The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-04-19
An Oil Mill SwirdIer.

The Columbia correspondent Of tho
.New, and Courier gives the details Of
swindle that has been perpe,ra,ed upon
the people Of Chester as follows:
have been furnished with facts which
reveal the meaning Of the arrest Of the
president of the Chester Oil Mills for
robbing his own mill. w. J. McDer.
mott is a Canadian by birth and was for.
merly the captain Of Mississippi River
steamer. He went to Chester from
Memphis when the Chester Oil Mill pro.
ject MAS in its incipiency, and represent
ed himself as the head of the firm of w.
}. Dermott & Co., of Memphis manufac.
tureF' OF cotton seed oil mill machinery.
lie obtained the contract for supplying
the new mill with machinery at a cost Of
over $4,000 He had previously fur.
nlshcd with machinery q mill ut Haw.
kinsville, Ga. lie remained in Chester
and gained the confidence OF the stock
holders so thoroughly that he succeeded
in getting himself elected president of
the company. lie had 5000 in stock of
the mill, which is believed TO have been
received by him in part payment Of his
ontract. The mill began operations and
,IcDermott worked up boom for it by
representing through publication in the
Charlotte JOurnai that it was making
twenty-five per cent. profit, while in truth
it WAS losing money under his manage.
ment After awhile Mr.. Milburn, of
Memphis, president of the Milburn Iron
Works, visited Chester and entered suit
against McDermott for $l8,500 due lin
on the machinery with which the Haw-
kinsville and Chester mills had been
aupplied. MiIburE employed hfcDer.
mott to introduce the machinery, and
McDermott 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 q 20ton
mill, turning out $50 gallons of oil daily,
could only turn out 800 gallons q day.
He cheated not only Milburn but the
stockholders who, of course, knew moth
ing Of oil mills. They further ascertain
ed that McDermott had sold the machin-
cry at double the market price; that is,
its capacity was half what was guaran-
teed. The elevator, for instance, which
| the company for 1915, and in other
details the swindle was the same. The
company requested McDermott 10 resign,
midnight M Saturday. :he 7th instant.
Before day on Sunday morning the
watchman Of the mill discovered McDer-
mott removing the patented valves with.
out 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 secre ted and being valued at
$400. On the noxt day (Monday) he
was also taken with bail writ for $4,000
damages done to tho mill. He failed to
give bail, and was PIT in Jail, but on the
following day, BY lodging securities in
the hand of certain gentlemen he sue
ceeded in bailing himself and departed
forthwith from Chester. McDermott is
evidently thorough rascal. Six days
after he was elected president of the mill
he transferred all but one share of his
$4,000 in stock TO O man in Georgia.
This stock Mr.. Milburn endeavored to
have held for his debt, and it was then
discovered that McDermott had outwit-
ted him. When decapitated, McDer-
mott essayed revenge on the company by
stealing and destroying the machinery.
The people of Chester have had sad
experience with this bustling stranger,
but the stockholders are not as badly of
as they might have been had he remain.
ed with them little longer. The mill
honestly conducted, will doubtless be a
paying concern. 1t is now in good
hands, and this result is to be hoped for.