Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-09-11
.SECRETS0F|C TRUST
Attorney General Jackson Se-
 cures MonopoIy's Papers.
GRAND JURY WILL PROBE.

Methods of Choking Competition In
 New York, Philadelphia, Boston and
 Other Cities Laid Bare Calls Je-
 rome "Broad Gauged" and "Sane." 7 New York, Sept 11.-Attorney Gen eral Jackson, through an order of the appellate division of the supreme court, has secured possession of the books and papers of the ice trust. That evidence proves exclusively that the American Ice company is mo. nopoly in restraint of trade, cruel, sor- did and more merciless than any other trust incorporated in this country.
 District Attorney Jerome will be asked by the attorney general to lay this mass of evidence before the Sep tember grand jury with the intention of bringing custer proceedings against the trust. The services of the attorney general, his experts who unearthed the evidence and his staff will be offered to the district attorney of this county.
 The. attorney general stated that he was satisfied that the evidence was entirely sufficient to drive the Ameri- can Ice company out of business in this state. The discriminating evidence is the same as that believed to have been stolen from the desk of former Attorney General Mayer, as result of which there was no prosecution of the sinister trust
 Terrific indictment Against the Trust
 Most astounding of the mass of evi- dence secured by the experts of the attorney generals office are the letters of Wesley M. Oler president of the rapacious ice trust. These letters form the basis of the attorney generals &C., tion to oust the American Ice company from this state.
 The Oler correspondence, written in a satirical vein, 'mocking the strug- gling competition, sneering at the helpless public and gloating over i'm mense profits, constitute in themselves a terrific indictment against the mo- nopoly that controls public neces- sity.
 President Oler declares In his let ters after an interview with District Attorney Jerome, who refused to pros ecute the ice trust that Mir. Jerome is "a perfectly calm, sane man, who ap- breaches the matter in q sensible, businesslike way" He also states tho scfr ot ntt nf and Queens counties are not as broad gauged as Mir. Jerome. but more in- clined to indict than convict"
 Trusts Enormous Profits.
 From the books of the ice trust the attorney general discovered that the monopoly made the enormous net prof it of $2,0OO,000 in 1906, besides paying 9 per cent dividends on $15,OOO,0 900 of preferred stock. With surplus of ice one hand in 1905, the trust cleared $4OO,00O profits after the required divi- dends on stock had been paid by the subsidiary companies.
 Positive proof was found, moreover, that the ice trust has Boston, Philadel. phia, Baltimore and Washington by the throat. besides absolutely controlling more than 60 per cent of the ice busi- ness in Greater New York.
 In the greater city alone it was dis covered the trust had absorbed more than a hundred large ice concerns and a hundred small companies. In each case where the trust forced its weaker competitors to the wall and bought them out an agreement was demanded expressly stipulating that the sellers should not enter the ice business again for ten years and that they should make every effort to boom the busi- ness of the trust
 Letters Reveal Secrets.
 Here are some samples of the way President Qler advised his agents, os- tensibly officials of local companies, apart from the trust, in other cities:
 A letter to Henry H. Head, local manager, Baltimore. says:
 This fall we ought to open a berth in Norfolk and give that fellow some of his own medicine there. under stand that he has ruined that market by his methods and has done himself no good. He is liable to do the same thing in Baltimore, so believe in giv- ing him some dollar ice there for awhile"
 X letter to ]. W. Richardson, treas urer of the John Hancock Ice compa- ny, Philadelphia, says:
 T have your letter of the 29th. We hardly think the time has come to get excited over the ice situation. We are keeping tab on every available place in Maine. however. and picking them up whenever 1t is possible to do so. I rather think at this time 1t would do more harm than good for Mir Hancock to go east We do not want to inflame the public mind too much so early in the season. Later on it may be wise to do so-
 British Military Airshfp Succeeds.
 Farnborougll. England. Sept 1.-The first military dirigible balloon built in this country made two trial trips. and with the exception of a slight hitch ..arsx,I bx sta trsakfng of a fsrFf fin tbp