The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-22
A BARREL WAR ON TO-DAY.
Manufacturers Of TuTpentinG Barrels
Fail to Reach an Agreement.

They Will Begin to Cut Prices This
Morning-A Secret Meeting Held on
Friday to Form Combine Failed to
Pan Out-The Producers to Be Motif
| fed of the Fight and Can Look for a
| Reduction in Prices-How the Tur-
pentine Tanks Will Affect the Bar
rel Trade.
The manufacturers of turpentine bar
rels will begin a rate war to-day The
edlct has gone forth that the fight will be
to finish, which means a great deal to
! the producers of turpentine and rosin.
Friday there was a number of repre-
| sentatives of barrel manufacturing com
panies in the city, among them represent
atlves of Palmer & Co. of New York and
Charleston, Holmes & Co. of Hawkins
vile, and the Tide Water Oil Company of
this city.
They held a secret meeting here for the
purpose, if possible of reaching an agree
ment and forming, it is said, sort of d
combine for the purpose of put
ting up the prices on these bar
rels. 1t seems that there has existed
an informal agreement among them
for some time that there would be no cut
ting of prices or underselling. 1t is
charged that the representatives of some
OF the houses concerned made regular
practice of invading each others ter
rttory and underselling their competitors
In cases where they had good customers,
and this meeting, which has been kept
quiet, was held for the purpose of reaching
an understanding.
RESULTS OF THE MEETING.
Al
was brought on and the result was the
representatives failed to reach any agree
ment for the purpose of maintaining or
advancing the price. The consequence is
that war to the teeth has been declared
and prices will be cut until somebody
gives in.
One of Palmer g. CO. s representatives
notified some of the factors here that the
war was on, and told him to notify his
customers among the producers that the
cutting would begin to-day. This notice
is to be given them so that they will not
lay in too large supply from the first
drummer that comes along, as prices are
expected to go to rock bottom before the
war is ended.
CHECK ON THE BARREL BUSINESS
The agreement in regard to the turpen-
tine tanks to be placed on the Savannah,
Florida and Western wharves is expected
to be signed by Mr. Plant within a few
days and the matter is considered as
practically settled, and arrangements
will be made to permanently organize the
stock company among the naval stores
men for taking charge of them as soon as
the contract is made.
These tanks will interfere very ma
terially with the barrel manufacturers
who now sell LOCO barrels where they
will only sell 100 or perhaps less when
the tanks are put up. When the tanks
are put in operation the largest producer
can get along during an entire season with
100 barrels. He will ship forty to fifty
barrels at time to Savannah
and will be given credit for
his product by weight, which
will at once be put into the tanks These
barrels can then be shipped back to him
to be retilled,
This means q saving of 81, 200 to 81, SEQ a
season to the large producer. OF course he
will have to sell his product for less in
bulk, but the differences between the loss
from this source and the gain from the
fact that very few barrels will be re-
quired, and also from the fact
that there will be little or no
loss from leakage, will be only slight
one. Then, of course, there is gain by
reduction in freight when shipments are
made in bulk.
EASY LOADING WITH TANKS.
Another advantage to the producer, as
well as to the factor, will be that the
spirits can be easily loaded from the
tanks. This will also involve a large saw
ing of expense.
The Iris, the Belgian steamer which ar
rived here Saturday to take a cargo of
spirits to Antwerp in tanks, will have to
be loaded now by pouring the
spirits in, barrel by barrel,
and the work may require a
week or more. If the tanks were in
operation, however, the vessels could be
loaded in a day, or perhaps in less time. 1t
is the same way with tank cars, by means
of which large quantities of spirits are
now carried from Savannah to west
erm points. The loading into the tanks
has to be accomplished barrel by barrel.
The introduction of these tanks, which
is expected to be a matter of only a short
time now, and which has almost become
necessary to the foremost naval stores
port of the world in order that she may
maintain her stand ahead of all competi-
tors, will do away with all this extra
work, and win be of advantage TO naval
stores men in more ways than those men,