The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-11-19
Were Ever Employed in Crush
ing Out His Rivals.
STORY OF STANDARD
Told in Detail by the Man Who
Made 1t.
Started in 1862 With a Capital
of $4,000.

New York. Nov 19.-John D. Rookie
felIer's own story of the upbuilding OF
the great Standard Oil company and
his immense personal fortune has given
tremendous public interest to the long
drawn and often tedious bearings in
the governments suit to dissolve the
so-called oil trust. Although Mr..
Rockefeller was on the witness stand
more than two hours yesterday, he had
apparently only fairly started in his
narrative. He had told only of the
early days when. as a pioneer in the
refining of petroleum., he had started
on almost nothing and soon outstripped
all his rivals. He declared that it was
through the introduction of economies
by taking advantage of every favor
able legitimate opportunity to extend
his business, by borrowing and intelli-
gent investment of large sums of
money, and by close, intelligent, con-
stant application to the oil business
alone, that the great corporation of
which he is the head was built Up
The little room in which the HEARINGS
are in progress has accommodations
for scarcely more than hundred per
sons.
When asked if coercive measures
were employed in acquiring the stock
of other oil companies in Ohio, Mr..
Rockefeller replied. None whatever"
He continued:
For myself I can say that the meth
ods used always were absolutely fair
Mr.. F'lagler was of large business ex-
perience. and was a valuable addition
to the firm. A large amount of capital
was put into the firm.
The company engaged in the refining
of oil which was sold in this country
and abroad.
What was the next change?''
"I think that three years later, in
1870, the Standard Oil company of Ohio,
organized with a capital of $1,O0000O
and we enlisted much capital in the
company The first field for the pro-
duction of crude oil was Venango coun-
ty, in the western part of Pennsyl-
vania,' said Mr.. Rockefeller.
He looked to Ohio to obtain the crude
oil and the refining plants of the COM
pany were at Cleveland, Pfttsburg,
Parkersburg, Baltimore and New York.
What had been the course of the
development of the industry at that
time?"
There had been rapid development
in the cleansing and refining of oil"
The business of refining Oil was
profitable and as result, he said
many refineries were built.
People turned to this business of re-
fining oil who were not necessarily the
best trained business men.
The Standard Oil company put up All
the refineries possible
WAS Mr.. Andrews practical re-
fner?"
part in the business" said Mr.
finer of oil and it gave him an excel
lent opportunity to associate himself
in the business in this city"
In answer to a question Mr.. Rookie
best distributing point to obtain the
domestic trade. Its disadvantage was
that they had a long haul to the sea-
board for the export trade.
''What was the comparative size of
your refinery to others at that time,
in 1902"
Il believe it was the largest in the
country at that time"
$1.OOO.OOO Was that considered a
large capitalization asked Mr.. Mil
burn.
yes" replied Mr.. Rockefeller.
"It was considered very large. We
thought it very large as we started
In 1860 with $4,000"
Mr.. Rockefeller said they made
many improvements in the business
One thing they did was to manufac-
ture their own barrels at a saving OF
half. He said the savings on the bar
rels represented a large saving to the
company and represented one of the
innovations developed in the COM
pany.
''The things that we used from
time to time we were enabled to pro-
duce at prices lower than that which
we previously paid, as our capital in
creased" said Mr.. Rockefeller.
Let me ask you about the house
which you established here" said Mr..
MiIburn.
"Yes. that was an advantage It
gave US an opportunity to learn of
the foreign markets and the export
trade. We were constantly in need of
Increasing capital as our business de-
veloped and in New York were en-
abIed to secure larger sums of
money at lower rates than in the
west We were always able to OBJ
tain large sums of money and I am
thankful to say we always had good
credit We always kept our covenants
and paid our bills. Our ability to Sc
cure large loans was of great ad-
vantage to US. Thus we extended
our facilities with New York bank
ers with whom we kept our deposits,
and we got our money at the cheap
est rate in the cheapest money
market in the world. Through the
acquaintance made by William Rookie
feIIer with wealthy men in New York
connections were formed enabling the
company to borrow large sums for
the further extension of the business,
the witness stated. Some of those
who aided him in obtaining funds
were Amasa Stone and Benjamin
Brewster New York, he said, was
the largest exporting point at that
time and is today.
Hard time came upon the oil trade
early in the 70s. The business was
much overdone by refineries that had
been erected so rapidly that the profit
was much lessened.
A recess of five minutes was taken
TO ventilate the room and meanwhile
Mr.. Rockefeller went over and talked
with the newspaper men. He suggest