Williston graphic., 1919-05-15

so that in time it would
be the preferred fuel in many of these
districts. Now, that matter was up
last year and was little bit confused
in the minds of some with the present
100000 investigation. This investi-
cation is to cease, and we are obliged
by the bill to sell the plant or what
ever tangible assets there are after
a certain period. Mr.. Darling and I
have gone over the State of Texas
pretty we'll, and find some very inter-
esting locations there. We have been
to Grand Forks, Minot, Williston, and
are going to Glendive, New Salem,
Bismark-any more, Mr.. Darling?
Mr.. Darling: "About a dozen!
((Laughter.)
Mr.. Hood: "Now, we find that in
every place there is a special prob
lem. We have on cut-and-dried, blue
printed plan to set down for any
particular locality. We are spying
out the land to find that position
where it seems to us a success will be
most easily achieved. This matter
has been tried a number of times
that is to say, there is nothing es-
pecially new in this problem Of get
ting more out of fuel than simply raw
heat,-burning the raw material. It
is problem that has been forced up
on other people that had a limited
supply Of coal. am told that in Ger
many they have almost prohibited. the
use of raw material. l am in hopes
the time will ocme in this country
when it will be just as unusual to use
raw fuel as it would be to see a man
when he is hungry 60 out and catch
the first cow and begin to nibble the
raw meat. Of course, that looks a
long way ahead, and it is a long
ways ahead. But Mr.. Darling has
stated fact when he has said that
our raw fuels that have valuable
mterials in them, the total value of
the products that may be taken out
of these fuels is such as will make
the present fuels-the selling price of
the present fuels look ridiculous.
"The ammunition of Germany, the
dye industry, the development of
medicinals-those are the three legs
of the tripod on which Germany de-
veloped her military state. She look
ed a long ways a ahead and knew
that in time of stres these three could
be converted into military industries.
We have nothing of the sort in this
country.
"Now, Done of the thngs-this pro-
gram is not particularly newt has
been tried in this country, and the
time seemed hardly to be ripe; the
amount of cheap fuel available in this
country did not make the briquetting
process successful. A number of these
have filed,-there is one in your
State that did not get along very
well. In the last two or three years,
however, some of these plants in the
East have begun to pay very well.
The rise in the price of fuel believe
has come to stay. We don't any Of
US like it-but we have to face it,
and there is a splendid thing about
and look into the power plants, you
will find it region of cheap fuel, -
that. AS you go from place to place
you will find cheap machinery, cheap
operatives, inefficiency. When you
go into the region of higher fuel costs
you will find better machinery, high
er cost men and greater care for ma
terial, and the overall cost of the
power is not SO very much greater
than in the place where the fuel is
very cheap. Now, that is a good
thing, to overcome shiftlessness, and
as a matter of training people in ef-
ficiency and carefulness there is a
value in this rise in the price of fuel.
While we don't like it, we will doubt
less adapt ourselves to it, and in the
end will profit by it.
"These dreams such as Mr.. Brug-
ger has had, are not impossible
dreams, and it is in the hope that the
time is ripe for making them reali-
ties that we are trying to find a place
where we can do it.
'This 100000, we might say, has
no strings on it. It is not limited as
to time; we are told how we shall
use it; it is up to the judgment of the
Engineering Bureau as to how it shall
best be used. We can spend that
100000 in doing some very desirable
work in the laboratory, and wind up
with a nice reporter two or three
reports, for tha tmatter. But we are
doubling whether any more of this
kind of information is needed just
now. We are in hopes that there has
been enough Of the investigative work
to form a basis of at least trial, and
we do believe this one plant, some
where in tn ecountry, can be put on a
commercial basis and report turned
out that will show balance of pro-
fit, and that when that report falls
into the hands of business men who
have been dreaming this dream, they
will put their money into this busi-
ness and develop products that will
make our little 100000 look small.
''That is the problem before us. In