Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-06-26
PLENTY Of GASOLINE
IN UNITED STATES
H. n. Partineton. Following In
vest;gation. DiSsipatcs False
Rumor Cf Scarcity

Tier" plenty af sas'hnc Y II" n'i"d
II ties Il Mil continue to hc plentiful
.ud tlcrt I~ 30 reason 80 believe That aIy-
rilug could u"rur THAT Wut.ld result ln
short gc. according to Harry y Parting
ton ui the Gromcry schwartz Go. ~..o
has mad, thorough Investigation, winch
h~ ruahiy,l Aim tp entirely dt-~ipate the
uHf5 that there was ~rarritN or that
h cro would " prohllHt,lc tax
" & constantly iic.r stories 90 the effect
that there Is shortage % gasoline,
Mr. harrington sand There is nothing
to them Nc hear more storics - tie
effect that gasoline YlIl be taNed C'nc
story had II that pTohlmuvc TAX would
tie placed On II commencing Ju'v II
There i nothing 10. suppose.
for a u4ucbt that We Examine into sta
tissues Ict US tind out the truth or the
matter. and once and Tor All Kill tins
gaSoiIuc ~.lortaE, myth
Tod..1. TIE rc;lners Of tho country nave
b.3N3,,}SI gallons oi gasoline stored
away for future llSc On December 81,
1917. tie total amount of gasoline IN
storage amounted 10 4l2 .i26, S,13 gallons
Between the end of last wear and the pres
cIt tut-~r stocks of gasoline have increased
II4.l2J,.,.l3 gallons Ia short We are
producing t..r more han We are using up
rude oil Is the has, from which
gasoline is produced During the month
of march, which Is the latest month Tor
which United States government figures
are available there Were taken from
the earth % 239. 062 barrels Allowing
81 gallons to the barrel. this - 81 .@S},-
100 gallons To ger this down 10 figures
that Ne can grasp, ict us say that during
March the refiuers took an average of
- .}32 .050 gallons 3 day out Of the
ground Tins Is 2000,0O0 gallons per
day more than was produced IN March
1917
The production Of crude oil viii 20
on increasing Production Of oil has been
clasS5ed by the War Industries Board as
highly essential 70 the government
program for the prosecution Of the war
The nited States Fuel Administration
has stated that il Will see that the oil
industry is adequately supplied with all
the steel it needs 10 push production and
open up uew wells Oil is on the pre-
ferred list Further The government
is today short Of fuel oil This is crude /
oil after the lighter dlstllates have been
taken out, such a. gasoline, kcroslne,
etc Crude oil Is too volatile 70 be burn
ed under boIers III ships and for other
industrial purposes In short, IN order
to produce the required quantity Of fuel
oil, the rehners must produce gasoline
They must 70 on producing It ia ever
increasing quantities.
las for the tax: Leading oil men say !
that such legislation never would be /
enacted and if such tax were levied it
would be very small one which would |
be designed purely to produce revenue
and not to stop the use Of gasoline
ANY prohibitive tax which was placed !
on gasoline would defeat its own object
ii would clrtail the lse Of gasoline and /
great stocks would pile Up just as great
stocks Of kerosene piled up b few years
ago For don't forget that the United |
States Navy and the nayics Of our Allies /
must have fuel oil And you cant |
make fuel oil without making gasoline.
But this is no time 10 waste gasoline
This il the time everything must be con
served Dealers must educate owners
to the necessity Of eliminating waste
to the need Of using every drop. Kill all
idle engines There ls no shortage now,
but don't let us waste the fuel we have