Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-02-20
War on Between the Standard
and Independents at Sioux
City
CONDUCT A "suRNINe TEST
Standard Mon Say II is a Failure and
Ask That Nothing be Made Public,
Then Spring Two-coIumn "Ad.'
in Local Paper-Merchants Are
Mad.
Special to Times-Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Sioux City, Feb. 20.-Efforts of the
Standard OIL company to injure the
Independent companies Of Sioux City.
and If possible to drive them out Of
business, have been renewed, and one
of the hardest battles between the
small dealer and the big trust Is en-.
One of the famous burning tests" is
the latest step which Standard Oil has
taken against 8 Sioux City company,
and this has met with a storm OF in
dignation at the hands of the Retail
Grocers' association, which has been
dragged into the field against an inde-
pendent dealer, and is now repudiating
the statements made by the experts OF
the Standard Oil company.
Several weeks ago representatives OF
the Standard Oil company suggested to
the Retail Grocers association that a
burning test be made of the different
oils sold in Sioux City. including
brands of their own and those Of lnde-
pendent dealers. After some corre-
spondence between the grocers' assoc
citation and the Chicago Office of the
Standard Oil, 1t was arranged to hold
the test Friday, February 16. The Re-
tail Grocers' association invited an in
dependent dealer here ia be present.
and test some of his oil IN comparison
with the brands OF the Standard Oil
company.
Members of the Retail Grocers' COM
mittee say the test did not start UNI
til after 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Then the Standard Oil men produced
five lamps from case which they car
ried. They were all alike and had
that the height Of the flames might be
Il didn't Want to go up against their
game" said Manager Wicks, OF the in
dependent company. because ! had
heard OF these lamps before and be-
lieved the burners to be constructed to
burn certain test oil more advantage
ously than any. other, so made them
q counter proposition.
wanted to go and buy five lamps
at any store and was willing to pay for
them. But the representatives Of
Standard Oil, insisted that the grad
uated f1ues must be used, which me-
cessitated the use OF their burners, as
they explained the flues would at no
other burner.
After suggesting that we get new
wicks. the Standard Oil people began
to get sore, and at 1855 O'clock the
lamps were lighted, each containing ten
ounces of oil some filled from their
tanks and some from my own"
What happened after the lamps
started is no longer a mystery to Man.
ager Wicks, or the committee of the
Retail Grocers' Association, Messrs.
Brown and Nichols took charge of
trimming the lamps and clipped the
wicks often, first one and then the 9th
or, to get the flames going to suit them.
Manager Wicks claimed at the time of
the test that so expert were the repre-
sentatives of the Standard Oil Com
pany, that even in trimming the wfcks,
they were cut in such a way that one
would Char" more than the other, and
would consume more Oil than others
cut In different way by the experts
shears. L.
State Oil Inspector Pickell looked
on with considerable interest, and
stated to the newspapers that he would
take no hand in the burning test" nor
would he set his seal Of approval on
anv narticlllar brand OF oil
Trimming the lamps occasionally,
Messrs. Brown and Nichols, of the
Standard Oil Company, marked up the
record Of the lamps, but insisted that
there was peculiar condition Of the
lamps" which they feared would make
the test failure. About II O'clock in
the evening the test was declared off at
the suggestion of the Standard Oil peo-
pie, and an agreement entered into that
as no test had been made, nothing
should be reported, and ne opinions
given as to the relative quality of the
oils.
But the Independent oil men had
shock coming, and it came early Sat-
urday morning, when the morning pa
per printed nearly two columns of paid
Hldllei, WHICH lIle Represented
tives of the Standard Oil Company
wrote and took to the publisher after
IL: 80 o'clock at night, too late for in
sertion in the first issue of the morn
ing publication.
Immediately there was indignation
among the grocers of Sioux City and
the committee, consisting of Thomas
Malone, q. Beaumont w. P. Jones and
D. A. Magee, have been busy repudiat-
Ing the statements of the Standard
Oil Company for the past three days,
and declaring that no test was made,
and that no report was prepared to be
given out Independent oil dealers de-
clare that the burning test fake" is
but one of the methods which Stand
ard Oil has been using in it's effort to
drive them from the field i'm NORTH