Natural gas is as much an article of com merce as any 'other product of the earth; State v. Oil, Gas & Min. Co., 120 Ind. 575, 22 N. E. 778, 6 L. R. A. 579; West v. Gas Co., 221 U. S. 229, 31 Sup. Ct. 564, 55 L. Ed. 716, 35 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1193. A state' stat ute prohibiting the waste of natural gas and oil 'is not unconstitutional as depriving the owner of his property without due process of law ; Ohio Oil Co. v. Indiana, 177 U. S. 190, 20 Sup. Ct. 576, 44 L. Ed. 729, affirming Ohio Oil Co. v. State, 150 Ind. 698, 50 N. E. 1125. See LAND.
The business of transporting and furnish ing natural gas is a public use and the right of eminent domain may be constitutionally granted to companies engaged in it ; 5 Cent. Rep. (Pa.) 564; the business is transporta tion of freight ; Carothers v. Philadelphia Co., 118 Pa. 468, 12 Atl. 314. Because of the public nature of the business taxation may be authorized for supplying it to municipal corporations ; Fellows v. Walker, 39 Fed. 651; and any unreasonable restraint upon the business is against public policy ; People v. Trust Co., 130 Ill. 268, 22 N. E. 798, 8 L. R. A. 497, 17 Am.' St. Rep. 319. It was held that under the Pennsylvania general incor poration act of 1874, under which companies for the manufacture and supply of gas were formed, natural gas companies could not be incorporated; Emerson v. Com., 108 Pa. 111; Sterling's Appeal, 111 Pa. 35, 2 Atl. 105, 56 Am. Rep. 246. Consequently a general law was passed providing for such compa nies under which, when lawfully incorporat ed, they may exercise the right of eminent domain, and the grant of the power is consti tutional ; State v. Oil, Gas & Min. Co., 120 Ind. 581, 22 14. E. 778, 6 L. R. A. 579; Bloom field & R. Natural Gas Light Co. v. Richard son, 63 Barb. (N. Y.) 437; McDevitt v. Gas Co., 160 Pa. 367, 28 Atl. 948; and the use of city streets for that purpose imposes no ad ditional servitude; id. In Pennsylvania, the courts of common pleas may hear and deter mine controversies between natural gas com panies and municipalities as to the manner of laying their pipes ; Appeal of City of Pittsburgh, 115 Pa. 4, 7 Atl. 778.
A right to take natural gas from land un der the Pennsylvania act of Apr. 7, 1870, P. L. 58, is not land held in fee, subject to be sold under a special fl. fa against an in solvent corporation; Greensburg Fuel Co. v. Gas Pa. 78, 29 Atl. 274. The lessee for oil and gas, having drilled a well and tapped the gas-bearing strata (the only one in' the land), has both the possession of the gas and the right to it; and the owner will be enjoined from drilling; Westmoreland N. Gas Co. v. De Witt, 130 Pa. 235, 18 Atl. 724, 5 L. R. A. 731. A lessee for oil only who took from the well both oil and gas was held not accountable to the lessor for the gas, which is, like air and water, the subject only of qualified property by occupancy; Wood Co.,ounty Petroleum Co. v. Transporta tion o 28 W. Va. 210, 57 Am. Rep. 659. From the nature of the gas, a lease of well rights is necessarily exclusive so far as con cerns the leased premises themselves ; id.; Westmoreland Nat. Gas Co. v. De Witt, 130 Pa. 235, 18 Atl. 724, 5 L. R. A. 731. A per son who has a natural gas well on his prem ises has the right to explode nitro-glycerine therein for the purpose of increasing the flow, although such explosion may have the effect to draw gas from the land of another ; Greenfield Gas Co. v. Gas Co., 131 Ind. 599, 31 N. E. 61. An act prohibiting the trans portation of natural gas in pipes to points outside a state is invalid as interfering with inter-state commerce; West v. Gas Co., 221 U. S. 229, 31 Sup. Ct. 564, 55 L. Ed. 716, 35 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1193.
The rights and liabilities of gas companies are, in the main, the same, whether they are engaged in the business of supplying ar tificial or natural gas.
Mutrieipca ?fighting. The business is usu ally carried on by companies acting either under a legislative or municipal franchise or contract, or directly by the municipality under express legislative authority or im plied power.
As to the implied power of a municipality to light its streets, etc., see ELECTRIC LIGHT