The Washington herald., 1921-02-21
WEIGH SUGGESTS
CUREFOR PRESENT
FUEL SHORTAGE
Petroleum Institute Head
Makes Public First of
Oil Reports.
NEEDED
Government Must Cooperate
With Business at Home and
! Abroad, He Declares.

NEW YORK. Feb. Scr. l.
elch. general secretary and coun-
Pf the American Petroleum In-
te. today makes public the first
Pn of his forthcoming report.
report. which will be published
fer days. will cover the oil sit
in the United States andre
the work of the institute since
ins<6rmation on March 20. 1918.
The portion Of the report made
public today deals with ths remedy
for the present fuel shortage. on
which subject 1t says:
The remedy for the present fuel
shortage lies in the hands Of the
following: First. the government of
the United States must cooperate
with the oil business and with the
automotive engineers at home and
abroad IL the gasoline problem Is to
be solved Second, the greatest pos
sible efficiency must be gotten by
the automotive industry and by
the consumer from motor fuel or it
will not be solved. Third, the oil
. industry must be more efficient and
must get more gasoline from each
barrel of crude. Referring to the
efficiency of the products of the au-
tomotive industry, Mr.. Welch gives
as his personal opinion the need to
II
merican public to have their motor
ars with motors developing 10 or
o-horsepower which are operated
enerally at twenty miles an hour.
Greater Engine Emciency.
The time has now come when.
pm the oil mans aspect. it would
m as though the problem of the
motive engineer is to build en-
that instead of going from
to twelve miles on a gallon
hsolile will go twenty to thirty
nh1es on the same amount, and that
the problem is not to build engines
to burn refined oil, or some product
of petroleum other than the present
motor fuels, as at the present time
there is not enough petroleum to go
around and to meet all require
ments.
With the speed limits of automo-
bfles fixed at about twenty five miles
an hour. and with the crowded con-
dition of our city streets and roads
today making il unsafe to drive very
much faster. why is 1t not necessary.
advisable and practicable to cut
down very materially the consump-
!. tion of gasoline by all types of au-
tomobiles, by the more efficient use
OF fuel? Should not the horse
power of the heavy cars be cut down.
and could not the cheaper and
lighter cars be so equipped as to get
all the speed desirable from a very
much smaller amount of gasoline
ban is now used?
Many Millions of Engises-
We now have about 100000 au-
mobiles going around in this coun-
y We are also turning out a
Iuple of million more per year.
Il use the ordinary grades of gaso-
ne. Some millions of stationary
Internal combustion engines are
kunning. 1t is apparent that we are
Eroine to have from 100000 to
I2. .OOO, 600. maybe $4,000, 900 engines
OF the ordinary type in the United
states using the ordinary grades of
gasoline before anybody can do more
than think about revolutionizing the
engine so as to use an oil which
might be classified roughly as a
combination of gasoline, kerosene
and gas oil
The immediate problem, therefore,
lis to use refining methods that will
tmake internal combustion engine
fuel out Of the largest practicable
traction of crude. and broadly speak
ing, that fraction would exist no
longer IL we revolutionized the en-
gine.N
Conference for Co-operatien.
what is the cooperation in which
designer of the engine can give
public and the oil industry as
tance? This whole thing must
looked after from the aspect of
public at large.
In my judgment the problem In
he use of oil Is primarily one of
onseryation in its use. We should
bone that a public demand will come
for an automobile or an engine that
will be more efficient than those We
have been using.
Numerous conferences on motor
fuel problems have been held with
representatives Of the automotive
industry.
A meeting of the committees rep
,esenting the two organizations<will
nc held in the near future for the
nurpose Of reporting progress upon
me fundamental problems of the
two Industries. and especially for
, tbs purpose of taking the ques-
tin. Of Joint technical research.
Purposes Of Institute.
The institute, a national opganl-
|. x.fion of oil men, Ii an outgrowth
~ the wartime activities of the oil
industry, which were carried on
ander the auspices of the National
&petroleum War Service Committee.
The board Of directors, with a
yfey exceptions. consists Of the for
mer members of the National Pc
troleum War Service Committee.
AThe oil industry was probably the
last great business in this country
10 form a national organization.
The objects of the American Pc
troreum institute. as stated in its
charter (granted in the District of
.coiumbiaJ are;
a. To AFFORD q means Of co-opera-
tion with the government in all
A,affers Of national concern: and
b To foster foreign and domestic
trade in American petroleum prod
ncts; and
To promote in general the in
terests o. the petroleum industry