The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-21
FILE SUIT AGAINST
 THE WATCH TRUST Government Asks Dissolu- tion of Illegal Monopoly IT RESTRAINS TRADE It Is Said Defendants Have Urged Competitors to Sell Plants and
 Business to the Keystone
 Company
TT RESTRAINS TRADE

Philadelphia, December 2O.-The federal government late today filed suit in the United States circuit court against the Keystone Watch Case company, declar- ing it an unlawful combination in viola- ton of the Sherman antitrust act, and asking that it be restrained from carry ing on an alleged monopoly in the man. ufacture and sale of watch cases. The government declares that the company now manufactures and sells so per cent of all watch cases manufactured and sold in the United States, "and that 1t is the intent and purpose of the defendants that the company shall monopolize the re- mainder of the business. The defendants named in the bill are:
 Theophilus Zurbrugg of Riverside, N J., until recently president of the company; J. J. Muller, Philadelphia, secretary; Charles M Fogg, Philadelphia, treasurer; K. II. Kain, Philadelphia, assistant treas urer, and Irving Smith, New York, a di- rector
 The bill rectes that Zurbrugg consoli- dated two firms of watch case makers who were absorbed later by the Riverside
 
 others, the bill says. gained control of a corporation named the Keystone Watch Case company, and under the name of the Keystone Watch company took over the old Keystone and Riverside companies in 1899. Later control was obtained in the New York Standard Watch company, and the United States Watch company and E. Howard Clock company. In 1906 the Keystone company, the government charges, acquired control of the Crescent Watch Case company, which had prevl- eously purchased the entire watch case company of the American Waltham Watch company and the Bay State Watch Case company of Boston. It is also al- legged that the Keystone company acquired S51 of the 200O shares of the American Watch Case company. The remainder of the stock is owned by the Waltham Watch company and the Elgin National Watch company. A corporation known as the Keystone Crescent Case company of Canada, limited, was then organized to act as a sales agent of the American Watch Case company of Toronto. The capital stock of this corporation is owned by the Keystone company.
 In 1904, it is charged, the Keystone com pany entered into a contract with the FL gin National Watch company, whereby the Keystone company was put in exclu- sive control of the entire export trade of the Elgin company, except the trade with Canada, and in 1909 the Keystone com pany, through a contract with the Wal tham Watch company, was made sales agent for the latter in all leading foreign countries except Great Britain. France and Spain.
 By virtue of these consultations and contracts, the government bill asserts. the Keystone company directly and indirectly controlled the trade and commerce on watch cases so as to enable it to exclude all competitors and monopolize the trade. It also charges that the defendants in- duced jobbers to cease handling any other lines of goods than those made by the Keystone company and it's subsidiaries Keystone kept a black list of all dealers who sold movements at less than the es- tablished price, "and refused to sell said movements as well as any of their watch cases to iobbers who continued to sell to retailers whose names appeared on said | list''
 Defendants have also urged competi- tors to sell their plants and businesses to 1 the Keystone company" the bill adds threatening them with destruction should they refuse to do so, and have declared their intention of acquiring the remainder of the trade and commerce in watch cases and have asserted that they would have spent $1,000,000 if necessary to drive some of the larger of its competitors out of the business, and that defendants would hang crepe cn the doors of such competl- tors factories"
 The bill prays that the acquisition of various companies and the contracts en- tered into be adjudged unlawful, that the combination be disentegrated, that it be restrained from continuing it's monopolis- 1 tic methods and that jobbers be unre- strained in their desire to handle all kinds l cf.