The coal which was required for heating and cooking in the various camps and cantonments both in the United States and France, the coke which was used at our arsenals in the production of ordnance, the gasoline which drove our trucks, tractors, tanks, and airplanes, and the oils which lubricated them, were all procured through the Fuel Branch of the Fuel and Forage Division of the Office of the Quartermaster-General, which in October, 1918, was converted into the Raw Materials Division of the Office of the Director of Purchase and Storage, without, however, in any way affecting its functions. From its creation by the President in August, 1917, until the close of the war, the United States Fuel Administration worked in closest harmony with the Fuel Branch of the Quartermaster Department in supplying the enormous fuel requirements of our fighting forces. The procedure was roughly as follows: The Fuel Branch first ascertained the probable requirements of every camp, post, and station for each month of the fiscal year, and upon receipt of these estimates it would request the Fuel Administration to allocate to the respective camps the tonnages required. Pursuant to these requests, the Fuel Administration would instruct its District Representatives to place the necessary orders with the various coal-shippers, the regulation of shipments and similar matters thenceforth being handled by the District Representatives directly with the Camp Quartermasters. With the abolition of the Fuel Administration at the end of the war, the task of supplying the army with coal and coke devolved upon the officers in charge of the various General Supply Zones into which the United States is now divided. The prime importance to the army of gasoline and lubricants was made clear by General Pershing when he placed them, with food and forage, in the first division of the automatic supply cable which governed and controlled the movement of all supplies that had to go forward daily to the combat troops on the line. To procure and maintain an adequate supply of petroleum products, and to devise and standardize these products, there was created the Oil Branch of the Fuel and Forage Division of the Quartermaster Corps. Many interesting problems were successfully solved by the Oil Branch, which received assistance of the greatest value from the producers and refiners. Though the oil producing and refining concerns of the United States have repeatedly been characterized by politicians and by the press as “soulless corporations,” their patriotism throughout the great emergency was shown by the fact that their interest and efforts did not end with providing what the government asked for, but every one connected with them, from their presidents down, regarded the matter of supplying the army as a personal responsibility, suggesting many valuable changes, improvements, and economies based on their technical knowledge and experience.