Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-04-26
ye1istellaneuns &eadiug.
AN OIL MILL sWINDLE.

COLUMBIA, April 14.-I have been fur
nished by prominent citizen OF Chester
with facts which reveal the otherwise mys-
tical meaning of the arrest of the president
of the Chester Oil Mills for robbing his own
mill. w. ]. McDermott is a Canadian by
birth and is said to have been formerly the
captain of a Mississippi River steamer. He
went to Chester from Memphis when the
Chester Oil Mill project was in its incipi-
ency, and represented himself as the head of
the firm of w. J. McDermott & Co., of Mem
phis, manufacturers of cotton seed oil mill
machinery. He obtained the contract for
supplying the new mill with machinery at a
cost of over $4,000 He had previously
furnished with machinery a mill at Haw-
kinsville, Ga. He remained in Chester
while the mill was being put up, and gained
the confidence Of it's stockholders so thor
oughly that he succeeded in getting himself
elected president of the company shortly
afterward. He had $4,000 in the stock of
the mill which is believe to have been
received by him in part payment of his con-
tract, The mill began operations and Nc
Dermott worked up a boom for it by repre-
senting through publication in the Char
lette Journal that it was making twenty
five per cent. profit, while in truth it was
lOsing-money under his management. At
ter awhile Mr.. Milburn of Memphis,
president of the Milburn Iron Works,
visited Chester and entered suit against
McDermott for $19,500 due him on the
machinery with which the Hawkinsville
and Chester mills had been supplied. Mil
introduce the machinery for him, and Nc
Dermott collected the money and kept it,
representing to the purchasers that he was
the real manufacturer. And then it leaked
out that the mill, which McDermott had
represented as Potion mill, turning out $50
gallons Of oil daily, could only turn out 300
gallons day. He cheated not only Milburn
but the stockholders who, of course, knew
nothing of oil mills. The stockholders fur
ther ascertained that McDermott had sold
them the machinery at double the market
price that is, its capacity was halfWhat was
guaranteed. The elevator, for instance,
which McDermott bought for s275, he sold
to the company for $675, and in other details
the swindle was the same. The company re-
quested McDermott to resign, and his resig-
nation was to date from midnight on Satur-
day, the 7th instant. Before day on Sunday
mOrning-a few hours after this-the watch
man of the mill discovered McDermott re-
moving the patented valves without which
the oil presses could not be operated. He
was arrested for this offence, as stated in the
county papers, and held for grand larceny,
the valves having been secreted and being
valued at $4OO. On the next day (Monday)
he was also taken with bail writ for s., 900
damages done to the mill. He failed to give
bail, and was put in Jail, but on the follow
ing day, by lodging securities in the hands
of certain gentlemen he succeeded in bail
ing himself and departed forthwith from
Chester. McDermott is evidently thor
ough rascal Six days after he was elected
president Of the mill he transferred all but
one share of his 1000 in stock to a man in
Georgia. This stock at a later day Mr.. Mil
burn endeavored to have held for his debt,
and it was then discovered that McDermott
had outwitted him. When decapitated,
McDermott essayed revenge on the compa-
ny by stealing and destroying the machine.
ry. The people of Chester have had sad
experience with this bustling stranger, but
the stockholders are not as badly off as they
might have been had heremained with them
a little longer. The mill, honestly conduct
ed, will doubtless be a paying concern. 1t
is now in good hands, and this result is to
be hOped fOr-COr, NeUs and Courier.