TO REPLACE BENZINE?

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1058, 23 August 1930, Page 1

TO REPLACE BENZINE?

Aucklander’s “Mystery Gas” PRIVATE COMPANY FORMED £1 Shares Soar as High as £2O TO produce a substitute for benzine at a mere few pence a gallon is claimed to be the purpose of a newly-formed private company in Auckland. Although the shares are not listed on the Stock Exchange, and development has been carried out under a veil of secrecy, buyers came forward yesterday offering £2O each for £1 shares.

Only vague details of the company’s project are known; but already there are numbers of Aucklanders, lured by imagination, who are thirsting for a share in the profits of a process which, if developed to expectations, would set the whole world agog. These possibilities are tingling in the minds of some Aucklanders. Already one hears the scheme discussed in the tram, on the ferry, in the barber’s shop—in all the haunts where men are wont to talk—but the boasted knowledge always falls short of actual facts. More than a fortnight ago there was a gentle rumour in the air that an enterprising chemist had discovered a formula whereby he could make a benzine substitute at an extremely low cost. According to the story, he was locked away in a small concrete room with a gallon of water and a small bottle of the mysterious substance; to reappear after a few beats of time with the water converted into a first-grade “juice.” Tests were carried out and the spirit produced was found to work with success. The story went from mouth to mouth, but those interested were mysteriously silent and volunteered no information to the Press. “If you will just wait —we are having another meeting this afternoon and then we will probably have something for you,” said one. This went on day after day, but still there was nothing to announce. COMPANY FORMED Next, there appeared in rather modest form, the announcement in the Press of a company registered—the New Zealand Petrol Company, Limited, motor spirit experimental manufacturers and dealers. Capital, £3,000 in £1 shares. Subscribers; D. R. Garrard. 1,796 shares; H. A. Steadman, 355 shares; A. K. Voyce, 200 shares: A. Milliken, 150 shares; A. J. Stratford, 149 shares; D. MacCormick, H. N. Hilliard, H. A. Dargaville, 100 shares each; T. Tidswell, 50 shares. With this announcement, more interest was created and the news spread rapidly. Although the shares are not listed at the Stock Exchange, they are meeting with strong inquiry and, for the most part, parcels of five to ten shares are sought. It is reported that a few shares changed hands at £4 each last week, but that since then holders have refused to sell. On Friday of last week one broker was given a small parcel to offer at £ll, but before anything

could be done the shares were withdrawn from the market. Early this week buyers were offering £5, the market firming quickly to see offers of £lO a share made without even drawing sellers to put in a counter quotation. On Thursday last, however, four shares were sold at £ls each, while yesterday there were five buyers offering £2O each. And so investors continue to build castles while others are yearning for further information, but those in charge refuse to impart the full information for publication. COST OF PRODUCTION Some hold that the mysterious liquid can be produced at 4d a gallon. Those connected with the oil companies are not disposed to make lengthy comment on the possibilities of making benzine cheaply. They cannot but be interested, although generally they are dubious and view the claim rather in the light of a fairy tale. There is a parallel to be drawn between this Auckland “find” and the labours of the alchemists of old who attempted to make gold out of the baser metals. And this has actually been done by changing the atomic structure of mercury, but the cost is beyond all reason. Will this prove the bar to the making of a commercial benzine substitute? One could never treat the views of Sir Ernest Rutherford lightly. He has proved himself a genius in the scientific world. For ten years he has endeavoured to discover a process of making benzine at a reasonable cost, and now, after those long years of research, he agrees with other scientific minds that it is probably not impossible of achievement, bet that it cannot take place by means at present ander human control. However one may regard the scheme it has undeniably created great interest in City circles, and possibly, after this, the authentic facts will be made known to a mystified public. There are schemes in America at the present time which resemble very closely the one outlined. Mr. Wclseley King, of Napier, who recently returned from the U.S.A., is interested, in a large way, in a preparation which is being developed at the present time and on which it is claimed a car will run for 30 hours on one fluid oxnce, while another scheme in which he is interested is the preparation of a benzine substitute at a cost of one cent a gallon.