The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-14
| MOTORISTS GAN l HELP IN WAR BY ECONOMY. IN CAS-
Bureau of Mines Director Tells How to Assist
 Conservation.

Washington, Aug. 14-If the aute-
 mobile owners of the country will stop
 unnecessary and extravagant pleasure
 riding during the period of the war.
 they will save enough gasoline to take care of all the war needs of the
 United States.
 If the automobile owners and deal- CTS in gasoline handle this most per- feet of all fuels in careful and econo-
 mic manner, they can save enough
 more gasoline to perhaps take care of
 the war needs of the allies.
 The above statements were made by Van H. Manning, Director of the
 Bureau of Mines, Department of the
 Interior after thorough investigation
 of the present gasoline situation.
 "A patriotic, thoughtful and unsel- fish response to these suggestions"
 said MT. Manning. would at once
 solve one of the perplexing problems now before the war making authori- ties. In order that the war may be carried on successfully, the army and navy will habe to have immediately on hand enough gasoline for the aero planes, trucks, automobiles, tractors, and other machines. There must be
 no dtlly-dallying about this supply of gasoline and there won't be. It is estimated tha ttfle army and navy will need for the year, $50 million gallons,
 and there are two ways of obtaining it. In the first place, the joy rider whose pleasure is obtained by cover ing many miles at high speed can l voluntarily give this up; the man who takes his family on Sunday for a fifty mile ride or more can cut this in half: every man who drives machine daily can ask himself if part of his riding can not be obviated. To sum up, every automobile owner and driver can be taught to ask himself each morning whether or not his proposed trip is absolutely necessary, and act accordingly, then the problem is solved, and with only slight voluntary | sacrifices. On the other hand. if the people continue to be thoughtless and Unwilling to do their patriotic bit in this respect, it may be necessary for the United States to tkae drastic ac- 1 tion which will stop excessive pleasure use of all automobiles. This is not yet contemplated, so I understand. but you can see that it is the only alterna- tive for the refusal of the automobile owners to. cooperate and make the l necessary voluntary sacrifices.
 1 It is generally estimated and con~ cededs that one half of the gasoline ] used in the United States Gone billion two hundred and fifty million gallons) is used in pleasure riding. In my
 opinion, g 'judicious use of the auto mobile for this purpose will cut this
 amount of gasoline in half, which
 would mean the saving of more than l rv,fJ1 col oh ;,, | "By real economic use of gaso- 1 line, we can save not only enough to
 supply the United States with suffi- 1 cient for its war needs, but also l enough for the needs of the allies. Here are a few suggestions as to how the latter savings may be made: 1 Don't allow your gasoline engine to run id1e-if every automobile in the United States saved a pint a week, it would amount to- 44O,00O gallons per week, or enough to run 10000 aero planes one day..
 Gasoline is generally used in
 garages for cleaning, when kerosene 1 is really better. It is estimated that $500 gallons of gasoline are wasted per day that could readily be saved.
 l "Leaky carburetors cause losses. Often one finds his tank nearly empty
 in the morning on this account. Form the habit of shutting off the gasoline at the tank. It is difficult to estima te the loss from this leakage, but it will
 be generally conceded that one half l pint lost in such manner in a week 1 by each carburetor is low. At this
 rate, however, a waste of 31 400 gal Ions per day is nited.
 "In a motor, by judicious regulation of the gasoline relative to the amount ' of air, greater power and economy of l fuel can be obtained. If but one tenth of one per cent. increase in ef- 1 f1ciency Is obtained, 1870 gallons of gasoline will be saved each day.
 This general warning does not mean that automobile owners should | lay up their cars and it does not mean l that anyone should change his mind about purchasing a car, but it does
 mean that everyone must be thought full and judicious in the use of them.
 In other words if the man with the
 car can be impressed with his duty in 1 the premises, if he can realize his patriotic duty, and act accordingly, then there will be no problem, for the
 United States is blessed with won derful supply of gasoline.''