The Omaha morning bee., 1924-02-17
WONDERS WORKED BY OIL.


body for many days. For the moment let think
Of the service it renders humanity. Oil in its in
dustrial application today chiefly concerns the In
ternal combustion engine It has made possible the
marvels of automobiles, airships and submarines.
Simple and how familiar to all of u.s. No part
of the known earth unless it be the. inaccessible
poles awaits the presence of the automobile or the
airship. From to zone they are driven, carry
ing on vast and complicated system of commupica-
ton. Communication is mmeasurably important to
civilized society. Without communication as modern
inventions have developed it. the civilization of today
would be impossible Yet take 1t for granted.
1t is here. 1t is doing the work. So why worry?
1t was only yesterday that men talked with
der of the flight of the $780, at the rate of 102
miles per hour Just for moment, but no man had
moved at higher rate of speed and lived to
tell of it. .-ow many recall that just little
year ago Curtis army racing plane did little
better than 240 miles an hour? Four miles each
minute So much for speed. An airplane carrying
two Hen flew across the Atlantic Another,
carrying two men, flew across the American con-
tient from Minneola to San Diego, in single swoop
Altitude records and endurance tests almost surpass
ing belief have been achieved by the aviator.
Alongside these the auto drivers place also
record of glorious achievement, for speed, for en-
durance, for capacity of service and for safety.
the world in tNe F'qttoenth and Nineteenth
turies. This, because it made possible the introduc
ton of power-driven machinery in industry. The
internal combustion engine of the Twentieth CEN
tury has brought the world into another epoch. We
can not the picture. We are too close Even
now the picture is not complete Another genera
tion will notice. The next after that will appreciate
the wonders that developing under our noses.
Sat ba ot
generate power sufficient with the at his COM
mand His engine, the lightest available, weighed
about S pounds per horsepower. Engines are used
in airshps today weighing little 1.5 pounds per
horsepower. One of these that develops 400 brake
horsepower weighs but Clio pounds without the water
in the radiator. Many models weigh under two
pounds per horsepower. A few go high as four.
: Engineers still so busy refining this wonder they
have not time to consider the marvels they have
wrought
One reason for the seemingly slow progress Of
the steam engine in its with civilization was that
man was steadily extending his frontiers The iron
horse could not overtake the pioneer Always,
though frontier life gave way to settled condt-a
tions, improved methods for communication were
urgently demanded. Very early the attention of
Americans was turned to good roads. One regards
with respect the enterprise that built the turnpikes,
foored with planking. They the pride and
boast of communities less than century ago. How
primitive they seem now, with our hard-surfaced
roads leading in every direction. The Omaha Bee
was alone few years ago, advocating this form OF
improvement for Nebraska. The fight is not
trely yet, although the opposition is driven to
extremity, and soon must succumb. Douglas county
has expended so far on hardsurfaced roads, that is
highways paved with brick concrete and bitulithic
surface, So, ,446, 550.52, to which must be added
s283 1898 contributed by the state, making
total of 50, ,730,310.50 magnificent investment in
good roads in single county.
And it was the automobile, the creation of the
internal combustion engine, it in turn depending on
oil, that made this possible.
The end is not yet. More automobiles were built
in 1923 than ever in single year before. More
will be built this year Over 15,000,000 in daily
use in the United States. This number will probably
be put up to 100000 by the end of this year.
More good. roads also will be built Douglas county
will spend another million and half dollars during
the coming summer extension of its system. All
over the United States similar work is going The
story is just begun.
Concrete proof of what the automobile builders
doing may be seen at the Auto Show, about to
open at the Auditorium 1t will be worth your while
to go over, long enough to get definite notion Of
how oil is now being made to mankind.