Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-03-06
PLAN TO MAKE
OIL FROM SHALE
Great Industry May Be Born as
Result of Experiments
Being Made.
DEPOSITS IN THREE STATES
Decrease of Supply of Petroleum and
Products and Ever Increasing
Demand Makes Substitution
Necessary for Years.

Salt Lake City, Utah.-Oil shnle
must be looked to, probably for years
to come, to supply increasing demands
for and lessenrd supply of petroleum
and its products. Salt Lake City seems
to be the natural center for expert
mentatiOn and exploitation of an in
dustry which is not yet BON in this
country, although manufacture of oil
from shale has been conducted on
commercial basis in Scotland for GO
years.
In Colorado, Utah and Nevada. east,
west and south of Salt Lake City, are
shale deposits of unknown ma&nit lde
and of richness surprising that of
shales known elsewhere. OH shall" Is
common and general term for '"v-
eral different geological formations
different in appearance and In gum
content
Without attempting any elaborate
description. 1t will be sufficient to say
that the Colorado deposit IS found in
dense masses of black rock, often with
a considerable fossil content. Some
southern Utah shale appears IN broad
strata two or three inches thick, light
gray in color, and may be extracted
and handled like great planks, while
the Nevada deposit pronounced rich
est Of alD appears In sheets rarely
more than half an inch thick, OF fine,
even texture resembling an oil stone
in iS
broken, even with the fingers.
Different Productive Methods.
Chemists say different methods or
reduction win be necessary in the
utilization of these various forms OF
gum.containing rock. A greater part
Of all experimentation by competent
persons in the United States has oc.
Cured in the chemical laboratory OF
the University of Utah, In Salt Lake
City. Here DR.. w. y. Bonner, consult.
Ing chemist to the bureau Of mines,
department OF the interior. in charge
Of laboratory investigation, is the au.
thority. DR.. Quinn Is his assistant.
A fact which has been widely herald.
ed, but which is pronounced of va i'm.
portance by the chemists, is that
small shale reduction plant WAS built
at the university about year ago. 1t
Is not used now, nor did Its use ever
have any special significance. To he
even more plain. the fact Of this small
retort having been built ut the univrr'
sity was seized upon by some nro'
moters of "Shale Oil' companies ana
considerable advertising matter has
been circulated regarding an "induS
try" which does not exist.
The proper method OF, reduction (de'
structive distillation Is the chemical
tcrm) of oil shales of the United
STATES has not been determined. Re
fnjnp of the resultant crudes has not
been satisfactorily accomplished
Chemists anticipate no difficulty In
perfecting those processes-bnt 1t has
not vet been done.
Crude Oils Vary.
The product of oil shale after de
structive dstillation" and retorting Is
a heavy, thick. dark oil, resembling in
many ways the petroleum known as
fuel oil: and it may be used as such
These crude oils vary, as may he sup
posed according to the shales from
which they are produced, They smell
more like asphalt than petroleum..
An immense amount of gas is liber
ated by the dstillation. Some enrhust
asts believe this gas will he sufficient
fuel supply for the retort furnaces. but
I'm this the chemists do not agree. The
idea savors too much Of perpetual mo-
ton. Important by-products are paraf
fin and ammonium sulphate. 1t is also
considered probable some form Of com