more ancient
Egyptians used in the preservation of the mummified bodies of their
dead; but, as the Americans did not need oil for such purposes, they
considered the oil a nuisance. At one time, while a man was drilling
for water, he struck such a strong artesian well of oil that it gushed
out all over the ground; then it ran down to a river and caught fire
as it spread out over the swiftly flowing water. The flames spread
down the river and it looked for all the world as if the river was
burning up!

"They called this oil petroleum--rock-oil.

"One day, in 1859, after there had been a good deal of talk as to
whether or not this oil was good for anything, Col. E.L. Drake hired
some men to drill a well at Titusville, Pennsylvania. The drillers at
first refused to work for a man who was so foolish as to spend his
money in this way, but, finally, they set at work on the job under the
belief that they were really drilling for salt! But the oil began to
flow, and some men soon learned how to make kerosene out of it. This
took the place of tallow candles, and from that moment the world has
been much brighter. The men kept right on with their experiments,
until now we have not only kerosene, but gasoline, benzine, rhigoline,
naphtha, mineral sperm oil, lubricating oils, paraffins wax, carbon
oil and a variety of medicinal products--all made from this
once-useless petroleum. These discoveries have brought also the
gasoline and oil stoves, gasoline and gas engines and the automobile.
Prom the industry has grown the Standard Oil company, one of the
richest and most powerful commercial enterprises in the world. So now,
in these eastern states, it is vastly different from what it used to
be when a man discovered oil on his land. If he finds oil now, and if
be puts up a sign at all, it is apt to read like this: [Revise Fig. 98
to Complete Fig. 99.]

[Illustration: Fig. 99]

"From this little fact of industrial history I want to draw a lesson,
especially for the boys, today. Perhaps we cannot own any stock in the
Standard Oil company, but we have something just as good, and
better. Perhaps we have found in ourselves what we think is a useless
talent--useless unless we refine it and cultivate it. One day some
people living on a certain street in New York raised a big row because
a small, ragged street boy drew pictures all over their sidewalks with
chalk. To them, he was nothing but a nuisance. However, a prominent
man came walki