Evening star., 1941-08-21
Gas Dealers
To Map Sales
Curb Tonight
Senator MoIoney
Urges Inquiry
By Congress
BULLETIN.

BULLETIN.
For the first time since the gas
oline shortage threatened, Dis
trict dealers today began a sharp
curtailment of sales for NON
essential" use.
Many sought to strike a daily
average in distributing their
dwindling supply. Most dealers
were acting individually pending
adoption Of general rationing
plan. In some cases, it was said,
sales to operators of pleasure cars
were being cut as much as so per
cent.
Warned that the East has only
10 days supply of gasoline in re-
serve, and that more than a 10 per
cent cut can be expected here for
the remainder of August, Washing
ton dealers were TO meet tonight to
| frame a daily schedule for doling
out supplies so filling stations will
not be forced to close before the
end of the month and the Labor
Day week end.
On the heels of an announcement
| by Ralph K. Davies, deputy Pc
| troleum co-ordinator, that the long,
| predicted Eastern shortage was at
hand, local dealers were informed
by New York suppliers that they
could receive only so per cent in
/ the last two weeks of August Of
| the amount they sold in July, the
month on which the original 10 per
cent cut was based. Previously, the
dealers were informed that between
August IS and September they
would receive As per cent of the
total gasoline sold in July.
| Maloney Asks Inquiry.
| Meanwhile, Senator Maloney,
Democrat, of Connecticut today
urged speedy congressional investi-
cation to determine whether the
East actually faces gosoline Short
age.
Il want to learn if there Is an
actual shortage or if we are being
pushed around for psychological
reasons" Senator Maloney told re-
porters, saying he would ask the
Senate Commerce Committee to
act Immediately on his resolution
for an inquiry.
He proposed that special Senate
committee determine if there was
an actual shortage of gasoline and
fuel oil and also recommend means
of assuring an adequate supply of
fuels for national defense purposes
without undue hardship to busi-
| ness enterprises and consumers gen.
orally"
British Aid Move Seen.
Senator Clark, Democrat, of Mis-
souri,, said he was especially inter-
ested in learning if it were necessary
to cut down American consumption
in order to supply Britain with fuel,
or if such steps were being taken to
emphasize the "all out" viewpoint
of aid to Britain.
Senator McNary of Oregon, the
minority leader, predicted there
would be almost solid Republican
support for the Maloney proposal on
the Commerce Committee, Of which
he is member.
In view of priority granted to
commercial and other essential
motor vehicles, the new rationing
may reduce gasoline allowed for
pleasure or "non-essential' cars to
half the usual consumption during
the last of this month, the Davies
announcement said.
d. c. Retailers to Meet.
!. IT, ,eta ef1
in detail to discredit rumors that
Federal warnings were "phony" and
that there were ample supplies in
the East.
Estimates of near-sighted proph-
ets," he said, failed to take into
account large amounts of gasoline
and oil earmarked for defense needs.
Meanwhile, Harry Wainwright, ex-
ecutive of the Gasoline Retailers of
Washington, Inc, issued a call for
some 670 gas-station operators to
meet at o'clock tonight in the
auditorium of the new Department
of the Interior Building to plan def
mite steps to conserve local supplies.
Mr.. Wainwright said "the purpose
of this meeting is to impress on
retail dealers the seriousness of the
gas shortage and to agree there is
job to be done in daily reduction
of sales so that Washington will not
be without gas at the end of the
month"
Maj. Snow to Speak.
Mr.. Wainwright and Maj. Beverly
c. Snow, chairman of the District
Petroleum Conservation Commit
tee, are to address the meeting.
1t was generally agreed that many
District operators have been over
selling daily quotas since August Is.
when the new rationing order went
into effect to supplement the pm.
to am. curfew measure.
Mr.. Wainwright said he will ask
the meeting to approve a plan
whereby individual dealers will di-
vide their remaining stocks into
daily quotas and close their stations
each day when this amount has
been sold.
If sales continue at their present
apparent rate, he said, many dealers
will run out of gasoline and be
forced to close several days before
new stocks become available IN Sep
tember. This will work an unneces-
sary hardship on local as well as out
of-town motorists, some Of whom
may be stranded here over the Labor
Day holiday.
Mr.. Davies declared there is a
present weekly deficit of $4,000
barrels in the East, due in part to
the fact that consumption is II per
cent ahead of that last year.
1--WE must conserve gasoline stocks
now to avoid drastic shortage this
winter when our tankers must be
used to haul fuel oils unless our
people are to be left to freeze and
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