Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-05-16


Tank Line company and saved us a
| total of about $500 railroad fare each
month. It was the same in the other
! districts in Indiana, Illinois and
Ohio"
''*Fake" Republic: Company.
| The witness was asked to describe
apparently Independent companies
which the Standard organized to
wrest business from the independent
oil dealers.
''Well," said Mr.. Maxon, you see
there was some of the trade which
was opposed to buying oils of the
Standard, and so the Republic Oil
company was organized by the Stand
ard people to get that trade"
Were there any more of these fake
companies?" asked Mr.. Monnett.
Eyes; there was the Paragon Oil
company at Decatur and the Banner
Oil company at Springfield, which
later became Kercher Bros, and still
later the Springfield Oil company.
My brother, John Maxon, was man.
ager of this company at different
times. This went on from 1899 to
1867
What were the methods of the fake
companies in getting the trader"
asked the attorney.
1--WE canyassed a town from house
to house and located every consumer
Of Independent OIL" said Mr.. Maxom.
Then the lists of the dealers were
sent to headquarters. I employed five
girls to make this canvass in De-
catur. They made a list of the indie
pendent dealers, which l sent to
Charles Kercher with instructions to
get their trade away from them by
any means and at any COST
Make Lamp Burn Smoky.
What were the means Employed"
Zone way" explained the witness,
was to visit each consumer and tell
him that the Independent oil he was
using was inferior. The agent would
prove this by lamp tests. By the SIM
pie trick of regulating the amount of
air which reached the flame he could
make the Independent oil burn smoky
and the Standard oil clean and
bright. That's easy to do with the
same oil In each lamp. In the course
of time we would win over most of
these ,housekeepers, and the independ-
ent dealers would have to come back
into line or lose their business per-
manently.
AT Paris, Ill.,, the Standard agent
left the service because an independ-
ent got the majority of the dealers.
Under the orders of Charles T. Col
Inns, second vice president of the Ken
lucky company, I started out to get
that trade back. I sent man to
Paris to arrange to get a dealer to
sell oil for five cents gallon to the
consumer. This was arranged. The
current price was then 1912 cents to
the retail trade, but we made the
price to this one dealer five cents, and
he sold it at COST
Send Around Rebate.
How could he make a living at
THAI rate?" asked the attorney.
WELL" said the witness, "once
month We sent a man around who
gave the dealer rebate of one cent
gallon on all the oil he bought. We
paid for his advertising ALSO"
What happened to the independent
you were f1ghting?"
Il finally bought his plant, dis
mantled it, and had it shipped to an
other point"
"How long did it take you t. wreck
him."
lone year"
''Then what happened to. the price
of oily"
1T went back from five cents to tho
price it was before the Independent
| cut In
Mr.. Maxon said the same thing took
place at Urbana and Vandalia. There
were other means employed to crush
competition.
Every town of Importance" said
the witness, has one dealer who
holds the greater part of the trade. II
an independent gets this dealer he can
i put oil into that town in carload lots
and compete with the Standard. To
| meet this situation I would send
man to this dealer who would assure
| him of the Standards deep interest
In his welfare, in proof of which senti-
ment the company would. allow him
one-half cent rebate on every gallon
OF oil he should buy. This would win
him. Without his shipments the re-
mainder of the dealers would be I'M
able to command carload rates. The
! result was that their business was
ruined and the Standard got it ALL"
President E. P. Ripley, of the Atch-
1son, Topeka & Santa Fee railway, also
proved an interesting witness.
Florida Water Kills Indians,