The attempts which were made but a few years ago to develop the possibilities of the Heathfield district of Sussex, with a view to obtaining commercial quantities of natural gas, were also prompted with the idea of maybe striking deposits of liquid petroleum, though it is doubtful, both from a geological point of view, and from the nature of the natural gas which is there in abundance, whether liquid oil will be met with in that part of the country. What has been established, however, is the fact that large quantities of natural gas are to be found in this delightful part of rural Sussex, and it is a great pity that the necessary enterprise has not been forthcoming to permit of a really serious development. Some years ago, I motored an American oil-man over the gas-fields of Heathfield, and he assured me that, if such evidences were found in the States, there would immediately be a great boom, and finance would freely flow in to stimulate development. But not so with Heathfield, for the opinion is freely held that this field is too near our midst for real speculative enterprise. Remove it to the wilds of Russia, and British finance would appreciate the immense potentialities which to-day lie dormant. For those readers who are, perhaps, not conversant with the history of the Heathfield gas developments it is well to record the fact that attention to these deposits was drawn years ago, when a well was being drilled for water on the property of the Brighton and South Coast Railway, near the present station. Strong smells of gas prevented working for some time, and as these increased it was decided that the better course would be to suspend drilling operations. The tubes of the well were partially drawn out, and the well sides caved in, yet the gas pressure increased. The well was abandoned as a water well, but pipes were attached to the cap at the mouth, and a steady pressure of gas was emitted. It was decided that, inasmuch as the gas burned with a pure flame, the station should be lighted with it. That was over twenty years ago, and to-day the well is still producing, and the station is still lighted with the natural gas, which needs no refining. Not only so, but a well-appointed hotel close by utilizes the gas for lighting and cooking. A project was set on foot for sinking further wells and piping the gas to the southern coast resorts for general use, but lack of capital prevented progress being made, and so, to-day, Heathfield, like many other centres in the country, awaits the attention of the carefully-directed drill to open up its underground wealth.