The Washington herald., 1908-04-18
TRUST MAY DISSOLVE
Tobacco Company Said to Be
ReOrganizing.
RICHMOND PLANTS ARE CLOSED
Two Reasons Advanced for Action,
One Is that Counsel Advises II BE-
cause of sherman I.av-Other thar
Corporation Is SO Big as 20 BE UR-
wieldy, Making Change Necessary.

Richmond, Va, April I7.-Rumors are
current in this city to-day 20 the effect
that the American Tobacco Company.
wiki branches all over the civilized and
! selni-oivilized world, is about to be dis
solved.
The. dissolution is practically admitted
By officials Of the company in this city.
who viii not allow their names to be
mentioned in connection with the admis-
sion. This step, it is said. has been de-
eided upon on the advice Of attorneys
for the company in Washington, who are
OF the opinion that the company will be
liable under the terms Of the Sherman
antitrust laws.
Two reasons are assigned for the re-
ported prospective dissolution. which Is
possibly by mutual agreement of the
board Of directors of the company.
The first Of these is that the company is
acting under the advice of counsel. the
other being that the company has grown
to such enormous size and its business
methods have become so complicated that
the dissolution has been resolved on as a
matter Of business expediency.
The Whitlock branch Of the American
Cigar Company, which is a branch Of the
American Tobacco Company, closed its
doors tonight for the purpose Of taking
inventory. The plant will not open again
until Monday, MAY "a
Other Plants Close.
simultaneously with the closing Of the
WhitlOck branch, the Jersey City. n. J..
branch and also the branch at Lancaster
Pa, closed for the same purpose. Just
what steps viii be taken in closing down
the other branches in this and other cities
cannot be learned. The three big plants
mentioned are known as the machine
made cigar branches.
The company has hundreds of hand
made cigar branches located In Peters
burg and Norfolk, Va, Philadelpbia.
Baltimore. Nd. New York, Jacksonville.
Tampa. Key West, Charleston. Chicago
and other places IN this country. as we'll
as Havana. Cuba, and many other cities
In foreign countries. irc-uding the Philip
pine Islands, the Hawaiian group, and
China.
When the three machine-made cigar
plants start up again. it is said. they will
no longer be connected or known as being
connected with the American Tobacco
Company They viii be known as the
Federal Cigar Company. makers excIu-
sively of machine-made cigars.
W. s. Luckett. of New York. present
general manager of the three branches. is
scheduled for the presidency of the Fed
eral Cigar Company
WOOdfOrd to Manage.
A. G. WoOdford, at present general man
ager, will be the vice president. The gen
eral manager VIII be J. Norman Dart.
the present manager Of the Whitlock
Branch. F. B. Smith, superintendent of
the Whitlock branch, is TO succeed Dart
as general manager Of the local plant. z. |
E. Ramsey, assistant to the superin- |
tendent, is to be made superintendent |
here. Dart has beer In New York for |
several days In confes nee with officials |
Of the American Tobacce Company over
the proposed dissolution
It is believed that the whole American |
Cigar Company the American, or United /
Cigar Stores Company, the Amer |
lean Cigar Stands Company, the Amer /
Iean Snuff Company. the American LEO
rice Company, together with the many
other underlying and subsidiary com |
panies composing the American Tobacco 1
Company, viii undergo the same process /
as that of the three machine-made cigar /
plants
Representatives sof the American To- |
baceo Company to-day declined TO discuss
The situation, further than to admit that /
the rumored pending dissolution Of the
trust is substantially true.