BENZINE AND OILS

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3208, 26 July 1932, Page 4

BENZINE AND OILS

THEIR "LIFE" HISTORY. 1 AN INFORMATIVE LECTURE. ■ There was not a large attendance > at the Town Hall last evening (due in large part to the number of other functions held at the same hour) for ' the lecturette and cinematograph • screening of "the story of benzine ■ and oils." but those who did attend - were thoroughly interested, for_ it proved to be absorbingly entertaining and informative. Mr Lowe, representative of the well-known Shell Company of N.Z., Ltd., was the lec-

turer and he described pleasantly the history of petroleum, using a chart to make his points especially clear. He told of the search for petroleum many hundreds of feet underground, how it is brought to the surface, conveyed to the refineries, shipped all over the world, and marketed, in its various farms for every use—the best known of which are motor spirits, solvants, light fuel oils, lubricating oils, paraffin wax, kerosene (both lighting and power), petroleum jelly, residual oils, and bitumen, besides the lesser-known ones of helium gas, printers' ink and lamp black. Then followed the cinematograph screening showing the methods adopted for locating oils, especially m Sumatra and other parts of the East Indies —where the great bulk of the Shell Co.'s product is obtained. The several stages of boring for oil were clearly displayed, with graphs showing the progress of the bore through the various strata; then the gush of oil, how it is captured and piped to storage tanks, pumped into ships—of which the Shell Co. has a fleet of nearly 300 —conveyed to all parts ot the world, and marketed. A more intimate note was struck ! when the screen showed the company's extensive works at Miramar, Wellington, and every phase of treatment there was clearly depicted, including the refining and testing processes, the making of containers, the assembling plant, and the distribution plant (by rail and road) to supply bowser stations all over the Dominion, besides the vessel, " Paua." which is the only oil distributing vessel exclusively engaged in New Zealand waters. The attention of the audience was held throughout, and it is safe to say that they now have a much better appreciation of the many workings and ramifications of the industry, and of the various aspects of obtaining fuel and lubrication efficiency in the internal combustion engine as used in cars and tractors. Mr Lowe informed our representative after the screening that his film had yielded to representations from Te Awamutu customers to give the address here, and he was well pleased with the interest shown. He is taking the films to eral other towns in the province, and expects shortly to proceed to Australia, to continue the educative publicity work of the company in that country.