Show LITTLE FAITH IS EVIDENCED IN NEW government SHALE PLANT evidently the editor of the grand valley colo news has not a large and friendly admiration for the bureau of mi mines nes and the new oil shale plant that is being erected near rulison by the government in a recent issue of his paper he remarks the department of commerce which has jurisdiction over the bureau of mines has hag asked congress for and secured another appropriation of for continued construction st work on the federal oil shale plant located a short distance east of grand valley this is the same plant for which was appropriated through the e efforts of our congressman ed T taylor and senator phipps but the major part of that sum was spent in making trips to scotland and buying and transporting an education plant scotch firebrick fire brick et cetera it is hoped that out of this there will be some material evidence of progress commenting further on the situation the de beque news says it was understood last year that the original appropriation pria tion of was believed to be sufficient to erect the plant and operate it to make tests on about tons of shale that was the impression left in de beque by the chief technical engineer when he was here with other engineers of the bureau the building and retort have been erected it is reported and it was expected that the plant would be in operation before the present time but if all the original appropriation has been expended and more money is needed before the plant can be got into action there is no telling when that day will arrive the bureau was believed to have designed a retort and process at the experimental laboratory in bouler where experiments peri ments were carried on for four or five years and that a larger unit of the design was to be installed in the plant at rulison instead of that however one cine of the bureau staff was sent to scotland to purchase a retort of humpherson Pum pherson design and all adjuncts to it and a scotch engineer was employed to come to rulison and look after installation of the unit from which it may be deducted that nothing of practical value to the shale oil industry was gained by the ex ants in boulder A few years ago however it was generally understood that all persons who had experimented with colorado in retorts of the scotch type declared the treatment of colorado shale by those methods was impractical now however it is understood that the rulison plant is to be started off with scotch methods to learn what will vill happen and then alterations will be made to try and adapt it to the treatment of colorado shale |