The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-11-08

supplemented cniefly in three -.
In the first place. motor fue, y
be obtained from coal nv -.
It and also from natural -.
Their Of these sources offers .
ton Of the problem, of corr.
cause the coal and gas supplt:
inadequate. But they viii -
Especially important is tn ~
Of the tendency to coke all c s.ss l.
fore 1t is used as, furnace fssl
In the second place, va h,,.
deposits Of shales contaiiin, y.
leum which science has TOM
of extracting. The supply = 80
oil shaies is vastly greetar
that in the known fields Of - y
These oil shales have rensss.s
been held up as a complet = ~
Of the problem. As a ms,.s
fact, they are no immediate nm.
at all. The extraction Of IN
the shafes is hardly on q CO..
ciai DaAs YET, and the more diRr,,
Of the shales would take almes
many men as it takes to az = |
coal supply. 1t is reasonaSL !. !
hope that the oil shales Vim nv
mately supply a large part a ~
needs for petroleum, and it II Asll
f0rting to know that this ~ y
tential supply is at hand IN on III
country; but it must be borns ~
mind that we have not vet lea,,.s'|
how to get at this treasure
The use of alcohol az 4 NJ,
fuel. and even as a source a IN
power, has also been tho suhssl
Of much misrepresentation. Aic
hol can be made from most ~
table matter, and vegetable matts,
renews itself indefinitely. ~.
fore, here is theoretically an hs.J
haustible source of motor fuel IA,
here, again, the whole technIaue h
producing the fuel remains % y
discovered. Alcohol is now vutl
three times as much as essoHpa|
From the leaves OF forest -
enough alcohol could be mr. 3
run all the Automobiles in tho ccup.
try but the cost of gathering ~
leaves is prohibitive. Enough m.
table matter goes to waste on firm
and in sawmills to make an aleoad
supply adequate for our motor fuel
needs, but here again the cot d
gathering this widely scattava
material and making it into alcoAuI
is prohibitive.
Industry Lays.
The inertia of our industrial N
tenn must be taken into accoun
here. Government bureaus are Do
ing a little experimental work q
both Oil shales and alcohol produe
ton, but not much. II scientific
commissions of the highest chasac
| ter were constituted to look int
| these matters, and were given d
necessary funds to make expxi
meats on a commercial scale, =
would certainly progress more rsp
fidly toward a solution of the mott
| fuel problem. But the interest
that sell US our fuel at high price
are not interested in creating lara
supplies of cheap fuel, nor do ths
care to have the government do !
And the government dances moi
! to their music than to the som
/ what vague and discordant tuE
which arises from the mass Of Il
consumers.
There are enormous supplies
fuel in other parts of the wor
than the United States, but obtal
ing a share of this supply is con
plicated by considerations OF intg
national policy and of commend
expediency. Besides, an auton
nous supply of fuel is an advana
in peace and a necessity in VA.
The situation may be sized up
saying that no great shortage
sudden exhaustion Of the oil 81
ply is apt to occur; but temporl
shortages and disturbing vacill
tions in price are almost certa
to occur. The supply of motor n
probably can be sustained inde
nitely, and whether this is DO
and how well depends largely@p
how the supply is administered
the government and by private
terests wA control it: This ADM
istrati0n in turn probably Deepen
upon how we'll the average CO
Isumer understands his own inter'
lin the matter and how vigorous
hhe asserts it.