The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-11-19
ON
WITNESS STAND
TELLS OF THE EARLY DEVELOP
MENT OF OIL TRADE AND
HOW IT GREW.
SEEMED TO Be PLEASED
With RecolIecto ons of the Early
psys-Durine Recess He Talked
With Newspaper Men
Will Testify Today

New York, Nov. 1S,-John d.
! Rockefeller. president Ct the Stani-
ord Oil company, thorgA for nea ly
ten years retired from the actiVe
cares of the companys direction Tor
over two hours today reviewed the
! history of the early oil trade and
! the development of the first com
panies that later grew into the pres
en-: so-called oil trust. Rockefeller
was witness for the defense in the
suit TO dissolve the Standard Whlch
is being prosecuted by the govern
ment, and his appearance at the
hearing before Judge Franklin Fer
ris, referee brought large crowd
to the customs building.
The head of the big oil combine
was surrounded by an imposing
circle of counsel and when he began
his testimony he gazen complacently
uncr the swarm Of newspaper men,
| behind whom pressed close throng
Of reople that filled the room, Rookie
feller appeared at complete ease and
when John G. Milburn of the counsel
for the Standard, propounded MS
first question, the witness spoke cut
in full tones as if he desired the
NEST distant spectators in the cham
! Der to hear
How Company Grew
Then in a manner that indicated
pleasure at what he was about to
tell Rockefeller spoke of his start IN
the oil business and how under ad-
verse conditions the business grew
to the proportions of the Standard,
of Ohio. with capitalization OF ST.
| 00Q 900. Roekefeller's eyes sparkled
i'll rejection OF that early financial
organization and speaking Of its NIL
lion dollar capitalization with al.
| most boyish enthusiasm. he said;
ut seemed very large to us, who
BEGAN with only $4,000 in 1862
Thus the proceedings lost in a
sense their official aspect because OF
the engaging manner in when
Rockefeller displayed in his answers
| which now and then contained
| flashes of kindly humor.
The development OF Rockefellers
testimony today which carried him
to the organization of the STANDARD
OF Ohio, indicated that one OF the
| lines of the defense would be that
! the Standard is not the result of an
aggressive policy to gain a mastery
of the oil trade, as charged, but the
natural outcome of an economical
! fph wi 4 4
the oil industry demanded.
Talked to Newspaper Men.
During the recess this afternoon
Rockefeller talked to the reporters
on the Standards growth, saying
What a wonderful thing it all has
beeu-the growth of this business. 1t
all seems like a dream to me, and
here ! am accused of doing the very
wicked thing of selling a good ar.
ticlc at a lower price than anyone
else
This testimony here today brings
back to my mind so clearly the early
days i'm Cleveland where We were al
| friends and neighbors together. How
well | remember that day in Cleve
| land when | went into the bank OF
lT. =. Handy who afterwards became
one of my dearest friends. wanted
To borrow money but | did not have
any collateral nor any one to endorse
my note. | told him what | wanted
to do with it and then he asked me
how much ! wanted. I need $1,000.
said. and / got it. To that loan
attributed whatever success ] have
ha in life since
The taking OF Rockefeller's testi
mony will be continued tomorrow.