The times., 1899-03-15
oHIo'S OIL FIGHT.
Suggestive Evidence Against the
Rockefeller Trust.

Columbus. o.. March 14.-The testimony
of several witnesses was taken today in
the case pending in the Supreme Court
against the Standard Oil Company to Sc
cure a forfeiture OF It's charter on the
ground that it is operating within the
State in violation OF the Valentine anti
trust law. Attorney General Monnett Is
seeking TO prove that the company has
driven out all competition by cutting
prices, which were afterward restored and
is now enjoying q complete monopoly OF
the business in all the cities in OHIO. with
one or two exceptions. There were two
bits of testimony at the hearing today bor-
dering upon the sensational. X. \. Mat
thews, manager for the company for Co
lumbus and tributary towns. stated on
cross examination, by the company's at
torneys, that W. II. Clarke, who until
recently was the companys agent at
Newark, had been dismissed from the SER
vice OF the company for dishonesty and
was now under bond for embeZzlement
He said the Fidelity Deposit Company was
back of the prosecution. Mr.. Clarke Oc-
cupied seat at the right Of Attorney Cen
eral Monnett. and had been making him
self conspicuous in coaching the Attorney
General as to the questions to be pro-
pounded to witnesses. The purpose in
bringing out this testimony was to show
the animus OF his hostility toward the
company. The testimony rejecting most
seriously upon the company was that of
G. Kearns, of Piqua, formerly in the en-
ploy of the Cleveland Refining Company,
He testified that Deputy State Oil Inspec-
! tor HELEN. stationed at Monmouth, H.,
had condemned a large quantity of oil on
I the ground that 1t did not come up TO the
4 legal test under the laws of that State
| When this fact was reported 10 the Cleve-
land Refining Company. the witness was
ordered TO Monmouth TO see what the
! trouble was The test was again made
and proved to be good. Mr.. Kearns says
I HELEN resigned his position as deputy oil
/ inspector and told the witness with tears
| that 1T was through the Standard Oil
/ Company that he had condemned the oil.
The attorneys for the Standard csked
that the testimony be ruled out on the
| ground that it was irrelevant and ineom-
petent and, if true, could have no bearing
| upon the case at bar for the reason that
| the act complained of was in another
| State. Several oil peddlers OF the city were
called and gave their testimony.
| William F. Hayles, n former police Off
GER and Benjamin f. Thompson, who
stated on cross examination that he is at
present engaged in the saloon business,
testified that they were employed by the
! Standard during the local war on the
| Paragon Oil Company. that the prices were
reduced from 10 to cents per gallon, that
the prices were kept there until the expf-
ration OF six or seven weeks, then restored
to ten cents, when the Paragon people
| commenced to buy their oil from the
Standard. These gentlemen and all other
Witnesses admitted on cross-examination,
however. that the Cleveland Refining
Company had an agency in this city at
the present time and had been selling 10
the retail trade in Columbus for many
years. The attorneys for the Standard
Oil Company served notice upon Attorney
General Monnett this evening that they
would take the deposition of John d.
Rockefeller and other officers of the Stand
ard Oil Company at the Hoffman House in
New York next Friday Attorney General
Monnett then served notice upon the at
torneys for the Standard Oil Company that
he would take the dispositions of the same
persons in the Buckeye Pipe Line Company
case at the same place on the following
day