gasoline - D`Antiques

THE SOHIOAN jor August, I934
GASOLINE
7
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•
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25 Questions Answered
No.9, Oil Industry Series.
American Petroleum Institure
What is Gasoline?
A refined petroleum product suitable for use as a fuel
in automobile engines. Gasoline is manufactured from
crude oils of varying characteristics, but all gasolines are
similar in that everyone of their complex ingredients
consists essentially of some combination of two elements. The first of these is carbon. The second is
hydrogen. The combination of hydrogen and carbon is
called hydrocarbon. Each different hydrocarbon in
gasoline consists of a different chemical combination of
these two elemen ts. During the past six years exhaustive
study has been made of the behavior of gasoline of all
sorts in engines of different kinds, in the laboratory and
on the road, and much has been found out about what
is required of a good gasoline. Of these requirements
the most obvious is volatility.
I.
What is Meant by the Volatility oj
Gasoline?
Liquid gasoline will not burn. It is the vapor above
the liquid that burns - not the liquid itself. Before
gasoline can be burned in the cylinders of an automobile
engine, then, it must be changed from its normal liquid
condition to a vapor, and the vapors mixed with air
burn explosively. Thus the way a motor fuel operates in
an engine is intimately associated with the ease with
which it vaporizes. The property of volatility is simply
the ease or readiness with which a liquid evaporates.
2.
]. What is a Good Gasoline?
Gasoline must provide easy starting of the engine in
cold weather and satisfactory performance under all
conditions. It must vaporize in the manifold sufficiently
to distribute the fuel to the different cylinders and to
avoid excessive crankcase dilution. However, gasoline
must not be so volatile as to form vapor in the fuel lines
- ordinarily known as "vapor-lock," which causes erratic operation of the engine. Moreover, excessive volatility results in loss from evaporation. Obviously the
proper degree of volatility will depend to a large extent
upon the design of the engine. Furthermore, gasoline
must not corrode the metals with which it comes in
contact nor dog the feed lines and carburetor jets.
4. Is Gasoline as Volatile as Formerly?
Since 1920 gasoline marketed in the United States
has become more and more volatile. The United States
Bureau of Mines conducts a semi-annual survey covering analysis of samples obtained from different cities
representing the more important marketing territories.
These surveys show defini te increases in volatili ty year
by year.
5· How Much Energy is Stored Up in Gasoline?
Charles F. Kettering pictures the automobile as being
towed along the road by a tiny thread of gasoline, and
then compares the pull on that thread with the tensile
strength of steel. A gallon of gasoline stretched out a
distance of 450 miles would make a very fine stream.
But this hair-like thread of liquid contains the energy
required to move a 1,75o-pound car along a level paved
road at the rate of 20 miles per hour. The energy stored
up in this minute thread of gasoline is equivalent to a
tensile strength of over 20 times that of the strongest
steel, or to more than 4,000,000 pounds per square inch.
This enormous amount of pent-up energy the American
motorist purchases from a convenient filling station for
a few cents.
6. How il/Iuch oj the Energy in Gasoline is
Utilized by Automobile Engines?
On the average, an automobile engine converts into
available power on the road only 5 per cent of the energy
stored up in the gasoline it consumes.
7. What is j'yfeant by Fuel "Knock"
or Detonation?
Under certain conditions - when the engine is under
full load, or when the motor is under high compression
due to the accumulation of carbon - the fuel has a tendency to develop a metallic "ping"- commonly referred to as a knock or detonation. This is an indication
that the combustion of the gasoline vapor within the
cylinder is taking place too rapidly to be utilized sat istorily. Whether a knock develops depends upon various factors, including the nature of the gasoline, the
mixture ratio, the extent to which the charge of gasoline
vapor and air is compressed before ignition, the construction of the cylinder head, and the condition of the
engll1e.
8. What is an Anti-Knock Gasoline?
Intensive study of the knocking characteristics of a
gasoline has been made over the last few years covering
8
TH E SOH JOdN for dugust, I9Ji
straight-run gasoline from different crudes and also
gasolines produced by cracking. Some of the anti-knock
gasolines on the market owe their relative resistance to
knocking to the chemical nature of the hydrocarbons
they contain. Other fuels are made anti-knock by the
addition of benzol or of small quantities of tetra-ethyl
lead. The effect of the anti-knock quality is to produce
a less violent explosion in the cylinder.
9. Is the Motorist Getting A10re Miles
per Ga//on?
The designer of au tomobile engines, the petroleu m
refiner, and the road builder are all contributing to
greater fuel economy. Higher compressions which increase thermal efficiency of motors; manifolds which
effect greater uniformity in fuel distribution; accelerator wells, fuel pumps, and economizers on carburetors;
improved fuels; highways which cause less depreciation
to motor vehicles - all have been factors in obtaining
more mileage per gallon of gasoline. However, the
modern motorist demands "performance"- especially
quick acceleration. This necessitates more powerful
motors, further reduction in the rear axle, and smaller
wheels - resulting in surplus power. Seldom does a
motor operate at anything like its maximu~l "torque."
Furthermore, improved roads have led to hIgher motoring speeds. At JO miles per hour, a motor vehicle
normally operates at the point of lowest fuel consumption; that is, the poi n t of highest thermal efficiency and
least resistance to motion. But much of the motoring
today is at 50 miles and more per hour - speeds at
which air resistance is so great as to overcome most of
the increased efficiency of the motor.
How is Gasoline Wasted by the A10torist?
By carburetor adjusted for too "rich" a mixture.
2. By excessive choking in cold weather. J. By excessi~e
startings. Fifty startings of the average au tomobIle
engine require as much gasoli.ne as runnin~ '20. miles;
and in cold weather the startmg consumption IS very
high. 4. By unnecessary idling of the en~ine. 5. By driving at excessive speed. 6. By neglectmg properly to
lubricate the motor, chassis, differential, and transmISSion.
10.
I.
What is Carbon Monoxide Gas?
Carbon monoxide is one of the gases that may be
formed when gasoline vapor is burned in an engine.
When the hydrocarbons in gasoline are
burned completely, two new substances
are formed, water vapor from the hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the carbon.
Carbon monoxide represents a half-way
stage in the combustion of carbon, ~nd
is always formed to some extent durrng
combustion in the cylinders. Carbon
monoxide is colorless, odorless and very
poisonous. The engine should never be
allowed tb run in a closed garage.
I I.
12.
Where Does Gasoline Come From?
Petroleum; that is. crude oi Is. "Na tural
gasoline" is derived from natural gas; is very volatile,
and is largel y used for blending wi th Jess vola tile gasoline derived from petroleum.
How is Gaj'oline l'v/add
At refineries by straight distillation from crude oils
and by "cracking" of oils from which a certain quantity
of gasoline has already been obtained on straight distillation. Also from natural gas by absorption and compresslOn processes.
Ij.
14. How A1uch Gasoline Comes From
Crude Oil?
The average yield of gasoline from crude oils run
through United States refineries is around 40 per cent.
However, the gasoline content of different crude oils
varies greatly. It may range anywhere from 5 per
cent to 90 per cent. On the other hand, some crude oils
contain practically no gasoline. While there are a few
freak wells which produce natural naphtha or gasoline,
there are really no gasoline wells, because the product
obtained is not of commercial grade. Thus, commercial
gasoline can be obtained only by manufacture, necessitating the building and operation of petroleum
refineries. Straigh t-run refining processes have been
greatly improved, so that a larger yield of gasoline
direct from the crude oil is obtained. "Cracking" processes have made possible the manufacture of great
quantities of gasoline out of the heavier products of
petroleum recovered on straight-run refining.
15. What Comej' Out oj a Barre! oj
C,'ude Oil?
Principally gasoline, kerosene, gas oil and fuel oil, and
lubricating oil. Out of a 4'2-gallon barrel of crude oil
United States refineries usually obtains 16.5J gallons
of gasoline, '2.4J gallons of kerosene, 19.05 gallons of gas
and fuel oil, I -46 gallons of lubricating oil. The balance
is wax, coke, asphalt, and loss. There are other
petroleum products and compounds, including medicines, salves, polishes, alcohols, solvents, road oils,
pi tch, insecticides, and cleaning fluids. When a refiner
makes gasoline, he also generally has to make kerosene,
and gas oil and fuel oil; because these are the principal
product constituents of crude oil, and must be separated
one from the other as the first step toward obtaining a
commercial product.
16. How Does Gasoline Get to the Fi//ing
Station?
It starts from the field as a constituent
of crude oil. The oil flows through "gather
ing" pipe lines to storage tanks. From the
storage tank "trunk" pipe lines, tank vessels or railroads transport the crude oil to
a refinery, where it is refined and gasoline
made. The gasoline is then run into large
tanks, from whence it is transported by
rail or vessel, or both, to bulk storage
stations. Tank trucks transport it from
bulk station to filling station.
THE SOHIOAN jar Au!(usl, 1934
9
£7. How Has the Increased DemandJor
Gasoline Been Met?
1. By finding new oil fields. Crude oil production in
this country has increased 182 per cent since 1918.
2. By new processes of manufacture, such as cracking,
and by other advances in refining.
18. What Costs Enter Into the Price oj
Gasoline?
Cost of crude oil. 2. Transportation and storage of
crude oil. 3. Refining. 4· Freight in shipping to bulk
stations. 5. Wholesale bulk station and tank wagon distribution. 6. Profit to refiner and retail distributor.
7. Property and income taxes. 8. State gasoline taxes
and inspection fees.
I.
19. Can Gasoline Taxes Be Likened to Tolls?
You cannot drive your car today without paying
tolls. Here's how taxes became tolls. Say your car runs
12 miles on a gallon of gas:
Taxes
If the
If the
If the
If the
If the
tax
tax
tax
tax
tax
is
is
is
is
is
'2
3
4
5
6
Tol/s
cents
cents
cents
cen ts
cen ts
you
you
you
you
you
pay I cent every 6 miles
pay I cent every 4 miles
pay I cent every 3 miles
pay I cen t every '2.4 miles
pa y I cen t every '2 miles
Say you travel 6,000 miles a season, as the average
motorist does: you pay ~10 to ;'30 in tolls, in addition
to other levies on your car.
What Part of the Retail Price Does the
Gasoline Tax Comprise?
Twenty-five per cent, on the average. A sales tax levy
of this proportion is usually imposed only in times of
great emergency.
20.
Does Gasoline Tax Revenue Go Entirely
to Road Constt'uction?
Not entirely. In some states revenues are diverted
for purposes other than highway construction and
mai n tenance.
21.
Why Do Gasoline Prices Vary?
Retail prices of all articles vary throughoLl t the
country, due to factors of manufacture and distribution and differences in transportation costs. On the same
day, sirloin steak sells at 39 cents a pound in Charleston, S. c., 45 cents a po~nd in St. Louis, 60.5 cents a
pound in New Haven, and 52.6 cents a pound in
Chicago. Retail prices of this and other articles also
vary in the same locality. A standard article can be
purchased in neighborhood stores at different prices.
Gasoline prices vary as do the prices of practically all
commodities, and for the same reasons. Furthermore,
competition in the manufacture and sale of gasoline is
very keen; and local competitive conditions often cause
variation in local gasoline prices.
22.
refining into products of commerce, the effect of this
fluctuation is readily transmitted to the principal product of petroleum, viz., gasoline. Moreover, gasoline is a
seasonal product; the demand is, therefore, difficult to
pre-determine. I ts consumption is affected by wea ther
condition. A series of rainy week-ends, keeping motor
cars idle, can play havoc with the consumption calculations upon which gasoline manufacturing schedules are
based; and, other condi tions remaining unchanged,
may cause revisions in gasoline prices. Gasoline is a
joint-cost product, because it is made from crude oil
along wi th other products - the cost of each product
being affected by the market price of all the others.
What is "Bootleg" Gasoline?
There are two kinds of "bootleg" gasoline. The first
is gasoline brought into a state, u'iually under cover of
darkness, and sold tax-free to the dealer. Sometimes the
dealer shares the saving with the bargain hunter; sometimes he adds it to his profit. The second is gasoline unIawfull y su bsti tu ted in dispensi ng devices bearing the
trademark and brand name of established companies.
"Bootleg" gasoline may be good fuel purchased wholesale at distress prices. Often, however, it is inferior.
. Inferior also is the "gyp" gasoline marketed at cut
rates. It may be gasoline hastily and carelessly manufactured - a menace to any motor because of possi ble
damage from lack of proper volatility or of the presence
of corrosive substances. It may be a good fuel "cut," or
it may be gasoline that has been adulterated by blending with some cheaper product, such as kerosene, to
increase the quantity and permit price cutting. In the
first instance, the purchaser runs the risk of damaging
his motor and paying heavy repair bills; in the second
he gets no bargain, because the product is poor and
cannot give good results.
24.
25. What Sojeguard Does the lv/otorist Have in
Purchasing Gasoline?
Practices Ii ke those men tioned in item 24 consti tu te
the only real danger to the gasoline buyer in the market
today. As a safeguard, under the Code of Fair Competition for the Petroleum Industry, as approved by the
Presiden t and effecti ve since Septem bel' 2, 1933, dealers
representing established oil companies are pledged to
sell the motorist only the brand of gasoline indicated on
their dispensing devices. Consequently, the motorist
who makes a practice of buying only known goods from
established dealers, and who applies the same principle
to his gasoline purchases, is certain to obtain a safe and
satisfactory product of high quality.
2]- Why Do Gasoline PI-ices Fluctuate?
Oil production is SlIbject to great fluctuation because
of the wide variation in the flow of oil from individual
wells. Since oil is subject to quick transportation and
3
GASOLINES
IACH BACKID BY IHI STANDARD OIL WAllllANfY OF QUAltl1'
TH E SOHIOAX for Auxu.'!, 193'1
10
Disabling Injuries for June
Akron Division
A. G. Baird, service station salesman, twisted himself while lubricating an auto, causing swelling in the
groin and injured nerves. Lost 14 days.
Cincinnati Division
Ben Houser, service station salesman, caught foot
between hoist and cement while lu brica ting au to, crushing right instep. Still off duty at press time.
Cleveland Division
Harry \~'. France, service sta tion salesman, dropped
Penn Oil can on his foot. Lost one day.
Norman V. Cook, service station s~lesman, dropped
tank cover on his foot, causing fracture of distal phalanx
of the great toe. Lost 2J days.
Phillip R. Hammond, service station salesman,
turned right ankle :n the station yard. Lost 12 days.
Mansfield Division
L. Clawson, service station manager, received puncture wound of left hand while installing wiper-blade on
an au to. Lost 7 days.
Toledo Division
Claud E. Enright, service station salesman, slipped
on a loose stone while pushing a customer's car;
wrenched his side. Lost 6 days.
Lawrence H. Schultz, truck driver, sprained his
wrist, opening dome on trailer. Still off duty at press
time.
Columbus Division
Youngstown Division
Fred J. Kilcoyne, service station salesman, bruised
left heel when he jumped from truck to drive. Lost
5 days.
Lawrence C. Underwood, truck driver, stepped on a
loose stone, twisting the ligaments in his left knee.
Lost 6 days.
George C. Palmer, service station salesman, received
sacro-iliac sprain while carrying display rack. Lost 5
days.
Lloyd Huggins, service station manager, slipped and
fell from stool to the floor, causing bruise and laceration
to right leg. Lost 9 days.
),
,(
E. M. B. A. Financial Statement
1934
Cash
ReJerue:;
Cases
Con/ribulions
lnoeslr!d, $ln5,5.?2.82
Payment!
Receipls
TOlals
A-lise.
Benefits
TOlals
Cash cn
Bank
1'0101
Open
Closed
TOlal
-----~19,Jo6. 55
~'29,Jo6. 55
J anuan"
5,4 10,/"4
5,4 10 .74
$3,0°9·97
Febru<ln
5, 21
5';4
799. 20
Forward ..
March
$ 29,J06. 55
S
'5 r 34,839-37
3',"°3. 28
'37,23 6 . 10
], 08 5,+3
33,833,59
'39,3 66 ,4 ,
"27.5°
3,4 61 ,5 8
JI ,I jO.2I
13 6 ,7°3.°3
2.92
3,3 20 .48
'27,9 0 j·5 2
133,43 6 .34
4·°4
53,O14· 0 [
5,2 15 "74
3,c3 6 .8 5
4 8.5 8
799. 20
3,435. 08
April.
53· 79
53·79
3,3'7'5 6
:vIa)' ..
68,93
68,93
.1,094-97
2.14
3,09-;-.1 I
24,875·34
13°,408.16
5,653.63
5,653. 6 3
J.195·9 1
2.02
3,297'93
27.1J I .04
13 1,,63. 86
June.
29
28
)
3°
36
66
,
3°
6-)
3°
38
63
35
17
29
J_'
,~
)
61
THE SOH/OAY for August, 19JI
I [
ON the PROVING GROUND with
SOHIO ETHYL
AESAR once said, "Vini, vidi, vici." A group or
Sohioans, guests of the Ethyl Corporation at
the General Motors' Proving Grounds, said,
"'vVe came, we saw, we were convinced."
There is a difFerence in gasolines, there is a difference
in automobiles, there is a difference between one gasoline and another in the same automobile - these facts
were garnered in a series of rigid tests, both in the
laboratory and on the proving ground. The results of
the various tests proved the statements of Mr. Bartholomew, test engineer of the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation,
who outlined the trend of the modern automobile. He
brought out comparisons between 1925 and 1934 in
which time the brake horsepower has increased 88%,
compression pressure has increased 46% and compression ra tio over 30%. All of these factors ha ve been made
possible by the rapid strides of gasoline. Engineers have
been able to increase efficiency just as rapidly as the
quality of the fuel increased. There has been a dose
cooperation between the automotive engineers and the
oil and gasoline engineers, making high speeds and
reliability available today at low cost.
The spark setting of the modern automobile is an
important factor in the performance and an important
factor in the type of gasoline used. The spark lever, as
it was formerly called when it was up on the steering
column, has taken on some new names such as gas
selector and octane selector. Regardless of what it is
called, it is important for efficient operation. The spark
must be advanced to get power and an increase in
power means a decrease in gasoline consumption.
The General Motors proving grounds, where the
road tests of the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation are made,
is a 130o-acre tract of land with 23 miles of all types of
roads at the disposal of the engineers for every conceivable test. There are hills, straight-aways, dirt,
asphalt, brick and concrete highways. }\ll the roads are
marked off in roo-foot intervals and the grade of each
hill is marked so that the test drivers can give their cars
an accurate check at any point on the entire course.
In testing Sohio X-70 Gasoline against Sohio Ethyl,
we found that under comparable conditions Sohio
C
NEXT TIME
GET
ETHYL!
Br
BOB WELCHANS
Ethyl showed 20 to 30 per cent better hill climbing
performance. As a basis of comparison with the road
tests the dynamometer test in the laboratory also
showed an increase of performance of Sohio Ethyl over
Sohio X-70 of 24 per cent. The tests were made in both
cases with the proper spark setting for the gasoline
used - this being an important point and one that is
necessary to show the variation in performance of any
car.
The tests proved conclusively that a saving was
actually made by using the premium fuel, Sohio Ethyl.
For example, two cars, a Buick and a Chevrolet, both
used Sohio Ethyl first, then Sohio X-70, on an 11.6 per
cent grade, the distance to the top bei ng I, I 50 feet.
With Sohio Ethyl, starting the Buick at 10 miles per
hour at the bottom of the hill, then going to full throttle at the start mark, the full distance to the top was
reached without shifting. The spark setting was fully
ad va need on this test. Using Sohio X-70, however, and
starting at 10 miles per hour with the spark setting at
medium, it became necessary to shift gears when the
car had travelled 800 feet.
Comparable performance tests were also made with a
Chevrolet, starting on the same grade at 20 miles per
hour at the bottom of the hill. Using Sohio Ethyl we
were able to go over the top without shifting gears when
the octane selector was set at +~. With Sohio X-70 it
was necessary to shift at 955 }eet with the octane
selector set at -2.
The full significance of these findings is realized when
it is appreciated that the test was made with Sohio
X-70, the leader in its class. Trial runs were made to
establish the correct spark setting - then three consecutive tests were run and averaged.
Two days of this testing, with the results fairly consistent, proved that there is a difference in gasolines,
and that therefore there's a wide open field for the sale
of Sohio Ethyl Gasoline. Try it out yourself and make
test rHns to get maximum efficiency - it will repay
you in performance, in economy, in general satisfaction. Ask your Division Manager or his assistant about
these demonstrations. Either will be able to tell vouin
detail all about it, and it's worth knowing.
'
AND BE SURE IT'S
SOHIO
ETHYl !
THE SOHIO/iN Jor /iu:rUJt,
12
IOU
YOUR HOBBY?
•
By
(Courtesy
HARRIET THORNDYKE
0/ The
Family Circle)
/ \ RISTOTLE once said: "No excellent soul is exempt
; - \ from a mixture of madness." 'Vhen you begin delving
into people's hobbies you realize how right he was.
All SOrts of people have hobbies. Kings have them, and
waiters, millionaires, clergymen, statesmen, and railway station agents have them, too. And they take all sorts of forms,
most of them weird. Since very few of you, probably, have
ever heard of Mr. Ben 'Weigart, of Los Angeles, it may not
surprise you to hear that he collects wishbones gnawed by
famous persons. He has bones stripped bare of their meat by
the teeth of the King of England, the King of I taly, and Mussolini. He has others from the governors of California, Maine,
Michigan, and some J 3 other states. And in 1930 he would
have had one from the governor of Alabama except for the
fact that the governor of Alabama dined out that Christmas
and said he ~eally didn't like to take his wish-bone home
with him.
.
Knowing nothing else about Mr. Weigart than that he has
this collection, you might simply set him down as a queer
duck and let it go at that. But you wouldn't necessarily be
right. Because his hobby isn't nearly so odd as was Daniel
Webster's, for instance. Daniel 'Webster got his fun out of
making up the faces of his cattle! He pain ted their patien t
noses red and blue and then laughed like everything at his
friends' understandable astonish men t.
George Washington was fond of fox hunting, and when he
found a baby fox he always took it home and trained it to do
tricks. Grover Cleveland painted children's toys. And Francis
Bacon, the celebrated essayist who some people think wrote
Shakespeare's plays, spent his spare time devising new styles
in men's clothing. He made 1,200 drawings of freakish raiment
and had tailors make some of them up. ''''hen no friend of his
would wear any of the wild and giddy costumes, he hired men
to put them on and promenade the London streets.
R
OYALTY seems particularly addicted to hobbies. The
King of Italy collects coins. King Haakon, of Norway,
TIlakes snowsho~s, and his wife takes delight in collecting press
clippings of absurd and fantastic tales about royalty. King
Gustav, of Sweden, pia ys tennis. The la te Albert, King of the
Belgians, used to enjoy doing problems in geometry, and his
son, King Leopold, gets his relaxation playing the violin. Their
neighbor, Queen Wilhelmina, is an accountant.
The ex-Kaiser shares his hobby with the Marquise de Polignac, who is the aunt of Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney.
The Marquise and Wilhelm both love to print and bind book's.
But Wilhelm goes the lady one better, for he also writes part
of what he prin ts and binds. It seems that once a week he
gathers his household together and preaches a sermon to them.
'When he has accumulated enough of these sermons he puts
them in to a book.
The Bulgarian King, Boris, loves machinery - any kind of
machinery. One day you may find him taking apart the smallest and most delicate of Swiss watches and putting it together
again. The next day he will be fussing around with a locomotive. A year or so ago, when a new railroad spur was opened in
his country, he ousted the engineer from his leather seat and
drove the first locomotive over the new rome all by himself.
T
HEN there's Alfonso, ex-King of Spain. His formal hobby
is the study of engineering, but he has another which is
much more original. He saves all the things that have endangered his Ii fe - or memen toes of the occasion - such as
a huge stone on which he hit his head when he was a child, and
the skin of a horse which was killed by a bomb thrown into
the King's carriage on his wedding day. '''·'hat he may have
chosen to remind him of the revolution I don't know, but he
undoubtedly has something.
Queen Marie, of Roumania, like Kate Smith, collects perfume. Kate has 600 bottles of rare and costly perfumes;
Marie has even more. And some of the Queen's are heirlooms
handed down from her grandmother, the Czarina of Russia,
who was also fond of perfume bottles and who had a collection
reputed to be worth 525,000.
Perhaps the oddest of all royal hobbies was that of the late
King Constantine, of Greece. He collected door-knobs. He
was such a fanatic on the subject of door-knobs that once
when he was being invited to' England by his sister Alexandra and her husband, Edward VII (then Prince of 'Vales),
his sister said in her invitation, "But if you come, please do
THE SOHlOAN Jor August, 1914
not run away with any of the handles of the doors as the
Prince has a peculiar taste of preferring a door with a handle
to one without."
King Edward himself collected canes. His two prize possessions were a cane made from a pile of the old London
Bridge and another from the Bascobel Oak which had
sheltered Charles II when he was fleeing after the Royalist
defeat in England, in 1651.
LOT of people collect canes. There is Percy H. Johnston,
president of the Chemical National Bank of New York,
who has between 300 and 400 canes. One of his is made from a
log that was part of the cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was
born. He has another carved by a Hungarian shepherd with
the faces of all the kings of Hungary, from AttiJa right on
down. Rudolph Block, who writes under the name of Bruno
Lessing, owns 1,400 canes. Some of his are made of balsa
wood, a material which is as light as cork and is used in
Hollywood to make sledges and iron safes which heroes must
tote on their backs. One of Mr. Lessing's balsa wood sticks is so
light that he could put a two-cent stamp on its meerschaum
handle and send it through the mail. But he also has great
skull-crushers - canes made of Argentine quebracho and
Cuban palodiablo and Surinam letter wood. One of bloodwood cacique from Panama is supposed to have magical
powers.
Queen Mary collects - no, not funny hats, as you may
have suspected, but lace. And King George is one of the great
army of stamp collectors. He and President Roosevelt and
Theodore Steinway, who makes the pianos, and Sigmund
Spaeth and Col. E. H. R. Green, son of the famous Hetty
Green, and Charles Curie all toil over their albums like
earnest little boys. Indeed, years ago it is said that King
George got into qui te a quarrel wi th a German cousi n because
he refused to trade ene of his favori te stamps for two of the
cousin's.
Roosevelt is almost equally zealous. He has ordered that
each stamp be detached from every letter that comes to the
White Heuse (and the mail there averages 8,000 letters a
day), and that this huge pile of stamps be saved so that he
may look it over when he has time and choose what he wants
for his collection. Right now he is particularly interested in
stamps from Haiti, I hear.
A
I
T seems as if almost all wealthy men are great hobby-horse
riders, and, strange as it may appear, they do not confine
themselves to hobbies which cost money. Of course, Andrew
Mellon collects fabulously expensive paintings, and Henry
Ford goes around buying up old grist-mills and stage-coaches
13
and inns. But, on the other hand, anyone could afford to
enjoy himself in the manner of a Charles G. Dawes, a Wi Iliam
G. McAdoo, a Daniel Guggenheim, or even a Doris Duke.
Doris Duke, the richest girl in the world, gets her fun out of
pia ying the accordian. A few mon ths ago her mother asked
her what she wanted for her 21st birthday, and Doris, having
practically everything else in the world, said that the only
thing she could think of was an accordion. An accordion she
got. She immediately settled down to learn how to play it,
spending hours every day practicing until now she can coax
all the latest dance tunes out of its pleats. They say she takes
it wherever she goes and adores playing at parties.
Charles Dawes now plays the fiddle, but he learned to toot
a flute when small and then taught himself to play the piccolo
so well that he was asked to join the town band in Marietta,
Ohio. Several years ago he wrote a "Melody in A" for the
violin which Kreisler has often used as an encore. !\nd Charles
Schwab now does for fun what he used to do for a living.
\Vhen he was earning a dollar a day as a stake driver in
Andrew Carnegie's mill at Braddock, Pa., Mr. Schwab augmented his income by giving piano lessons at half a dollar the
half hour. He learned while he was a student at the St.
Franciscan College in his home town of Loretto, Pa., and he
still likes to play.
William McAdoo and Daniel Guggenheim like to cook. Mr.
McAdoo being an expert on that bugbear of brides, the
baking powder biscuit. Crosby Gaige, a theatrical producer,
is another famous cook, but his specialty is pickling and preserving. Anyone who accepts a week-end invitation to Mr.
Gaige's house in the country really ought to take along an
apron, because, as often as not, when he arrives he Will find
that Mr. Gaige has set out bushels of tomatoes and jugs of
vinegar and a handsome array of spices which are to be turned
into catsup. In his garden Mr. Gaige raises all sort of fragrant
geranium, basil, thyme, tarragon, and mace, and he gets
great joy out of inventing new uses for herbs.
I\. ND by the way, would you like Daniel Frohman's favor1\ ite recipe? He cooks this himself and says it's delicious:
"Wash a pound of shrimps in cold water, drain, and plunge
into boiling salted water. Cook gentlv for 20 minutes. \\'hen
they are done, let them cool a little while, remove the shells,
and clean the shrimps. Then put in a sauce-pan one and onehalf cups of canned tomatoes, one sliced green pepper, one
sliced onion, and one-half cup of sliced mushrooms, and cook
for ten minutes. Add one-half cup of brown gravy, and cook
twO minutes longer. Thicken this mixture with one tablespoon of flour and one tablespoon of butter creamed together,
and, when the sauce is smooth, add the shrimps and simmer
THE SOHIOAS/ol August, 1934
for five minutes. Serve on a hot platter surrounded by boiled
rice." Many theatrical tummies have been regaled by this
dish.
Vanderbilt has one tee of his golf course on tOP of the museum.
To reach it, you have to go through the building, past the
exhi bi ts.
Mr. Frohman has another hobb,', too. He collects dolls.
But it really isn't his fault. You see, he won his first doll
(an unhapp). looking little boy made by Mme. Kruse, the
famous doll-maker of i'vlunich) at a card game. Mr. Frohman
didn't know quite what to do with his doll, so he took it home
and put it in the parlor until he should find some child to give
it to. But in the meantime Gladys Hanson, the actress, came
visiting one day. She saw the doll and cried, "Isn't he sweet!
But he looks so lonesome. \Vait a minute."
.'\nother of his quainter conceits is his habit of naming new
species of fish after members of his family. There are, for
instance, two types of small gaily-colored butterAy fish which
he calls the Chaetodon consuelae and the Prinotu.,- murieli after
his two daughters, Consuelo and Muriel. A saw-belly herring
is called the Pristiga.,ter uanderbiiti. And a new kind of sea
horse he once discovered is named Hippocampu., rosamundae
after his wife.
Before Mr. Frohman could do anything about it, Miss
Hanson had run out and come back again, proudly bearing a
papier-mache girl to keep his boy company. From then on,
dolls began to pour in on Mr. Frohman, Florence Nash gave
him one. So did Carmel Myers. Bebe Daniels made him a long
lean brunette with Aoppy arms and legs. Grace Drayton,
creator of the Campbell Kids, gave him Campbell Kid dolls.
And the Comoedia Club sent a doll holding in its hand a
check for $300 made out to the Actor's Fund, of which Mr.
Frohman is the head. \\lith no effort On his part, Mr. Frohman
has become the leading doll fancier in town.
W
AMUEL UNTERMYER, th.e famous lawyer, raises Orchids, and wears specimens from h.is greenhouse in h.is
lapel. Clarence Darrow loves cross-word puzzles. Ruth. Ch.atterton writes songs, both. words and music. She refuses to
publish any, but friends who have heard h.er sing them at
parties report that the songs are lovely. And Henry L.
Doherty, head of Cities Service Corporation, is an inventor.
He has patented no less than 150 inventions, including the
automotive bed which he uses himself. Mr. Doherty lives in a
penthouse on top of the Batter)' Park Building in New York,
and he got the idea that it would be nice if he could sleep outdoors when the weather is fine. So he went to work inventing.
Now when he wants to he can push a button and the doo;s
to his terrace will slide open, his bed will trundle outside,
and the doors will close - all by electricit)·.
S
Harold S. Vanderbilt, as you probably know, goes in for
bridge and yachting. William K. Vanderbuilt yachts and
Jooks for new varieties of fish. On his estate at Northport,
Long Island, William has a fine marine museum which he
puts all the odd things he picks up on his round-the-world
cruises. The museum is a two-story white stucco building
about 100 feet long and 20 feet wide standing right in the
middle of his private golf course. In order that all his guests
may be compelled to get a little education, willy nillv, Mr.
RITERS and radio stars have hobbies, too. It seems
James Fenimore Cooper couldn't write a line unless his
cheek was stuffed with gumdrops. He bought gum-drops in
ten-pound lots. Arthur Somers Roche can't work without a
green eye-shade and buys eye-shades by the gross. Fannie
Hurst makes a fetish of collecting altars. She has altars for
kneeling, altars for burnt sacrifices, altars of stone, wood, and
marble, classic and Christian altars. \;lJh.ereas Lord Dunsany
is, in his leisure moments, a goldsmith with a particular passion for making picture-frames.
Russ Colombo collects cigarette cases. He has one which
belonged to the late Czar of Russia and another that served
Count Tolstoi. Walter Damrosch enjoys landscape gardening.
Helen King, who is Em of Clara, Lu 'n' Em, collects headlines from newspaper stories on the hog market. Her favorite
items are: "Hogs Weaker;" "Hogs in Decline;" "Hogs Sink
Throughout Day." Her partners, Isobel Carothers and
Louise Starkey, go in respectively for interpretative dancing
and collecting demi-tasse cups. Phillips Lord (Seth Parker)
and Bert Lahr are yachtsmen, Lowell Thomas raises mink
(mavbe his wife wants a coat), and Jack Pearl collects all sortS
of ~edaJs.
Perhaps by now it looks as if I had loaded the dice against
the celebrities of the world. What is one Ben Weigart collecting wish-bones compared with this array? Don't worry. There
are plenty of other simple every-day folks to keep Ben company. There is Isaac Newman, who owns 500 automobile
license plates; there is Richard R. Sackett, who collects mustache cups; there is a Bri tish clergyman who collects washboards; and there is Joseph Doremus, station agen t at tVlarble
Hill, N. Y., who a year or so ago announced that he had just
finished knitting his 2000th sweater.
Do you suppose it can be true that people who have such
eccentricities are really normal, and that those of us who have
alwa ys prided ourselves on our good sense are, after all, just a
Ii rrle queer' 1 wonder.