The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1920-05-28
SHORTAGE OF
GASOLINE HERE

Mlnden is the first local dealer in
gasoline to call attention to the fact
that "A great shortage of fuel for COM
bustible engines exists and urges upon
.all to exert every possible effort to
curtail the consumption, In order to
avoid famine of gasoline.
The shortage of gasoline has reach
ed serious stage and unless auto
mobile owner cut down the -consump-
tlon in every possible way. IL is an
nounced that before fall 1t will be
impossible TO secure gasoline at all,
especially for uses that are termed
non essential. The big oil concerns
announce that motor trucks and com
mercial cars will be given preference
over automobiles used exclusively for
pleasure purposes. which of course
means that unless automobile owners
curtail the amount of gas being used
by them, the oil companies will do IL
for them.
Much as four months ago the Stand
ard Oil company announced that a
shortage of oil existed and urged auto
mobile owners to cut down the con-
sumption In every possible way.
There are more motor-cars than
there is gasoline to run them. Motor
lists compete for the supply. and the
mi m
try TO eke out the supply with infer
ior hydrocarbons. and the quality goes
down. Hence. things are as they are
and very unsatisfactory the motorist
finds them. Shall we notify Uncle
Henry and other manufacturers TO stop
making cars Won't some one dis
cover more oil-wells? Can we get
more gasoline out of the present pe-
troleum product. Why not lln some
Of our cars with Diesel engines. which
use the heavier fuel-o.ls? What Is the
outlook for tar and alcohol as practi-
cal motor-fnels? An analysis o. the
situation. with answers to these and
other questions.N is given by con-
tributor to The Scientific American
tNew York;. who make his conclus-
ions clearer by graphic illustrations.
They are not as optimistic as motor
lists could wish. and yet they are not
entirely compact of gloom. We read .
Gasoline. as we all know. is pro-
duet OF petroleum A good many of
us. however. have probably not reaIiz-
ed that gasoline is not the sole con-
eern of the petroleum industry, or
even its chief concern. Crude petrol
cum. in fact. is = thick. oily liquid. of
no definite composition at all. II is
not even a single chemical compound.
but highly complex mixture of many
compounds. Almost all OF these
constituents evaporate with more or
les ease ordinary atmospheric tenn
peratures.
all possess different eyaperating points
all posses different evaporating points
so that II the crude petroleum is left
open and free to behave according to
its nature--its various fractions as
they are called. will pass OK into thin
air, one after another. The process
OF refining of which we hear so much
consists merely in controlled and ac-
celerated fractional distillation. so that
one after another of the constituents
pass on. the lightest first. followed by
the others In order. to be collected at
the otter side OF the apparatus. The
first item to go over is the natural
gas which is always present in some
proportion; this is followed by the
various liquid members OF the alliance
and at length there is left only the
solid residue of paraffin wax or as
phalt. as the case may be.
All fractions are used for some
thing. The gasoline with which we
run our motor-cars and airplanes its
merely one of the fractions with
whose uses we are most familiar be-
cause they touch us most Immediately.
But OF an importance little. II any.
less Is the fuel-oil fraction, which
VIII not yolatilize readily enough to
be used in the automobile engine. but
Continued OH Page Three)