ocks, watches, and automobiles, in fact all operating
machinery requires its use; so that a large amount of oil must always be
conserved for lubricating purposes.

Coal oil, or kerosene, may be regarded as absolutely necessary for the
lighting of houses or other establishments not connected with gas or
electric supply.

Gasolene is sometimes used for lighting, though such use is not common.
It is largely used for cooking, and still more largely used in the
various types of gasolene engines.

Naphtha is used for power, especially for motor-boats, and for cleaning,
in which it is very valuable by reason of its power to dissolve dirt.

Paraffin is used in polishing, in laundry work, for waxing floors, and
as a covering to exclude air in preserving articles.

Waste has been markedly absent in the petroleum industry. It is
necessary that oil drilling outfits shall contain steel storage tanks
for holding the oil when it is reached. Usually the supply is large
enough, but sometimes, as in the case of the big well at Beaumont,
Texas, the oil gushes forth in such volume that the drillers are not
prepared to take care of the overflow, and much is wasted before the
well can be capped. In general there is no waste in storage in this
country. In European countries where there is oil, the loss through lack
of tanks and by using wooden tanks which leak, is very great.

Another form of waste which is common in foreign countries, but which
has been avoided in the United States, is evaporation of gasolene and
similar light products when the petroleum is exposed to the air in open
tanks. This is the most valuable part of petroleum, and if it be exposed
to the sun a single day it loses greatly in value.

The refining processes of the petroleum industry are probably carried
out with better system and less waste than in any other resource, owing
to the fact that the business is controlled by large companies. There is
no waste material in its manufacture, except some slight residue that
might be used for oiling roads, instead of using the crude oil. The
principal waste lies in its use. In view of the fact that the supply is
not unending, is, indeed, rapidly disappearing, the uses should be
confined only to the necessary lines for which there are no substitutes
at similar prices. These are for lubricating oils and for the lighting
of homes. The unnecessary uses are for burning in locomotives and for
the development of power.

Whenever