Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1919-05-09
PLAN TO MAKE
OIL FROE,lI SSIIAlE.
Great Industry HAY Be Born as
Result of Experiments
Being Made.
DEPOSITS IN THREE STATES
Decrease of Supply OF Petroleum anu
Products and Ever Increasing
Demand Makes Substitution
Necessary for Years.

| | b BE-. F. .
Salt Lake City, Utah.-Oil shale
must be looked to, probably for years
to come, to supply increasing demands
for. and lessened supply of petroleum
and it's products. Salt Lake City seems
to be the natural center for expert
mentation and exploitation of an in
dustry which is not yet born in this
country, although manufacture of oil
from shale has been conducted on a
commercial basis in Scotland for 60
years.
In Colorado, Utah and Nevada, east,
west and south Of Salt Lake City. are
shale deposits Of unknown magnitude,
and of richness surprising that Of
shales known elsewhere. Oil shale is
a common and general term for sew
eral different geological formations
different in appearance and in gum
content.
Without attempting any elaborate
description, it will be sufficient to say
that the Colorado deposit is found in
dense masses Of. black rock, often with
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 ally appears in sheets rarely,
more than half an inch thick, Of fine,
even texture resembling an oil stone
and dark brown in color. It is readily
broken, even with the fingers.
Different Productive Methods.
Chemists say different methods Of
reduction will be necessary in the
utilization of these various forms Of
gum-containing rock. A greater part
Of all experimentation by competent
persnns in the United States has oc-
Cured IN the chemical laboratory Of
the University Of Utah, in Salt Lake
City. Here Dr. w. D. 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 no i'm
portance by the chemists, Is that u
small shale reduction plant was built
at the university about year ago. It
Is not used now. nor did its use ever
have any special significance. To be
even more plain, the fact of this small
retort having been built at the unfver-
sity was seized upon by some pro-
moters Of ''shale oil" companies and
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
term) Of oil shales of the United
States has not been determined. Re
filming of the resultant crudes has not
been satisfactorily accomplished.
Chemists anticipate no difficulty in
perfecting these processes-but it has
not yet been done.
Crude Oils Vary.
]. The product of oil shale after de
structiye distillation" and ret0rtinE 10
q heavy, thick, dark oil, resembling in
many ways the petroleum known 40
fuel oil; and 1t may be used as such.
These crude oils vary, as may be 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 distillation. Some enthusi-
asts believe this gas will be sufficient
fuel supply for the retort furnaces, but
in 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.o Of COM
mercial fertilizer will be obtained.
Several bona fde experimental shale
reduction plants are now being con-
structed in the three states mentioned.
Chemists of the bureau of mines
are agreed that the greatest hindrance
that could occur to the legitimate de-
velopment Of slale oil industry in the
United States would be any extensive
sswildcatting" that is, selling of stock
in imaginative shale oil plants, or
even In plants to be erected by unin-
formed persons and which may be |
held out to be practical commercial
ventures. A stale oil plant is an ex-
pertinent in this country ut the present
time, nothing more.
q In order to encourage legitimate and
practical experimentation, an effort
will. be made to induce congress to
make an appropria ton to assist re-
sponsible companies.
Let the fact be clearly stated that
manufacture Of oil from shals must
be, 10 far. as Is now known, one Of the |
greatest industries In years to come.
Plants which are understood to be *
detrimental are perfectly legitimate
now. They, are good businesses. But
evidences Of wiIdcatting are abundant,
and they will tend to dlscredit the en-
tire business and cause 1t to be looked |
upon for long time, perhaps, as
gamble, Just as wildcat mines and oil |
wells have caused many people with |
money to Invest to view all such
with suspicion.
Kills Dig Bald Eagle.
Independence. Mo.-A bald eagle, |
three feet from the beak to the tip q