New-York tribune., 1906-05-27
OIL HEARING ADJ0URNS
.ST4ND4RD NAY ANSWER.
Time and Place for Reopensng> Case
To Be Named.

Cleveland, May 26.-After three days taking
testimony concerning the Standard OIL Company,
the Interstate Commerce commissioners Prouty
and Cle1nents adjourned this afternoon and
soon after started for Washington. where they
are expected to begin soon the preparation OF
their report The report. however. VIII not Do
cIose5 until the Standard Oil Companys attor-
neys have received ample opportunity 10 reply.
Virgil P. Kline. for the Standard Oil Company
gave notice lust before adjournment that ne
desired TO answer some Of the testimony, ana
requested the commissioners to name a suitable
time and place for the reopening Of the case.
Mr.. Kline was told that this privilege would De
extended to him and that announcement OF the
time and place would be made in the near tut
ure Mr. Kline said that he would like to have
the case reopened in Cleveland.
In the three days. hearing a total Of thirty
five witnesses have been heard. About fifty or
sixty were subpenaed. Some of them were not
called Counsel for the commission. however.
had five or six on hand, but the commissioners
declined to hear them
To-day's deyelopments Were In keeping with
the general line of inquiry. The first witness
was W. e. MacEwen formerly chief clerk In
the car department of the Lake Shore & Mich
igan Southern Railroad Company. in this city.
He said the cars of the Union Tank Line (Sta1lo-
ard Oil cars) received a great advantage over
rivals cars in computing mileage and freight
bills. The bills of would be computed ac-
cor-ding to one standard OF distance. and those or
the other according to another standard. The
result was that the Standard was enabled to
save considerable sum over the charge made
to competing companies .MacEwan said he was
with the Lake Shore road for several years,
and when he left it he started to work with the
Peerless Transit Company, g. small rival tank
line Knowing how mileage and charges were
being computed, he went to- the proper Lake
Shore officials and asked for the same advantage
as was extended to the Union Tank Line
He was rtdiculed. he said, and was told that
he did not know what he was talking about
and every effort was made to belittIe him IN the
eyes of his new employers. Finally. however,
having obtained copies OF the Union Tank Line
reports and taken them TO the proper officials,
the road reluctantly granted his request Some
two weeks ago, however. he said. he had ascer-
tanned that the old order of things had been
sumed and he went TO investigate. The Lake
Shore officials he said. acted surprised and Of
fered the explanation that, the Peerless Transit
Company being the only concern to which the
same rates as the Union Tank Line were al
lowed, the matter had been forgotten The
Union Tank Line was at once restored
Macewen also testified that the Lake Shore
and Pennsylvania companies had recently been
rejecting Peerless Transit Company's tank cars,
built two or three years ago in accordance with
specifications furnished by the railroad oompa-
MES At the same time, the witness said, he
knew that Union Tank cars not complying with
the specifications were accepted by the railroads
STANDARD EMPLOYS LAKE SHORE MEN.
The witness made the further charge that GER
tain freight employees OF the Lake Shore road
received monthly salaries from the Union Tank
Line Company, a Standard concern, and in re-
turn for such compensation the freight officials
made special efforts to facilitate the movements
OF Standard OIL shipments.
w. D. Brtclser, for twenty-nine years Editor
of THE Evening Dispatch" of Columbus testi-
fed about that paper accepting articles alleged
to have been furnished by the Standard OIL
Company, and paid for at 50 much a line These
articles, 1t was declared by Special Counsel
Monett went to 125 subsidized papers in Ohio,
and the general purport Of them was to mis-
represent the Standard Oil Company's real char
acter to readers. leading them to believe that
the findings OF courts and the various publica-
tions against the Standard were unjustifed Mr.
Brtckell denied that he had any positive knowl-
edge on the subject.
SMALL DEALERS MEN BRIBED.
T. D. Ellis an independent oil dealer. of Gin
cinnati. gave evidence showing that the names
of his customers were systematically obtained
by the Standard by bribtng employees. Having
obtained the names of customers, the witness
said. the Standard agents went to them and in
many nefarious ways induced some OF them TO
take Standard Oil goods.
Samuel B. Kaufman, for the last four years
manager of the telegraph department of the
Buckeye Pipe Line. Standard adjunct, at
Lima, Ohio. admitted that the wires under his
control carried the business of several other
concerns such as the Northwestern Ohio Nat
ural Gas Company, the Ohio Oil Company the
Vacuum Refining Company, the Solar Oil Com
pany and the Manhattan Pipe Line Company
The blanks of the Standards telegraph system
were used for this business.
Rudolph Longacre, traffic manager of the At
lantic Refining Company, of Cleveland, and pre-
viously connected with various departments OF
the Erie and New York, Chicago & St Louis
railroads. showed that the rates in many direc-
tIons had been greatly increased and that many
gross. inequalities existed in the fixing rates,
also in estimating tonnage and bulk and in
classif1cations.
AS the commissioners were about to announce
adjournment John r Malloy secretary OF the
Ohio Republican Committee, and until recently
state oil inspector, startled everybody by arising
from the back Of the chamber and loudly de-
manding the privilege of making a statement.
The commissioners having obtained his name
and idea of his object in making a state
ment allowed him TO proceed. Malloy talked for
a few minutes, saying his character had been
blackened by the newspapers OF Ohio. which
learning that he had been subpenaed as wit
ness before the commission had printed arti-
ces stating in effect, that the OIL Inspectors
office of the cogs in the Standard Oil
wheel and that he would be asked to state what
he knew OF this state of affairs. He had been
present three days and not called. he said
and added that he was now ready to be sworn
and defend his official integrity. The commits
soners, however, declined to hear him. stating
that his testimony was not needed
ICE TRUST MEN PLEAD NOT GUILTY.