The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1917-03-14
Continued from last week.

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modern home except very few of the
ultra-rich. A conservative estimate
of the cost of this office building would
not be less than one million dollars.
You remember the old saying. "In God
we>trusted and in Kansas we busted"
| am indebted to Mr.. Fitzpatrick,
the vice-president of the company, for
the most Of my information in regard
to the pipe line and oil business in
this mid-continent field, as this is
called. The president, Mr.. O'Neil, is
out on the coast. (There are a great
many Irish names connected with the
otticialdom Of this company This
Irish president incidentally draws a
salary of $4,000 per year. .rr
This company, like all other corpora.
tons doing business in this state, is
incorporated under the laws of the
state OF Kansas.
They are capitalized for 5000, 900,
the par value of the stock is $500 per
share. This stock today is worth 500
per share on the stock exchange. 1t
paid a dividend in 1916 of 1G per cent
on. the par value of the stock.
The volume of the stock cannot be
increased without increasing the cap
italization. This company has pipe
line connections with every tide water
terminal in the United States so you
see the oil of this country goes into
all the markets of the world.
They do very little leasing or pro-
ducing, less than 10 per cent of the
Volume of their business.
They shove thru their pipes on an
average every day, in the year 100000
barrels of oil, or 5,72O,O0O gallons.
They have no relineries of their own.
The Standard people have a refinery
at Neodesha, Is miles from here,
which takes six or seven thousand
barrels of their oil per day.
There is not any refined oil piped
out OF this country, the finished prod.
uct is all shipped out in tank cars.
This company employs about two
thousand. men, most of them high
priced men, and they make their boast
that they are all Americans and that
there is not labor union among them.
or course there have been Fitzpat-
ricks and O'Neils in this country for
many years, and they would bitterly
resent any insinuation that they were
not loyal Americans. There are four
other pipe companies here, altho this
Prairie Oil e Gas Co. is far away the
largest company of any of them. :
Perhaps the most spectacular indi-
vidual in the oil game here is Harry
Sinclair, who was raised here in In
He first came into motor.
iety by shooting his foot off and gett.
ing $4,000 accident insurance. With
this money he commenced to buck the
oil game. The Sinclair Oil Co. is for
all practical purposes, his. They are
laying a main thru here now. They
started it down in Texas and the other
end will be at the big refineries in In.
diana. He built himself $10O,0OO.0O
home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and now,
when he is not riding over the country
in a special train, spends his leisure
time in a $50O,O0O.OO home on Long Is
land ,hobnobbing with the multi-mi!-
lionaires- Of Wall Street. When he
starts out to show a bunch of his
friends a good time, on that special
train, Of his, Johnny Steele, Goal Oil
Johnny in his palmiest days would
look like fifteen cents. ~ 80, a.
! was over at Neodesha where the
Standard Oil people have their refin-
cry. This is the largest refinery in
this country. They are incorporated
for the. trilling sum of $4,000, 100000,
their plant covers 100 acres3Of ground.
And they have a capacity Of 5000 bar
rolls per day. They say that out OF
this Kansas and Oklahoma crude, they
get, IS. per cent gasolene and 25 per
cent kerosene. There is per cent
absolute waste and they use about 10
per cent Of the by product for fuel.
The balance is made into oil, axle
grease soap and many other various
articles. '> Is
This oil refining is a simple process,
1t is nothing more or less than distil.
alton. Casolene boils at low temper
allure. After gasOlene has been vap-
orized and condensed, higher tenn
perature does the same thing with
the naptha and Kerosene 1t requires
about 100000 gallons of water per
day to operate this refinery.
There is a guard here both day and
night and at all other refneries. They
say that common business prudence
demands they they take no chances
while this country hangs balancing on
the ragged edge of war with Germany.
While they are courteous and affable
to anyone who has any legitimate
business with them, there is not any
one upon this property without an es.
cOrt. >
found the same labor conditions
here that exists with the Prairie Oil
E. Gas Co., all Americans and no labor
unions. Altho after having been
shown over the plant, spent about an
hour with the president in his private
office, | was unable to get line upon
even the approximate most of refining
oil. All other information was given
willingly. We talked about politics
and some religion. He was very bitter
toward the little coterie of senators
who pulled off the filibuster stunt down
at Washington; especially! LaFollette
and Cummns, thot there we're not
Germans enough in Wisconsin to send
LaFollette back nor enough in Iowa to