icate to the oil prospector where
deposits of oil may possibly be found. He examines the country about
and, selecting a favorable place, drills a well. If he is successful, he
will strike oil-bearing rocks. The oil may be a few hundred feet below
the surface, or it may be a mile below. In the latter case it takes
months to drill the well.

If a robber came and attempted to take by force the coal, oil, and gas
which we are daily losing through our carelessness and indifference,
even though he might put it to better use than we put it, there would at
once go up a great cry. We would raise an army and fight for our
property, and perhaps suffer great loss in defending it. But, day by
day, without making any serious objection, we are letting these natural
resources go to waste.

Perhaps in some far distant future, after we have used up the stores of
fuel in the earth, we may discover something to take its place; but wise
and thoughtful people should make the most of what they have.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

NEED FOR PROTECTION OF CREATURES THAT LIVE IN THE WATER

Perhaps you think it is absurd to talk about caring for the creatures
that live in the water, since they can so easily hide away in its depths
where we cannot follow. Perhaps you think that because the ocean is so
great it would be impossible ever to catch all the fish that live in it.
It is easy to understand how all the fish might be caught out of the
creeks, rivers, and shallow lakes, since fish are hungry and we put
before them such attractive bait; but with the ocean it seems different.
It stretches so many thousands of miles and is so very deep that there
does not appear to be any danger of exterminating the animals of the
ocean as we have some of those of the land.

Is it true, however, that all the vast waters of the ocean are full of
fish, or are they found only in certain parts? The fishermen can tell us
about this matter. They know where to set the hooks and nets, and where
they are most likely to get a good catch. They do not go far out where
the water is deep but seek, instead, the shallow waters near the shore
or about the reefs and islands. They know that the deep water of the
ocean contains very few fish and none that are of any value as food.

Each kind of fish has become adapted to certain parts of the ocean, for
both the food supply and the pressure of the water differ with different
depths. Fish caught in deep water are often dead befo