Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-09-16
RAISED PRICE TO
GURTAIL CONSUMPTION
Methods of Combine In Metropolis
Clearly Shown by discriminating
Notes Which viii be Used
in Forth Coming
Prosecution.

New York, Sept. 16.-After years
of staggering defiance the great ice
trust is at last closely pressed and
there is a fair chance that it may
be brought to account in court
Attorney General Jackson has un-
-earthed line of evidence that has
made the ice magnates dizzy with
apprehension. Jackson started at the
head office of the company. There
was a little lawing about it, but he
won the right to put experts on the
books.
Among the discoveries, just made
public, is a lot of letters written by
Wesley NJ. Oler president of the
American Ice company. Jackson ex-
presses confidence that they will
prove sufficient to oust the trust from
the state. incidentally the evidence
will be laid before a grand jury here
to see whether there has been any
trifling with the criminal statutes.
The trust is capitalized at 100000
900, and has earned tremendous pro-
fits 1t controls not only the bulk of
the ice business in this city, but OPP
crates in Boston, Philadelphia, Balti-
more and Washington. In this city
it has absorbed nearly 200 competing
dealers
President Oler's letters to man
ayers deal with methods to dispose
of competitors and refers to dummy
concerns that were controlled by the
trust, but operated as alleged inde-
pendentS.
Raised Price TO Curtail Consumption.
During the sweltering midsummer
days of 1906 when the trust showed
up the price to unheard of figures,
Oler said in letter:
81 do not see any way open ex-
cept a radical advance in price to
curtail consumption"
And this curtailment of consump-
tion brought to the suffering thou
sands in the tenements Of this city
misery incOnveivable.
OF District Attorney Jerome 1t was
said in another of these letters that
he appeared to be a perfectly calm
sane man" Jerome undertook a
prosecution of the trust a year ago,
but it proved a failure.
1t was alleged by the trust at the
time of last years squeeze in prices
that there was an ice famine. A
letter, written at that time, shows
that the company was overwhelmed
with offers of ice from Maine and
Canada. But Oler calmly stated In
this letter that he did not intend to
buy any high priced ice.
Jackson promises to make an ex-
ample of this mammoth trust that
may serve as a warning to the local
trusts that thrive in almost all the
larger cities of the country.
How Did He Get En-?
The trust magnates are wondering
now How did he get those letters?"
and the question has not yet been an
swered. 1t is known, however, that
the attorney general has the letters
all right and that the man who wrote
them is aware of that fact since he
was called upon by the attorney gem
erals office to explain his meaning,
a thing he was utterly unable TO 10.
In some mysterious manner Attor-
ney General Jackson found that the
letter writing had been going on for
some time, and in some way as equal
ly mysterious, he obtained the letters
from the men TO whom they were
addressed The ice trust fears it has
a traitor in the camp who has been
promised immunity for his testimony,
but thus far none can say who he is.