Until last year but one state--Indiana--had an effective law preventing the waste of natural gas by oil companies. This law says in substance that a man can not take the oil from the ground where nature has safely stored it, unless he also provide a market for the gas which accompanies it. It also says that neither the producer nor the consumer shall be allowed to waste this valuable fuel, as such waste is against public policy. Mr. I. C. White, of West Virginia, in discussing this question at the Conservation Congress said, "This Indiana statute should be enacted into law in every state where these fuels exist." Since that time Pennsylvania and Ohio have passed laws, which are said to be effective, for the conservation of natural gas. Much has been accomplished by gas companies, who, since they became alive to the danger of loss of their investment, have been extremely watchful of their property. In West Virginia the gas companies buy the gas which has been obtained in the drilling of oil wells, thus providing a market for the waste gas and making it possible to continue the oil business and at the same time to furnish cheap gas. Another hopeful sign is the pumping of all of the product of a well. Formerly as soon as a well dropped greatly in production it was abandoned, but now it is pumped until dry. One method by which the gas from oil wells may be utilized consists in compressing it in steel cylinders for shipping. This in a small way has been found to be successful. Experiments are being tried on a large scale in Ohio to prove that gas may be returned to reservoirs within the earth which are tight enough to hold it under heavy pressure. Fuel gas made from low-grade coal is a satisfactory substitute for natural gas. Like the natural product it may be piped for long distances. Some natural gas companies have bought up the culm banks and heaps of refuse coal, so that if the natural gas becomes exhausted they can manufacture cheap gas at the mines and pipe it to the cities they now serve. PETROLEUM Petroleum, or rock oil, is a dark greenish brown liquid which when refined yields gasolene, naphtha, benzine, kerosene, lubricating oils, and paraffin. The name petroleum applies only to the crude petroleum as it comes from the ground, and the word oil is applied to the products obtained by refining.