screaming through the air that does
not move upon a coating Of oil, and
II IS upon such lubricants only that
we can keep moving the industrial
machinery that supplies the demands
Of peace
With electricity and gas one might
think that the consumption Of kero-
sene oil would diminish. This is not
So We are now using more than IS
gallons Of coal oil per family, and e
consume more kerosene per capita
than any other nation in the world.
The use Of coal oil for lighting is in
creasiug among the millions OF Asia
and II China should ever use as much
as We are now doing. fits annual de-
mand Will be more than 11.000,0O0.0 600
gallons That is three times as much
as comes from all the crude oil Of this
country and ten times the amount we
are now exporting.
Must Find New Fields
IN lacL, the consumption Of petrol
cum is already so great that our sup
ply viii be exhausted within a very
few years unless new oil fields are
discovered According 70 figures
given TO congress in 1915. in a report
from secretary Lane a consulting en-
glneer Of the bureau OF mines estI-
mated that our oil supply y as enough
10 last only -s years. and this was
based on the annual product Of 1856
100000 barrels Last year. as 7 have
said. we took out Of the earth almost
100000, 900 barrels. and il this in
crease continues our oil reservoirs
viii be exhausted long before the
time fixed by the geological survey
engineer
We have now ten great oil fields in
the United States There is the Ap-
palachian field. which takes in New
York. Pennsylvania, southeastern
Ohio West Virginia. Kentucky and
Tennessee This produced 24-000.00o
barrels in 1915 There is the Lima
Ind field. which is producing 1000
600 barrels, and the Illinois field,
which produces about rs. 100000 bar
rels. Going farther westward is the
midcontinent field. consisting Of Ok
lahOma and Kansas. It produces 1885,
100000 barrels I'm 1915. and Oklahoma
alone produced almost that much last
year Then there are northern Texas
and nOrthW estern Louisiana, which
produces from 100000 to $1,000 bar
rels. the gulf field. which produced
-HHNU 600 n1WrnNg nd the california
field. whose output is 90,000,oo0 bar
rels and upward.
Fields Becoming Exhausted.
Some Of these fields are increasing
their yield and some are rapidly be
coming exhausted Nearly all OF the
eastern oil fields are wen worked out
To is estimated that more than go per
cent of the oil has been taken out Of
Ohio and Indiana, and that "a per cent
has been taken out OF the Appalach-
ian field. The midcontineut oil SUD
ply is half gone. and 40 per cent Of
that of north Texas has been used in
one way or another Not more than
one third OF the oil of California has
been taken out and We have some
other states which have yet to be
mined. There is some oil in Alaska. J
and also In a number Of other states
OF the west. such as Colorado Mon
taua, Utah and Wyoming Altogether I
the experts have estimated that we
have between 1000. 100000 and $780,
0BO 600 barrels left in the ground. and
that these lie under oil bearing lands
having d total area ABOUT as large
as the state Of Massachusetts
Way BE Petroleum Age.
We are using oil so tast that hen
the history Of our times comes TO be 1
written there may be a period known
as the age Of petroleum The histo-
rians will tell how along about the
beginning of our civil war ne began