Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 January 1917 — NO WASTE IN OIL NOWADAYS [ARTICLE]

NO WASTE IN OIL NOWADAYS

Go back to the days when Pennsylvania crude was $3 a barrel or higher in 1877 and before, and gasoline was a waste product. There was no market for it. Refiners

were glad to get rid of it at almost any price, or even give it away. In some instances thousands I of gallons were dumped into the streams as the storing of it was a menace to the works, and there was no future outlook for it. As much of the lighter product as possible was left in the kerosene, and the manufacturers sought uses for it in various ways. . Conditions have reversed themselves. Gasoline is the most desirable product of petroleum. Instead of blending it with the lighter grades of kefoeene, the latter is being cut, to make more gasoline, and the .gravity of the motive power fluid is being reduced until it has practically reached the gravity of light kerosene. What tfas a waste product has become an important article, of commerce and industry. A barrel of oil, which in past years lost a certain proportion in waste, is now utilized to the last j pint. The barrel of crude petrol-J cum has increased in intrinsic value because more of its component, parts have been called for in the j world’s industrial growth, ' until. now there is nothing lost. Petro-; leum illuminates and heats the I homes Of thousands; it cooks meals; it preserves canned foods; it enters into dozens of lltfle . household duties which are made easier by its use; it turns wheels in great factories; it drives locomotives; speeds the automobiles; has made the aeroplane and submarine practical; does farm chores; smooths the roads; destroys pests; Is valuable in medi-v cine, and attracts the highest scientific knowledge in its study. From the hunkiest of duties to the greatest, ’petroleum plays its part, and to this perfect utilization of all its products is due the higher prices which it commands. —Oil City Derrick.