THE TRIUMPH OF OIL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1384, 9 March 1912, Page 3

THE TRIUMPH OF OIL.

A NEW ERA IN THE NAVY. It has been said with n large measure of truth that the greatest revolutions in human all'iiirs are tho-e which attract lea-t otbntior, at the outset. They operate .slowly in die Jilto rumour they >i.\r't moving at ; \ snail's pace and Rather momentum a< they proceed; hence at first their influence is little felt and is generally overlooked. Only the master minds of Kni-ope saw, with Goethe, what new seems to us an obvious fact—that a new age opened with the cannon of Valmy. Only tho ablest engineers and' economists (f-avs the naval correspondent of the London "Daily Mail") realise tho nieauin;,' of the tremendous change now imminent in the mechanical world when oil replaces coal as tho source of power, heat, and light. That change has already advanced to a stago where the substitution of oil for coal is a practical fact—an economic gain. We have it laid down by experts in tho "Engineer" that from tho strictly economic point, even with oil at. its present high price, manufacturers in this country would benefit by its adoption. We may point to the opening of a service of petrolpropelled tramway-cars at Morccainbo last Monday a.s a significant example of the fact. Now, if any transformation is going to affect the present and future of Britain profoundly it is a change from coal to petrol or to oil as the souco of power. Changed Conditions of War. By the coming of oil tho whole condition's of war at sea will be modified. In the coal ago ships were'• tethered to their bases by the quantity of coal they earned in their bunkers. It is impossible to refill the btinkors at eea. Tho operation is one that cannot be carried out in war on tho open water if an enemy, is near at hand. It puts tho ship Coaling temporarily out of action. She must ninko fast to the collier. Her decks are lumbered up with gear for the transfer of coal. Her crow an> subjected to intense physical strain. At night the flares and searchlights needed tor the work would reveal her whereabouts to hostilo torpedo cratt and invite her swift and-easy destruction. In any weather but the smoothest two ships cannot make fast to one another without excessive, risk. . Because of the dangers attaching to cooling at sea, the work ia carried out in harbour or in some sheltered anchorage. In port 500 tons an hour have been .'hipped by German and 300 by British war vessels, but tho work is inordinately fatiguing. And there is not only the actual time in harbour required for the task of transferring coal from the collier to the warship; there is also the time needed to go from the fleet to the nearest base and to return therefrom to the fleet. Jt is calculated by the best strategists in our Navy that from 20 to 25 per cent, and perhaps more, of any fleet engaged in blockade work must -at any given moment be absent for this reason. Pumping Oil from Tank Ships. With oil fuel, however, tho position is revolutionised. The warship needs no elaborate tackle, no derricks, no Tempcrley transporters, no collier lashed alongside. The. oil oan bo pumped from the tank ship to the bunkers or tanks in the battleship through a flexible pipe, with no hard labour on the' part of tho warship's crew. The pumping can bo carried on in any but the worst weather. ,lf an enemy nppears the hese can be drooped and the warship is ready for action, b'he can, indeed, lie cleared and prepared for battle whilo taking oil on board. No glare of lights is wanted for the work at night. Jfenco an oil-burning warship is independent of port for motive- power, and this fact alone moans a reinforcement of 10 to 20 per cent to a blockading fleet. As against this enormous gainthe warship loses some degree, of protection which her coal affords when her. bunkers aro full. But the weight saved by the substitution of oil for coal is sri great that the designer will have a considerable displacement at his disposal for additionalarmour protection or armament, which will always be-there.-. ■• •--. ■■..■ >. Thus tho first effect will bo to plrcngtlipii a blockading fleet ami so to favour the traditional strategy of our Navy, with its resolute offensive. But at Iho same time there will to a second effect less favourable to our sea power. Hostile cruisers in virtue of this new independence of the shore will be better able t) assail our commerce. Tho commercsdestroyer, provided that arrangements can be made for filling her tanks on tho open water, will no longer.need coaling stations and naval bases. Tho Powers which do not possess these bases in distant waters will be- placed on tho. same footing as ourselves who do possess them. Effect of Oil on British Trade, There is another nnd even larger aspect of this revolution to bo considered—its economic effect on tho United Kingdom. Wo have little or no oil in this country, as for practical purposes.the shale industry of Scotland may bo disregarded. Hut we have very large deposits of coal, and to these we owe in no small degree, our industrial primacy. In J30!) wo raised 2153 million tons of coal, valued at the pilmoiifh tit thus, providing with work nnd wages !M7,000 people. The cheapness, proximity to the sea, and abundance of our coal supplies have given our manufacturers a peculiar advantage. T'or two generations wo might be said to have enjoyed a monopoly in coal. In the last thirty years that monopoly has passed, and with its loss our industrial position has been unquestionably weakened. But what if the special advantages which wo have so far enjoyed aro to bo transferred to other peoples? For that will be the meaning of tho reign of oil. ,-. In the Black Country'mny be seen is largo area where great industries moc flourished, but where noiv houses and buildings are, in ruins and the industries liavo gone. The decay of that district has followed upon the exhaustion of its payablo supply of coal. There is still coal there, but not in quantities sufficient to repay tho miner. And if a cheaper, mure economical .source of power is available abroad but not at homo tho sanio decline will threaten the great hives of human enterprise which havo clustered around our modern coalfields. Higher Freights on Imported Goods. And there is yet another, effect of the substitution of oil for coal to be taken into account. At present we export some 65 million tons of coal, valued 'at ■£37,000,000" a year. This trade is of alto: grlhe.r exceptional importance'in that it provides a. large part of tho ships' bringing food nnd raw miiterials to our shores with return freights. Manufactured goods weigh but. little in proportion, to their value, and if only manufactured goods wen exported a large part of the shipping tonnage engaged in tho import trade must take its outward voyaeo in,ballast. This means that it must 'charge higher freights on imported goods. Our food would rise in price, and with it the cost of living, at the very time when the manufacturer would find that tho rising cost of raw material was a fresh impediment in his competition- with the foreigner. The revolution," certain though it is, will probably be slow. Many years must pass beforo the arrangements for oil supply throughout the world have been organised, before a' stable and regular supply of oil is assured, and bofore'existin; plants have been remodelled. But unquestionably that revolution would bo accelerated by any marked rise in the cost of producing coal in this country. It is for this reason that the Eight Hours Act for coal mines and the- miners' demands for a great increase in wages seem fraught with possibilities of peril to our industrial future. A BeMind accelerating influence.is to be discerned in the naval competition of Gormany, who is now preparing to introduce oil engines on a grand scale in hor fleet. This must compel the British Admiralty, which has as yet moved cautiously, to quicken its paco, for the British Navy can run no risks of being left behind.