Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-11-19
PRESIDENT OF STANDARD OIL
RECITES LIFE STORY
DEVELOPMENT OF GREAT TRUST
DESCRIBED GRAPHICALLY
Tells How, from Comparatively Moth
Ing, He Built Up One Of the
Worlds Most Powerful
Monopolies


well, in 1866 there was a change.
The firm was William Rockefeller &
Co. The Rockefeller was William, my
brother and the company was Rookie
Teller and Andrews"
Mr.. Rockefeller said the refinery of
this company was in Cleveland; that
afterward another company under the
name of William Rockefeller & Co. was
organized in New York. The same firm
members that composed the Cleveland
company made up the New York COM
pany.
the oil business up to the time of the
organization of the Standard Oil COM
pany of Ohio, Mr.. Rockefeller replied;
I'VE had a steady growth and in
crease from the organization of the first
firm in 1860 or 1862 until that time
Mr.. Rockefeller said that every men,
Der of the firm devoted his private time
and attention to promoting the COM
pany's growth and that none OF them
had any other business.
Brother Saved Expenses
He said the company did a refining
and warehouse business and that his
brother. William Rockefeller, took up
his residence in New York to develop
the business here and to save expense.
when did the next change take
placer"
In 1861 all the property OIL ROcke-
Teller & Andrews, William Rocke-
Teller & Co., and Rockefeller IL Co.,
were taken over under the firm name
of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler.
"Mr. Flagler was a man Of large
business experience and was valu-
able addition to the firm. A large
amount OF capital was put into the
firm. The company engaged in the re-
filming of OIL which was sold in the
country and abroad"
What was the next changer"
II think three years later, in 1870,
the Standard Oil company of Ohio was
organized with a capital of $1,OOO,OOO,
and we enlisted much capital for the
company. The first field for the pro-
duction of crude Oil was Venango
county in the western part of Penn
sylvania." said Mr.. Rockefeller.
Ohio Furnished Oil
He looked to Ohio to obtain the crude
oil and the refining plants of the COM
pany were at Cleveland, Pittsburg,
ParkersburS, Baltimore and New York
what had been the course of the de-
velopment of the industry at that
timer
There had been rapid development
in the cleansing and refining of oil"
The business of refining oil was
profitable, and, as a result, he said,
many refneries were built. People
turned to this business of refining oil
who were not necessarily the best
trained business men. The Standard
Oil company put up all the refineries
possible.
was Mr. Andrews a practical re-
finer?'N
"That was the reason he was given
a part in the business. He was prac-
teal refiner of oils and it gave him
an excellent opportunity to associate
~, +I,o in
In answer to a question, Mr.. Rookie
Teller said Cleveland was the best dis
tributing point to obtain the domestic
trades Its advantage was that they
had a long haul to the seaboard for
the export trade.
LARGEST at That Time
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
"The company was capitalized at ST.
000, 900. Was that considered a large
capitalization" asked Mr.. Milburn.
Yes" replied the witness. 1T 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 manufacture
their own barrels at a saving of one
half.
He said the saving on barrels rep
resented large saving to the company
and represented one of the innovations
in the development of the company.
1.-THE things we used from time to
time we We're enabled to produce at
prices lower than those which we pre-
viously paid as our capacity increased,
said Mr.. Rockefeller.
Let me ask you about the house
which you established here" said Mr..
Milburn.
Another advantage"
Eyes. that was an advantage. 1t
gave us an opportunity to learn of the
foreign markets and the export trade.
We were constantly in need of in
creasing capital as our business de-
veloped and in New York We We're en-
abIed to secure larger sums of money
at lower rates than in the west. We
were always able to obtain large sums
of money and l am thankful to say we
always had good credit.
I'VE always kept our covenants and
paid our bills. Our ability to secure
large loans was of great advantage to
rs Thus we extended our facilities
with New York bankers with whom we
kept our deposits and we got our
money at the cheapest money market
in the world.
Through the acquaintance made by
William Rockefeller 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 states.
Some of those who aided him in OBJ
tanning funds were Amasa Stone and
BENJAMIN Brewster. New York, he
said, was the largest exporting point
at that time and is today.
Hard Times Come
Hard times came upon the oil trade
early in the '70s. The business was much
overdone because refineries 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 suggested
they ought to have a room five times
as large, but Mr. Milburn said there
would be five times as many people if
they did; that the only way would be
10 charge admission.
eOh, mol" said Mr.. Rockefeller, mot
II they are as nice as the people here
We want to introduce all the economies,
you know"
ibid you have negotiations after the