Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-21
STANDARD PREPARES
TO FIGHT ENEMIES
intends to Control Retail Markets
of World Despite Com
petitorS' Attacks

NEW YORK, oct. 2O.-No quarter is
being asked and none will be given by
Standard Oil in it's fight against the
Shell Oil company, its $200,OO0OOO
British rival, which aspires to wrest
from it the control of the retail mar
kets of the world outside of the United
States.
While the Standard has had many
big fights in its eventful history and
can rarely if ever be said to be at
peace with all its competitors, its
present fight is in many respects the
most vital and bitter in which 1t has
ever been engaged.
No contest for supremacy in the OIL
field in years enlisted John d. Rookie
feller's keen personal interest and soil
citude to the extent this has. At his
home at Pocantico Hills, just outside
the city, he is keeping in daily touch
with every development in the sltua-
tion and giving his lieutenants the
benefit of his experience and counsel,
In its determination to force the
fighting and set a pace for its big rival
Standard Oil has followed its taVorlte
plan when pressed bv its enemies, OF
cutting its prices, and y is not I'M
probable that it will be selling petro-
lenm below actual cost abroad by the
end of the year, if an adjustment OF
the trouble is not reached meanwhile.
HEADQUARTERS ACTIVE
It is a long time since there has been
such activity as is visible nowadays
ar 2s broadway, the headquarters of
the giant trust From the first to the
sixteenth floor every department OF
the great institution is on its mettle.
The burden of directing the fight ana
SEEING that the Standards plans are
carried out rests on the shoulders OF
John D. Archibald, the active head OF
the organization since Mr.. RocKeIeller
relinuuished its direct management
Seated in a big leather swinging chalr
before a mahogany desk, with long
distance telephone at his side, connect
ing him with the various distrloutlng
plants of the trust, a dfctograph IN
front of him, providing instant COM
munication with every department III
the big building with it's 5000 employees,
a. telegraph key merrily ticking away
its song nearby and the cable lnstru-
ment in another room, no man IN tne
world contrives SO effectually to keep
abreast of every Kaleidoscope change
i'm a great industrial struggle as does
Mr.. Archibald in his effort to main
tain the mastery of the oil trace IN
which millions of dollars are the STAKE
With the help of these agencies, re-
inforced by an efficient army OF Keen
witted. active secretaries and subal-
terms of various degrees, the Stand
ards fighting vice president is aole 10
give personal consideration to the
thousand and one questions of policy
flashed daily from 26 Broadway 1ro"
all parts of the world.
Through its elaborate system OF Sc
cret agents every move of the enemy
against Standard oil is known to the
Iatter's officers almost as soon as II
is evolved. Thus it is enabled to de-
wise ways and means of circumVen.-
ing its foe and driving home any ao-
vantage presented to it wherever II
is able to effect a breach IN the olIeh'
siye works of it's rival.
In turn the British company appears
to have established inside connections
with the American company so that
It is a case of tit for tat all around
to date, with honors evenly divided.
The support given to the Sheli COM
nanv bv the Royal Dutch and Aslatlc
comnanies and their threat to broaden
the fighting zone, which has peen re-
stricted to India and China, by enter
ing the markets of the United States,
makes the fight the most formldapm PIE PIE
ever waged against the world Wlue W
dominion of the Rockefeller corpora
tion.