The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1907-12-28

fight, and il, according to Havemeyer S
statement, the war only was over
when we got his refinery" it is pref
ty well established that the trust paid
Mr.. Spreckels a fancy price for his
plant in Philadelphia, ana that they
surrendered to him the great Pacific
Coast territory for his own private
emoument.
After the Arbuckies had made their
enormous success in coffee they began
to dabble in sugar to such an extent
that Mr. Havemeyer's concern was
forced to sit up and take notice. It
was decided to raid John Arbuckle
in his own field, and while the coffee
man sold sugar the sugar folks sold
coffee
It was a merry war for time. The
treasures were both full, but if the
fight had lasted much longer Mr.
Havemeyer might have found himself
in the position he whimsically sug-
gested, of reaching into the cash
/
But the war ended, with victory
for both sides. The Arbuckles con
! tinued to sell sugar and the Havemey-
ers sold coffee but there no longer
was any cut-throat competition. No
body knows what the working agree
ment was, but it has been stated on
something like authority that this
commercial battle cost the participants
more than s25, OOO,y,,.
Havemeyer was in fun possession
of the field at last. and that no doubt
! is why the people have let him alone.
! 1t has been said that the American
refneries sold 80 per cent of the sugar
| in the country, and that they fixed
the price for the other tenth All
noteworthy competitors either were
/ driven out of the field or forced to
| come in out of the wet it is sup
posed and the little sugar men were
permitted to move along without
molestation. There has been no inter-
est threatened of late years-nobody
! to complain, and consequently the war
against the sugar trust was forgotten
What is everybody's business is no.
body's business.
Nobody knows how much Henry o.
Havemeyer was worth at the time of
his death. All the Havemeyers and
they are not a few of them, are rich
They have been in the sugar business
long, and they succeeded even before
the days of consolidation Somhow
they know the great secret of making
sugar at small expense, And the ST.
cret was one which their competitors
seemed unable to learn.
In the Havemeyer & Elder Brooklyn
plant it is said that all the employees
reflect the sphynxlike attitude of the
head. The men are so stationed in
the plant that they neither can see
nor know any work but their own.
Once placed at certain spot a man
stays there till he dies, or gives up, or
Is discharged. There is no shifting
about from pace to place.
No one is allowed to progress from
one department to another. II is said
this is necessary to preserve the secret
process mployed-processes which are
not even patented for fear of their
becoming public, and that not even
the president of the United States or
a visiting monarch would be allowed
to go through the plant,
All the work in the refinery is said
to be hard, and the average wage only
IA 1-2 cents an hour. Mysterious
stories are told from time to time in
regard to deaths and injuries in the
Brooklyn refinery, bnt nobody knows
what happens there. 1t is said the
injured men are taken to an eastern
district hospital, which is practically
controlled by the refinery, and the
secrecy is said even to exceed tha
exercised by the South Chicago stee
works or any other great industrial
plant.
Nobody knows the truth about this
. however. So far as Henry O. Have
meyer is concerned this part of hi
, work is over He was a success.
: phenomenal success. There was n,
curse upon his family so far as max
= in@ money is concerned, and the bit
terness with which he once was re
garded has been forgotten.
D 1t often has been pointed out tina
the Havemeyers family was unluck,
. so far as personal happiness is con
+ cerned. and in more superstition
age there might have been talk of
'Havemeyer curse. Death tragic ant
premature, has followed the family
\ Charles F. Havemeyer and his siste
q Natalie We're both killed by pistol shot
c said TO have been self-inhicted. Their
was talk Of suicide and explanation
of accident, and the mystery remains
One Hayemeyer died under the sur
y geon's knife-another died of disap