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Show WAR IS GAS HOG War is an awful hog. It particularly loves to feed on oil. In spite of the highest production and refining rates in U. S. history, we are unable to fill the greedy bellies of the Gods of War and supply civilian demand too. Military demands are enormous and still increasing. One thousand four motor bombers require 1,800,000 gallons of 100 Octane gasoline on a 6-hour mission, but they can "deliver" 5,000,000 pounds moreJbombs when fueled with 100 octane gasoline as compared with 91 Octane, the next lower grade and about the best quality qual-ity our enemys are using. To train one pilot requires about 12,500 gallons of aviation gasoline and a single squadron of 18 U. S. Navy bombers burns11,160 gallons in an average day's operations. The consumption in either case is equivalent to about twenty years' requir-ments requir-ments of peacetime driving by the average motorist. Practically all self-propelled artillary requires special spec-ial 80 Octane all purpose gasoline. Most field hospitals radio and telephone stations, special pipe lines, refrigeration refrig-eration equipment and air ports are powered by gasoline gas-oline engines. Gasoline is used for cooking, heating water, wat-er, and many other purposes. No longer is the saying true that an army travels on its stpmach. It moves on gasoline too and lots of it. A motorized division can travel only 21 feet on a gallon. It requires over 250 gallons gal-lons to move a mile. About 0 gallons of petroleum of all kinds are required monthlyto supply each man in uniform. This may be startling but readily understandable understand-able when it is realized that one.' battleship can take aboard enough oil in one fueling; to heat the average home for over 350 years ' ' Increasing percentages of oil,- are being shipped to the fighting fronts from foreign countries but their maximum production is only such-a small proportion of the total requirements that" the LT.S.A. simply must assume the fnajor responsibility of "oiling" this war and that cannot be done and still leave enough for un-rationed un-rationed civilian demand. Many contradictory. statements have been made and widely publicized ffbo,ut present and impending, petroleum pet-roleum shortages, especially gasoline, but wdien oil companies, large and small, the country over publicly announce that gasoline supplys are not sufficiant to fight the war and continue the presant rate of home consumption, the shortage must be real and rationing must continue. Perhaps more stringent restrictions can be avoided, if the oil companies and retailers' campaign, now under way, to wipe out counterfeit and stolen . coupon rackets or misuse of legally issued coupons proves successful. - |