The Washington herald., 1912-06-02
ONE OF THE MANY ROMANTIC STATESMEN
WHO HAVE DONE THINGS IS GEORGE WHITE
Representative from Ohio Has DabbIed Sue
cessfuIly in Oil Wells, Gold Mining, and
Politics Is Petroleum Authority

u
4 Their connections are known. Wher
Sam Brown appears, the rest OF US un.
/ derstand for whom he Is operating. II
a crooked man drifts in. we spot him
and pass the word around to those who
are unacquafnted with his history. There
is sort OF freemasonry. you see, in
\ the oil business. Now, the same old
! crowd that has had relations with the
Standard for years is active in the South
west and California, though the regions
where they happen to be are supposed
to be independent So when we read
about competition in the oil industry Il
is just as wen to remember that Mr..
Rockefeller's organization Is omnipresent
even IL Il fails to carry a banner ad-
vertising its proximity and its purposes.
The policy Of the Standard In early
days was 10 let outside persons find the
oil-that is the uncertain side OF the
petroleum business. Out Of all the great
army Of OIL prospectors and developers
only I'VE, so am told. became Million
aires. Men at the University Club, In
Pittsburg. knowing that I have a new
5OO-barrel well, win say: Why didn't
you let us in on thatT And reply: Tt
might have been a dry hole. in which
event every dollar you put up would
have been lost Nothing comes back,
not a penny, II the drill does not find OIL
Dry Holes Break Them Up.
The dry holes eat up the profts of
the big strikes. Men md a good well and
then bankrupt themselves in trying to
find more wells. know a producer who
at several times Of his life was worth
$4,000, but he broke himself up again
and again by digging empty holes in the
ground. But the lure Of the earth led
him on. and he pawned his wife's dia-
monds, put up an old derrick, and was
happy again listening 10 the music Of
the walking beam. Poverty nor riches
can cure the habit 1t costs 1900 in
West Virginia, where the pools are deep
in the ground, to get. or what usually
happens, not to get, oil
The shrewd Mr.. Rockefeller never took
any personal interest in the gambling
end Of the oil game. As it WIS, the
risk he ran was great enough to satisfy
his love for speculation. A spark from
a smokers pipe or a lighted match might
reduce refinery to ashes in a few min
utes, and insurance companies stood
aloof from such hazardous business.
Mark Hanna's refinery burned down
Don't be a blamed fool and build again, |
but come into the coal and iron bust |
ness" said his father-in-law, Daniel |
Rhodes. The advice was followed.
Nevertheless, Mr.. Rockefeller per
ceived all the hidden possibilities Of Pc
No more would lard be burned |
In parlor lamps, nor would tallow can
dies be used to light sitting-rooms and |
bedrooms. Mr.. Rockefeller, therefore, 1
surrendered the exciting task /
Of finding oil to other men. and when
they found it, he refined It and his chem
sts discovered ways Of utilizing the
iregs and he became the richest man
N the world on reasonably safe prop
0sttion. In the meantime, prospectors
and producers were sleeping in the woods
and eating fat pork They are the ro-
mantle knights OF the industry, but no
body ever hears Of them and their names
are too far lost IN oblivion TO be re-
covered and celebrated.
Bought Wells to Be Safe.
Back in the SOS, however, a slight
,hange occurred in the policy of the I
which was now opuIent and
.ould AFFORD to try an experiment. The |,
producers, believing they 4,
we're not getting enough for their Pc
rOleum, pulled the fire out from under
heir boilers and quit pumping. Com
'laining about prices is a common habit.
70 farmer ever gets enough for his
wheat. Oil men. regardless of their To-
alton, say that the Standard is robbing
hem. Four years ago l sold oil in
oklahoma for 80 cents barrel / kicked
hen. 1 am getting so cents to-day and
m still kicking. l see my oil manu-
actured into kerosene, gasoline, par
FIN and vaseline, and sold at the rate
( S a barpeL I am a human being and
o is every other producer. l.
The great shutdown Il was argued,
7ould compel John d. to make terms.
,utting on his supply, suppose, did I
i've him slight shock, but the shut
own didn't work. The boys had notes ]
oming due at the banks, the walking Ii
cams began to pump and the shutdown I
7as ON But the Standard had learned q
The policy of keeping money
ut Of property in wells was given a I
tile elasticity. A well here and there
'as taken over simply, I dare say, as
protection against possible strikes of !
he producers in the future. / haven't
he figures, but / suppose the Standard !
ow pumps from its own wells one-tenth !
{ the raw oil supply Of the country. I
You asked me II anybody was COM !
citing against the Standard Mr., White !
ent on to say. "All that 1 have told | 8
ou has a bearing on the subject There !
as no competition in the past, as I I
ave shown. The price Of crude petro- ;
UNI was telegraphed along the pipe !
nes A half hour later the independ-
ats would name the same figures. Com
stition may come in the future, but un-
see 1t / shall have my doubts. A A
roup of competitors rise and make a =
oise like real exterminators, but they
Re men like the rest Of US and the
tandard obtains their property at a
aluation satisfactory to all the interests $
'ncerned.
Swarniing with Standard Men.
mo one inside the oil business, unless !,
) is directly connected with the ar :,
.ngement we suspect, knows whether
e Pure, the Gulf, and the Texas cont \
lnies are independent or not Gossip
freely passed around among producers, r,
It facts are hard to get. The petroleum I
Ids are swarming with Standard men, G
e best men Of their kind in the country d
fine, able fellows personally. They are c.
mute as fence posts, are well paid, al n
ays keep their Jobs, and have eyes like u
Iwks. I like them immensely when ~
eet then singly, but when they come d
gether for business purposes they are Il
ms Of guns, and the bystanders, wheth- "
innocent or otherwise, had better n
itch out. There is reason to believe that II
ese men have not been deprived Of en- u
oyment. u
Likewise the machinery Of the Stand "
DIS organization remains untouched, al II
ough several companies may now be d.
Grating It instead Of one. Its pipe lines W
n from the Atlantic Seaboard through
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and .ei
est Virginia to Oklahoma. II a man n
yht miles back in the country has a / OF
; Standard will lay a little pipe to his al
operty and pay him spot cash for his bl
oduct. Independent companies cannot In
[ their business down TO such a fine Al