The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1918-09-20
OIL DIRECTOR TELLS
WHY WE MUST HAVE
GASLESS SUNDAYS
by II. Y. McCRAY.
Oil Supply Investigator for The News
DaNer ENTERPRISE ASs'n.)

Washington. Sept. 20.-The import
ance of gasoline in the conduct OF the
war is more and more visible in WASH
ington every day.
When the allies began their Offen-
sive on the western front 1t was on
comparatively short line, but this
has increased and is nov three or four
times greater than when the drive
began five weeks ago.
The trucks that this country has
sent over by the> thousands upon
thousands are taking the place OF rail-
roads. which the Germans are Destroy
ing on their retreat. The allies do
not take time to rebuild the railroads.
They don't have to. But it takes gas
oline to do all this.
The man who saves gasoline on
Sunday is helping to furnish the pow
er to keep up the western offensive.
The government is not making pub
lie it's gasoline requirements i'll the
war, but it is known that they have
increased tremendously in the past
three or four weeks.
.,t Gasoline Conference On.
The international petroleum confer
ence of London has sent a committee
to Washing ton to determine what the
gasoline requirement of the allies is.
They are now discussing daily the
growing needs of this government, as
we'll as the needs Of Britain and
France In announcing this. Federal
Oil Director NJ. L. Requa said:
"Gasoline is becoming such ma
terial factor and requirements are on
such large scale that the time has
come when the allies must figure out
this source of power far into the fu-
ture.
1T is not only for use in the trucks
that we need the gasoline. but because
we are going to have supremacy in
the air. In fact, supremacy in the
air is going to be the greatest factor
in, the war from now on.
1--WE WANT THE PEOPLE OF
THIS COUNTRY TO KEEP rHEN-
SELVES PERFECTLY LIQUID RE-
GARDING GASOLINE. We want them
to be prepared to switch to any re-
quirement which the government ma!
find necessary.
I'VE may have to ask users OF auto
mobiles to conserve one week, and to
conserve even more the following
week. and then we may find 1t un-
necessary to conserve the week after
that; in other words, no one can tell
just what conditions are going to be-
and the best we can all do is to keep
ourselves in readiness to meet what
ever comes l.
Consumption Of gasoline is increas-
ing at a greater rate than production,
Requa explained, and that as long as
this continues it would not only be un-
wise, but unpatriotic, to do other than
save and conserve.
War Keeps Price Down!
Il believe" said Requa, that il
there hadn't been any war the price
of gasoline would have been higher
than it is now, because for some time
we have been consuming more than
we have produced"
Although Requa would. make no
statement regarding the price of gas
oline in the future, it would not be
surprising if the government put into
effect the standardization Of this COM
modify like any other so necessary in
the conduct of the war.
The country's reserve stock of gas
oline, according to oily producers, is
in about the same condition as last
year. This country produces about
$40, 900, 900 barrels of crude oil in a
year and about Is per cent OF this
amount is turned into gasoline, or
about 51,000.000 barrels. The coun