The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-13
Startling Testimony as to Trust.
CORRUPTION ON ALL SIDES
Worked With the Supposedly Inde-
 pendent Oil Companies.
witsessss Tell of Buyias Informatsoa From Employes of Railroads--
 The Trick Played on an In- [
 diana Nail Min. :


 sion into the relations between the Standard Oil Company and the rail- roads was concluded this afternoon zs. far as this section of the country is concerned. and will be resumed in Cleveland May 24.
 F. s, Hibbs of Peoria. who was for thirteen years in the employ of the: witness of the day. He demonstrafcd' how the agents of the oil company. were accustomed to trick customers Into thinking that the product of their company was superior when 1t fact it' was inferior to the product of the independent companies
 He gave the names or men whom he the business of competitors and on cross examination declared Tho stsn-' dard oil Company is doing all of thess things today"
 Other witnesses told of bribing em- ployes of railroads and manufacturins companies and an instance was related where wire and nall mill in Indiana was compelled to shut down because grit had been placed In the oil pur- chased of an independent concern at the instance of salesman of the Standard oil Company.
 Tricks of saI~smen.
 Despite the objections of the ceun. sei for the Standard oil Company. F.. S. Hibbs, of Peoria. and for thirteen years an employe of the Standard Gil Company. was permitted today by the Interstate Commerce Commission to il- lustrate 8 number of tricks which the witness says were used by saiesmen and agents of the Standard oil Com. pany, pany." said Mr. Hibbs. I've used anew chimney and the magnesie in the glass makes the chimney look cloudy. For our own use we had an old chimney. with the wick perfectly dried out apd not too long We used 10 rub . mois- tened finger across the wick of the competitor. and after it burned short time the dump spot would be reached, the light would grow dim and thers our light would Do burning brightly Our wicks were trimmed So as to mako a thin flame and those of the couapett- tor were trimmed so as to make thick flame, The thinner the flame, the whiter tho light Then we would often bend down the lower part of the burn CT and let air in under the chimney which would cause the lamp to smoke. Sometimes we would fill up some of the ventiiating holes around the burn or with chewing gum.
 T only resorted to these tricks when n GQlNp&tltQT was nGt1iuk BtA LII 1 wv A@ and I wanted to get rid of him"
 DO the agents of the Standard OH Company stiil practice the tactics you have mentioned. in meeting compett- tion7" asked Attorney Monett.
 "Doing it Today.v
 "Yes. they are doing 1t today" re- piled tho witness. They pay rebates, stitute an inferior quality Of oil. and in fact. do anything necessary to. get the business and put the competitor out of the way
 The witness then told of dinner given in Peoria by c. H. Hand. man ager of the Cincinnati offfce of the Standard oil Company at which the different methods Of getting pusinsss were discussed. The witness said that Manager Hand related how Robert Car lyle. d salesman, had used $i0o in get- finx a certain customer and that 1t was a good investment. The money waS used In bribing the employees of the firm using the oil.
 Another instance was cited wnero the engineer of large piant wss ',, erio- ed by agents of the Standard Oil Com- nanv to put grit in the oil sold by a
 The witness gave specific instances whare he had bribed railroad employees while he was ip the employ of the standard oil Company to get informa- tion regarding shipments made by the Royal oil Company. He said the com nany always urged agents never to remember names or facts connected with the work of obtaining informa- tIon about the business or rivals.
 Attorney Monett then attempted to show that the Standard Oil Company naId less than 10 per cent of the taxes. t should pay under the law. but Com- missioner Clements ruled the ccmmis- sion could not properly go into that matter in the present inquiry.