Great Falls tribune., 1922-04-25
AUTO GASOLINE
SALES MIRROR
OF PROSPERITY
Walcott, General Manager, Mu,
tual Oil Co., Finds Optimism
on Trip to This City.

Gasoline sales are the mirror of
prosperity Of the community. very
largely" according to A. J. WaIcott,
of Kansas City. general manager of
the Mutual Oil company, who is i'll
Great Falls for visit Of four or
five days, inspecting the state offices
Of the company here.
"Of course, people who have auto
mobiles are going to run them whether
they have money or not, find said
Mr. Walcott But when conditions
greater consumption Of gasoline for
that reason. Gasoline reflects the
general business condition and you can
see what is the foundation of business
prosperity when you check gasoline
sales against the crops. When crops
are good. our business is good and
everyone seems to be affected the
same way.
Optimism Found Everywhere
II have been travelling over our
western territory coming by way of
Denver. / found spirit of optimism
everywhere, and pretty firm basis
for it. I don't think there is much
doubt but that conditions are actually
better than they have been for some
time. In Denver, they are expecting
one Of the best auto tourist seasons in
some time and an Improvement over
that of last year. The auto tourist has
come to stay as a factor in the sum
mer travel and the northwest will get
its share of the trade"
Speaking of conditions in the gaso-
line market, Mr.. Walcott was hopeful
in the conditions as they affect the
dealer.
You can expect a raise in the
price of gasoline this season." he said
"Right now. the price Of gasoline is
low in proportion to the price Of crude
and that in itself would warrant
raise in the prices. But it also seems
inevitable that there will be some in
crease in the price Of crude. The
gasoline reserves are very low at this
time. Some large companies still have
q fair supply but as soon as that be-
gins to get low, you will see the price
60 up.
Present Gasoline Prices Low
"The present price Of gasoline is IN
usually low. In the mid continent field
there are many refineries closed at
crate on the present gasoline price !
With an increase in prices. they may
open. don't know just what the fu-
ture holds for them.
"You see the independent refineries /
make their contracts with the operat- /
ing companies for production and it is !
up to them to protect their source of /
supply. In the winter they must con
tinue to handle the production of the |
wells because, although the gasoline I
demand is low, they do not dare to |
drop their contracts for it is hard to |
break in again. That means that when !.
nf <kAv1 nd {hov III
stocks at low price, sometimes be- /
low the price Of production. Our own /
company has been fortunate in keeping
q good market all winter with the re- /
suit that we have not shut down our
refineries at any time. Our demand |
has been well up to our capacity.
Sees Tractor Farming Continued
An important demand upon the |
market this year is going to be the
farm tractors, which I anticipate will I
be used in greater numbers this year
than for the last few years. It is true |
that many of the tractors may have 1
gone into disrepair the last few years
Of poor crops but many of these will
again be used. The first thing that is
going to be bought in case of good
crops this year is new and modern
farm machinery. The farmers were
sold on the tractor and improved mach
inery when the bad years came and
they are going to be big buyers when
conditions are better"
Mr.. Walcott said the company plan
ned no change in the present manage
ment Of the Montana distribution and
that Great Falls has proved sue
cessful feeder of the 100 distributing
stations of the company in the state
These stations will not be added to at
this time, he said