New-York tribune., 1918-05-05

pected that II the fuel were what its
inventor says it is it would by now
be in all the gas tanks and all the
garages.
That may be, and yet laughing days
are past. 1t would have been a joke,
through the very clumsiness and ef-
frontery of it, if Enricht had been
found to be using two fuel tanks-a
dummy filled with his own compound
and plain water on the side, and one
filled with gasolene, which really did
the work.
Naturally, that was the first thought
of those who watched Enricht's early
demonstrations. There had been gaso-
lene substitutes before his. Out in
Pittsburgh, for instance, a poor but
hopeful inventor had kept an internal
combustion engine running for days
on end with fuel made up, like En-
RIGHTS, of lots of water and a very
little of something else. Then an cx-
pert took the engine apart one after
noon when the inventor had stepped
out and found where the real fuel came
from. 1t was gasolene, fed through q
very tiny lead from a gravity tank in
another part of the building.
Yes, If Enricht were just an adauter
OF that old trick it would have been a
joke. But he wasn't an adapter. If he
hadn't invented something useful, he at
any rate had invented a remarkable
puzzle.
Effects
Stage
He had little cycle car which
figured most frequently in the demon
stratlons. With much the air of a
magician showing the inside and out
side of the hat from which rabbits
would presently be springing, he would
raise the hood, poke about in the gaso-
line tank with ruler as his wand, up-
end the machine and invite examination
OF the running gear for concealed
power.
Then to the old pump. A minute Of
effort at the handle and water would be
spouting forth, clear and cool.
"Drink!"
You drank. 1t certainly wasn't raso-
line or anything of the sort. 1t was
plain water, good water.
From that same stream bucket
would be filled and its contents poured
into the cycle cars tank. A small
bottle containing greenish fluid would
be shaken over the mouth of the tank.
The mixture in the tank would be
stirred, the cap affixed. A twist at the
crank would start the engine, with a
curl of vapor that smelt vaguely sweet
shooting from the exhaust. Your atten-
tion was invited. to the odor of the
vapor Then off you went, to expert
ence just the same sort of ride you
would of had if you'd been covering
the same roads in cycle car run by
gasoline.
Perhaps there would be a little of
the fuel left in the tank when you re-
turned. Enricht then would drain it at
once through a pet cock and watch it
disappear into the earth.
II must be so careful" he would say
eff few drops of the fluid gets into
other hands my secret is gone. It is
easily to analyze, and do not know
how l shall protect myself"
That, when you talked it out with
him, and considered the problem from
the inventors viewpoint, was one of
the great arguments for secrecy, valid
reason why there might be delays to
giving the boon of "Cent-a- Gallon Gas"
to the public.
Formula Is
Simple. but
How could the secret be protected !?
That was the question. The ingred-
tents, Enricht explained, were simple.
They could be bought at any drug store.
A child could mix them in the proper
proportions. There was nothing to pre-
vent automobile owners from doing
that very thing.
If Enricht's discovery was worth any
thing it was worth millions to the
world. Yet it was extremely hard to
see where he could make it worth any
thing to himself.
OF course, government might buy it
and pass it on to the people as a free
gift. Enricht had thought of that. Or
mightn't wealthy and public-spiritcd
man, who could appreciate the inven-
tors dilemma, win the undying graft
tude of the public by doing the same
thing? A wealthy man, say, who made
cheap cars and would like to see them
run cheaply? Enricht may or may not
have thought of that.
Anyhow, along came Henry Ford.
Ford joy-rided many mile under
the impulse of the Enricht fluid. He
hunted and hunted for the joker, and
he couldn't find it. He put Enricht into
possession of a brand new fiivver
straight from the shops; and Enricht
poured water into it's in'ards, and
added little of the green stuff, stirred
the mixture, turned the crank, and of
he and Henry went.
Now, this is a peculiar sort of story