The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-13
TRICKS or OIL TRADE.
TORuFR SfiVDARD DgWONSTRA.
ron OIFERFD RIt ans LAWS
when Ne " an,ed IN Drive a Fem pctitor ont
NJ Town by shswins mat the iBde'
pendent Product Was mi erier inter
state IpeaVd tets Inquiry widen,

w WV ~
pendeut Protuc, was INF eFier inter.
stat. Board tets inquiry widen,
Cntcluo. MAY ~ -o~verrulinR tho oh
lection Of John q. Milhr, attorney for tbs
Standard on Company. the Interstate
Commerce Commission threw dow the
bars In ths hearing here to-day and per-
mittsd the Government 20 show tho methods
employed by tho Standard oil In crushing
composition.
Ia doing this the commission held that
it, Instructions from Congress authorized
Il TO inquire fully into the dealings Of the
oil company and that IL would not DO re-
! auired TO Determine whether or not the evil
dence that was introduced was In reference
to a matter Of purely interstate character
The decision IL important to the mvestiga-
ton from now on, and II II IL ollowed by
the commission IL will permit II TO go into
n thorough investigation Of the Standard
as to its relations With railroad COMPANIES
and state officials and It's methods In every
field.
F. s. Hibbs. the "lamp expert as attor-
ney F. L.. Monnett. former Attorney
General OF Ohio, who ia conducting the ex-
animation, called him. was called and
explained the tricks he employed In showing
consumers that the oil sold by the independ-
ent dealers was not Of good quality. Mr..
Hibbs aid he was with the Standard for
thirteen years, but he Is To- connected with
an independent company. He said:
an testing the oil Of a rival company
we used a new chimney, and the ma gnesia
In tn, glass made the chimney look cloudy.
For our own oil we used an old chimney.
Then We always had our wick perfectly
dried out and not too ~long-just so 1t would
, reach the bottom of the oil bowl. We
| rubbed a moistened finger tip across the
wick OF our rival, and after 1t had burned
a little time the damp spot was reached
and the light grew dim and there was q
spluttering.
Inthe meantime our light burned brightly.
We also trimmed our wick so as to make
a thin flame, and the wick Of the rival was
trimmed so that 1t would make a thick flame.
The thicker the fla me the yellower the
light. Our thin fame always gave a clear
white light. We often zen down the lower
part of the burner, which let air in under
the chimney and caused the lamp to smoke.
Sometimes we filled up some OF the venti-
lating holes around the burner with wet
-four or chimney gum. l only resorted to
the tricks when a competitor was selling Oil
in a town and | wanted to get rid OF him
The witness named five towns in Illinois
where he used these receptions to CON
vince the consumers that the oil OF the
rival company was Of, an inferior quality
He said that as a matter OF fact the quality
of all the competing concerns was better
than that of the Standard, OH Company.
hibbs then described an ingenious
scheme which was worked in a number OF
cities to annoy the Standard OIL Company.
He would go TO friends and leave O fake
order for oil, and when the Standard agent
came along later the merchant would re,
ceive a certain amount of cash to cancel
the order to the rival concern and give a
genuine order to the Standard Oil Com
paNy. He worked this with success till
agents for the Standard were unable to
tell when an order was genuine, and as a
result the company was mulcted OF q large
sum by means Of the cash presents.
The witness gave specific instances where
he bribed railroad employees, while an
employee of the STANDARD company, TO
get information regarding shipments made
by the Royal Oil Company. He said he
paid a freight handler forlthe low Central
Railroad named Mccoy % a month for
certain information. He said the company
always urged agents never to remember
names or facts connected with obtaining
information about the business OF rivals.
Attorney Monnett then attempted to
show by the witness that he had bribed a
county assessor to have the taxes on the
Standard Oil plant in a certain city reduced,
but the commission ruled that the subject
was irrelevant.
Attorney John S. Miller then subjected
the witness to a searching cross examina;
ton. He made careful inquiry in regard
to his early life and then asked:
Are YOU, working n OF these games
you have described2"
Il decline to answer, because | consider
that a personal matter, said the witpess.
The commission instructed him to answer
NNo, | do not have to stoop to do the
dirty things | learned while In the employ
Of the Standard Oil Company replied
the witness, fiaring angrhy at his interro-
gator.
Following Hibbs, A. C. Annett Of SPRING
field, H., was asked to take the witness
stand. Under questions propounded by
Attorney Monet the witness said:
Il attended a banquet at Peoria on Feb
ruary "a, 1900, where a number OF agents
OF the Standard OIL Company Of Kentucky
addressed us, In explaining the methods
before, Agent Robert Carlyle entered the
Cincinnati Office Of the company with
tears In his eyes because Mr.. Fromeyer, the
man who testified yesterday, secured the
contract for furnishing lubricating oil TO
for the G.. II. Moore Company, Carlyle
declared that II he had $50 he could
get the contract for the Standard. The
| money was furnished and a short time
later the wire nail company was compelled
to close its plant because Of worn out Jour
nails and hot boxes. The contract was then
taken from the Moore company and given
to the Standard"
Attorney Monet endeavored to have
the witness explain that by the use OF emery
dust lubricating oil can be 30 adulterated
that II will affect machinery as that Of the
|, Wire Nail Company had been affected, but
the commissioners ruled this out.
In the early part Of the hearing Attorney
Monet spoke Of the alleged refusal Of
Gov. Dineen to issue q requisite on for the
extradition Of TIC, Ceilings, vice-pregdent
Of the Standard Oh Company. Of Kentucky,
who, the attorney said, had been indicted
in Tesewsll county, III he further de-
attending the hearing, had argued before
the Governor against the issuance of a