The Northern Pacific farmer., 1880-02-26
sTANDARD.OIL MOiOP0LY.
Description of the Make.pp of a Great
Corporation!
Oil City Correspondence Ne9 York Times.

VII SHy correspondence NeY y OK 11mes.
The great monopoly of the Standard
Oil Comps in Cleveland, O., did not
CROWN fact, could not have grown
without an ample foundation Of pluck
and brains to build on. The chief aim
of the company now is to pick up a
good man wherever it can find him,
and to tie him by the bonds of self
interest. It pays for brains, and takes
one man from bank here, another
from railroad yonder, and still another
from a wholesale or commission house.
It not only looks sharp for men, but
it discounts the future wherever it's
ample means will allow it to be ahead
of the market in so doing. For instance,
last summer it saw that an advance was
coming in iron, and contracted in
Europe for 10000 tons of hoop-iron,
which is now being delivered. To
duplicate that order now would cost
$3.50, 900 more than was paid at the
time of purchase, or, to, figure little
closer, % cents eacA on every barrel
made by it.
i The great corporation had very
humble beginning. It was only a few
years ago that a small sign, III. M.
Flagler & Co., Forwarding and CON-
mission" hung over the door of an old
warehouse on the Cleveland River
Wharf. Mr.. Flagler, now secretary of
the Standard. had then associated with
him Mr.. John D. Rockefeller, now the
Standard president, and Mr.. Samuel
Andrews, until recently the esuperintend-
ent of the Standard Works. All three
were. and are, remarkable men in their
way. Mr.. Rockefeller was, to start with,
q steady, reliable, thoughtful young
maa, hard working and frugal. He
made good head for the firm, possess.
ing good judgment and a habit of ex-
amining into the details of questions
that he Was called upon to answer. His
tenacity of grit, after having once taken
hold of a thing, tided them over many
places where u surrender would have
meant disaster.
Mr.. Flagler is fitting adjunct to Mr..
Rockefeller. He it is who makes the
railroad contracts for his company, and
it is through many of these contracts
that the Standard has gained the ad-
vantages and had the opportunities for
profitable business that it has had. Mr..
Andrews, the third member of the firm,
came to this country poor English Ia
borer, procured work in the Cleveland
refneries, and being quick, observing
man, soon gathered ideas of his own,
and was made the main manager in the
Flagler-R works. He came
up with the monopoly, until two years
ago, when he sold out for round mil
lion or so, and retired from the business.
No three men, however, manage the
Standard of to-day, as there are ten
times that number interested. AS a
corporation, they are merciless and
grasping; while as citizens they are just
and generous, and counted among the
best men of Cleveland and the other
cities in which they are distributed.
AS the production of coal oil increas.
ed, reineries sprung up throughout the
region, and every town had from one to
three in full blast night and day. Cory,
Pa, had three, Jamestown, N. Y, two;
and Cleveland half dozen. Owing to
cheap fuel, good shipping facilities and
other advantages, the latter point be-
came the refining center of the west.
Shrewd employees would soon learn the
process of refining crude, and expert
enced no difficulty in getting capital to
join them in starting still and adding
more and more to the growing industry.
AS a natural consequence, competition
brought about low prices, which caused
lessenlng of profits. The firm of Rock
efeller, Andrews & Flagler took long
look ahead, incubated the system of re.
bates, and commenced putting refined
oil on the market considerably below
the schedule prices. As this went on
for some time, and as Messrs. Rookie
feller, Andrews & Flagler were con-
stantly increasing their facilities and
capacity, the weaker refiners asked
themselves what it all meant, and on
inquiry of the Standard were told that
that company would buy them out if
they were not satisfied with the bust
ness. This seemed fair enough, but
when the price of properties was talked
over the small refiner WAS astonished