The Kevin review., 1926-12-16

too much of the acreage now devoted To
raising food products to allow of it being
done. SO Ir is safe to say that with
out mineral lubricating oil-which means
petroleum-we would be set back a hun
dred years in progress and as to modern
cOnveniences.
By means of it every form of transpor-
tation on land or in the air, on the seas
and below the sea has been immeasurably
extended and in many cases revolution
ized There must be at least hundred
trades that now use oil for heat and
power purposes where ten or fifteen years
ago they used nothing but coal.
Now please remember that Mr.. Brooks
was speaking exclusively of the part that
| petroleum plays in the Industrial and
social life of Great Britain. In the United
States its applications are wider still.
Take the case of the farmer who oper-
ates large acreage in the Middle West,
Texas or California, by means of tractors,
finds petroleum an indispensable ally. In
this sense petroleum has helped enormous
lily to increase the food supplies of the
world and the national wealth of the
United States.
One of the greatest, If not the greatest,
of modern industries on this continent
the manufacture of motor cars-would to
all intents and purposes be non existent
were it not for one offspring of petroleum
known as gasoline (once regarded as al
most the least valuable of the refinery.
Invention has reacted radically on the
oil industry, from decade to decade, and
especially on 1tS refining pHdSe. UuLll the
advent of the internal combustion engine
the demand for gasoline was practically nil.
Today this engine has created an ever
increasing demand for that fluid which
taxes the energies of all refineries to
meet.
The internal combustion engine with
the assistance of petroleum has exceeded
such powerful influence in changing the
reference. 1t not only made the auto
mobile practicable, but the aeroplane, the
dirigibIe, airships the submarine, and a
host of other craft possible.
Petroleum AS Coal Substitute
Petroleum is fast taking its place as a
substitute for coal, not only in the United
States but to O marked extent in other
countries For some of them it may be
said to have proved a solution for railroad
problems that were at one time almost
Russia, for instance, for the
last thirty years. and until internal con-
ditions disrupted her industrial organiza-
tion, used her own petroleum for fuel. The
of Mexico Argentine, Brazil, and
other Latin American countries as well
as In ROumania are now served by oil
burning locomotive. In this country the
Southern Pacific Railroad and other well
known transportation companies have dem
onstrated that the locomotive run by this
liquid fuel is an economic success. And
oil as a domestic fuel is rapidly making its
way because of the advantages 1t gives In
the matter of cleanliness. The use of petro- |
eum as a fuel for stationary engines in
plants has also kept pace |
with its use in other directions and here. |
again, its superior heating power, the |
elimination of dust and the saving of
abor are economic factors Of first i'm |
DOrtance.
The relation of petroleum to the seven |
seas can be approached from several angles.
rhe necessity of conveying vast quantities
IF oil across the oceans of the world, has, /
or instance, produced a form of maritime
architecture in the modern tanker, almost
Irf~ min lima In
and transportation. Then, again., oil has
within recent years tended to revolutionize
he fueling of both the merchant marine |
md the war fleets of this and other
Countries.
While the stupendous and almost limit
essness of the story of petroleum coupled
With a necessary limit of space on an ar
icle like this has compelled me to merely
all attention to the high lights OF this
marvellous story, | feel that we have dem
nstrated that commodity which has be-
ONE so intimately interwoven with our
ocial, commercial, and Industrial nIe, IN
very nation on the globe In peace times
nust quite anturally be expected TO play
major role in a war which, ike the
ate one, involved q large number OF the
ations of the world. And we were not
a Major Factor In World War
1t was inevitable that In crisis where
II the scientific. mechanical ana organi- '
ing genius of the Leading nations {
'as concentrated on instrumentalities to I
trengthen themselves and weaken or dis q
roy the foe, product of so many app1-
atoms should prove a tremendous factor. /
would be possible to write big volume |
n the influence of petroleum on history, {
ased on actual deductions drawn from a
ne incidents fthat greatest OF conflicts. :
1t was an Indispensable factor IN the
ethods of warfare that were developed (
influenced the military and diplomatic
.rategy of all belligerents; 1T was |
.upendous contributor to the victory OF !:
le Allied and Associated Powers. Earl I
urzon, a member of the British war
abinet, stated the fact tersely when he
lid shortly after the signing OF the !:
rmistice. "rhe Allies foated to victory on /
sea of OIL"
Effect on Sea and Air Power
The growing maritime Importance OF i
atroleum has been noted and 1t was~in- 4
-itable that in a conflict in which sea /
over was so decisive an influence that II \
lould have been closely related to naval i
fort Even If the uses of petroleum had
zen confined to one instrument OF war 4
re merely, the submarine, 1t would have !
fluenced the course of history ana the
tie of nations.
Without petroleum the submarine as an Z
fetive agent in war could not have come