The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-02-11
ROCEEFELLEB'S SCHEMI
To Capture the Steel Rail Busi-
ness Of the World.
IN OOLIUsIoE WITH CARNEGIE.

It Is Said They Propose Go Force Prices
Down to a Level That win XIII on All
Competition-The scheme Much Like
Standard OIL Methods.
Chicago, Feb. 11.-An interesting ac-
count of the direct cause which pre-
oipitated the rupture in the steel rail
pool was given yesterday by a person
familiar with the situation. Repre-
sentatives of two of the largest mills
in Chicago met on Monday to agree
upon rates governing business In a
particular part of the country and de-
cided $40 as a basis price for certain
transactions. just at that time some
large contracts came into the market
and one of the concerns interested was
offered profitable business at a lower
figure. Rumors of cutting in various
directions were current at the time,
so the tempting offer was accepted and
an order aggregating many thousands
Of tons was taken at q price said to
be in the ncighborhood of $17 a ton.
This necessitatcd, Of course, the with
drawal of one large concern from the
pool, and hostilities We're at once be-
gun as soon as the transaction became
generally known
orders We're taken in New York on
Wednesday at a basis price of $40 for
rails at the mill and local agents of
some of the largest concerns are said
to be anxious to do as much business
as possible while an open market pre-
walls.
it is not possible at this time to tell
just what effect prevailing prices will
have upon outstanding contracts.
Within the last few weeks contracts
amounting to more than 81. O0O, 900 have
been made by some of the railways at
prices averaging S23 or S25 a ton, and
although some of them are binding at
those figures 1t is thought likely that
many orders will be delivered at a
lower rate by mills anxious to hold the
patronage Of good customers. What
ever settlement is reached, however,
losses are inevitable.
The Tribune says: "The great steel
pool Is smashed, and out of the ruins
of the combination has arisen two
man trust, which wants the steel rail
business Of the whole world. Carnegie
and Rockefeller are the men. Steel
rails were offered to several railroads
at $17 per ton by the Carnegie repre-
sentatives. These offers quickly fol-
lowed others at $40 ton, which had
brought no contracts. The pool price
for steel rails was $25, and the Car
negie interests were the head and
front of the pool.
'The news that the steel rail pool
had collapsed spread rapidly through
the iron trade, and caused grave anx-
iety, for IL was taken to mean that the
| Carnegie Rockefeller combination was
at last ready to strike, and a struggle
of the survival of the fittest, such per-
/ haps never before seen in the indus
! trial world, had begun. With all the
care and foresight of two of the great
| est captains of industry America has
produced, backed by boundless cap
| ital the combination was finally in
position to sell steel against the world
1T was to be the old story of Stand
ard Oil over again. Mastery was to
be gained by producing at a lower cost
than competition. American markets
We're too limited a field for the ambi-
tion of the combination. 1t was fig
ured out by the master minds who
| planned it that it's product could be
sold against the mills of England and
! Germany, wherever lines of transDor-
tation might reach. The plan was
! laid in the fertile brain Of John d.
Rockefeller whose every enterprise
/ has succeeded"