Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-23
TESTIMONY OF
SALESMAN SHOWS
POWDER TRUST
COMBINE CONTROLS SO PER
CENT OF BUSINESS
guys SMALL COMPETITORS AND
AesoRRs THEM
Where Independent Concerns Dare to
Raise Their Heads They Are
Undersold and Driven
from Business
rny Associated Press.1

NTEW YORK, Oct 22-Methods al
legged to have been employed by
1N the so-called powder trust to gain
control of the powder trade in tne
limited States were described Dy IL. ,.
Waddell, former general sales agent IN
the United States for the big powder
company, at today's session OF the near
ING in the government suit against the
comnany for alleged violation OF the
sherman antitrust law. he hao ue-
clared that the defendant company
controls between 80 and 9S per cent OF
the trade in gunpowder and 10 per cent
of the trade in blasting powder. To-Day
he fold of the formation of the South
ern Powder company, which was OF
sanized in Cincinnati with mills III
Georgia and absorbed by the big COM
pany Il few months later.
1--WE went right after the southern as
soon as they entered the market, SAID
Mr. Waddell. '"The fight continued
until the general roundup in July 1895.
what do you mean by the general
roundup" was asked.
II mean the complete elimination OF
competition by absorption of the COM
petitors," replied the witness.
Mr. Waddell said he had been IN
formed by the officers of the company
that there was an agreement with
foreign manufacturers on sales OF
dynamite. This information was given
him, he said, after foreign mllis mao
been erected in jamestown ana was
known as the Jamestown agreement.
ST was told that one of our ofncers
had heen to Europe and that thereafter
we would have no further Trouble
said he.
Copy of Agreement
This, he said, was when there was
some disturbance in the market over
the cutting of prices in smokeless pow
der. He said new agreement was
drawn by members of the poor aIteI
practically all the competitors had been
absorbed. sso,,
When a paper identified by Walden
as q copv of the agreement was pre-
sented counsel for the defense op]ecteu;
Wadde1 was rather severely hanoleo
by counsel for the defense on cross
examination and was asked why, WIEN
he found the paper in his possession
after he had left the employ of the
company, he did not return 1t TO the
"Jt never occurred to me-" he an
swered. II could have taken trunks
full of records had 1 wanted them.
did you find this paper When you
were concocting a scheme to build a
nlant and sell it to the company
asked the cross examining attorney.
mo: I was concocting no scheme.
was preparing to defend myself against
the powder trust"
Continuing his description OF methods
which he alleged were USED TO apsolp
or crush competitors, Waddel told OF
fights which were made by his company
against the Indiana powder company
against the Indiana Powder company
The Indiana company, Wh1ch was
formed in 1897 had Ohio Kentucky,
Michigan, West Virginia ana one 9I
two other states for its market. He
was directed by Eugene Dupont ana
r. w. owen to go to Terre Haute ana
omen the fight against the Indiana COM
pany. There he met the CHIEF off1cers
of the company.
Fiqhts for Trade
81 told them that they had reduced
the sales of our companies oooUo 10
20 600 kegs of powder in the territory
they occupied" said he. "and that we
could not stand for that, but Woul9
fight to regain the trade. proposed
that the Indiana company be organ
lied with 100000 capital, of which the
Hazard Powder company should take
81 per cent, and the other tockhold-
ers 40 per cent But they refused 10
enter into any agreement with them'
"They said that they thought they
had a perfect right to manufacture
powder for their mines; that they
wanted to be friendly with us ana
nQDeu liitIG NOult AASN N--S
| told them that we would put up mllls
near them and begin The fight by I'M
derselling them to their own trade.
Mr.. Waddell then told of the organ
ization OF the Great Northern Supply
company to sell not only powder, but
shovels. picks and supplies and to the
employment of two men named Ram
sew and Backus to go among the min
ers to stir up dissension between the
miners and operators The business
men made speeches at the miners
meetings. The fight lasted until jan
uary, 1902, when the Indiana company
went under and sold out The South
ern Powder company was organized in
birmingham, Ala, and its business was
restricted to birmingham and vicinity:
1--WE fixed it so they could not get out
said Waddell
"How did you do it?"
Fix Freight Rates
"Well. we got freight rates systema-
tized on all the railroads out of Bir-
mingham. We fixed these rates so that
powder would never be more than ~
cents a keg, or less than cost and tnen
awaited developments"
"Iow long did you have TO waitT
was asked.
ut was perhaps a year before they
decided" replied the witness.
He said the total sales of powder