Evening star., 1933-12-10

n VOW with repeal it is to be
hoped that bootlegging will be
VI wiped out It is to be desired
/ that the Government, State and
municipality, will receive its
prescribed revenues.
But bootlegging Is not connned only
to illegal sales of intoxicating liquors.
The petroleum industry has had It's
troubles along that line. 1t has, and
from all reports continues to have, boot
logging of oils and gasolines. 1t is
what the reason is, it should be stopped.
Bootlegging in all lines should end.
Sealed Cans Needed.
Bootlegging of motor oil. which the
oil industry believes has been costing
it and the public millions Of dollars
yearly is destined to pass into the dis
card along with the expected demise OF
other forms of bootlegging II the strong
trend among refiners to distribute their
product in sealed cans becomes general
Within the past few months more than
so refipers, including some of the largest
units in the industry have turned from
the bulk method to the sealed-can
method Of selling oil.
While several investigations have been
made of the oil bootlegging practice,
most of them by refiners. no author
itative figures on the extent of the
racket are available. The most fire.
quently quoted estimate is that approxi-
mately IS per cent of the oil purchased
by the public has not been what the
purchaser asked for. Some OF this has
been equally good oil Of another brand,
but a great deal was Of inferior grade
and a considerable part Of 1t was
definitely of very low grade, so-called
midnight OIL"
The oil bootlegging has taken sew
eral forms, the principal one being just
plain substitution. The dealer did not
/ have the brand or the grade requested,
and he simply put in another brand or
grade instead. More serious is the prac-
/ tice of selling a diluted oil, In which
case the motorist is deliberately cheated.
Dishonest dealers, advertising recog-
nized grades of oil. mix an inferior
grade with the premium quality. Not
one in a thousand motorists woulo
know the difference at the time, and
not many of them realize they have
been cheated even when they are using
more oil than seems called for. They
are inclined to blame it on the car
instead Of the oil.
Worst Form Of BootIegging.
Probably the worst form of oil boot
| logging is the selling of midnight OIL
| to the unsuspecting public. This oil
| is nothing more than crankcase drain
| ings. oil that has been taken from cars
after it had been used as lubricant
for anywhere from 500 to $500 miles.
Its lubricating life has been exhaust
ed and it is heavy laden with carbon
and other foreign matter. There are
| fy-by-night firms which make buSl-
ness of buying crankcase DRAWINGS. fl
| tering it to remove dirt and carbon,
and then selling it to irresponsible fill-
! ing stations either with or without the
addition of unused oil. Still another
form of oil bootlegging is short meas
urement, failure on the part Of the
station attendant to pour all the oil
| from the usual dispensing measure into
| the car. ...,,
The extent Of these practices is only
| indicated by one survey, conducted by
a PENNSYLVANIA grade refiner in six
good sized cities. Some 200 filling sta
| tions were visited. and a particular
brand and grade of oil requested. The
| test cars were equipped with special
attachment which diverted the oil
from the oil line into concealed con-
tainer. The purchased oil was then
taken to a laboratory. tested for vari-
Gus qualities and compared with the
ell that had been asked for. In 43 per
cent of the test cases some form OF, sub
stitution had been practiced. In IL
ner cent of the cases the motorist had
been given a definitely different grade.
For several years the leading oil
companies have been studying the
problem trying to devise an economical!
means of distributing oil that would
protect the public and themselves. The
established companies were equal SUI
ferers because they were losing sales
to the pootlegged product. In cooper
ating with a number of leading re-
finers, one company finally worked out
the sealed-can method. which is now
being adopted. The ordinary quart size
tomato can proved an ideal container
and was already in mass production
and. therefore, not costly. Economic
oil filing and capping machinery was
adapted for the refileries. and then
special can cutting and funnel device
was perfected.
Held Tamperproof.
BY the new method the oil Is canned
and sealed in the refinery SO that 1t Is
tamperproof. The label Autographed
right on the can identifies it by brand
. and the grade is embossed on the tor
of the can At the filling station OF
garage the motorist sees the car
opened before his eyes, and the funnel
dispenser with the can sticking out Of
, it at the top inserted right into his oil
,, line. He not only gets what he asked
for but is certain OF getting full meas
; ure because even INSCRIPTIONS dealers
. cannot hold back any with the dispens-
ing funnel.
According to the can companies
!. which are the clearing houses Of in.
formation on the new development
most Of the larger companies refining
premier grades of oil have adopted OF
are considering adopting the sealed
can method of distributing. It IS be
ing introduced progressively through
the country; few companies are al
ready on a national basis.
1t is not expected that the cannet
oil will cost the public more than !
did in the bulk form. It is understood
that most service stations handling
canned oil now are selling 1t at th'
same price as the bulk oil.
Dream Car" Inevitable.
When the annual automobile show
are held next January conspicuou
,x,sTl t<~ nx%y,