Arizona republican., 1919-05-18
LOCAL CEMENT PLANT SOON ID
 BE OPERATING
Purchased By F. A. Gillespie For Use In Connection With Big Gila Water Pro- ject-WiIl Fight The Ce- ment Trust

Tt was by a happy coincidence that on the day the people voted bonds in inc sum Of $4.000,000 for paved roads in this county. it was decided to put the plant of the Arizona Portland Ce- ment company east of Phoenix into cummtssion after a period of idleness of about ten years.
 After several days of negotiation an agreement 10 purchase was entered into yesterday between F. 4. Gillespie and the officials of the cement com pany, ?. NJ. Jewett, president C. w. Grouse, secretary, and F. T. Pomcroy director. The contract price is $4O000 and a payment of $1,00O was made The next step will be an investigation by Mir. Gillespie of the condition of the plant
 MT. Gillespie is the Oklahoma oil magnate who last week with his son purchased the property of the Gila Water company and 72,000 acres of land adjacent, and entered into a con- tract for construction of a dam on the site of the old WOlfley dam of the Gila Bend Reservoir and Irrigation com pany. It is understood that Mr. Gil lespie will greatly enlarge the plant and will be prepared for the assES'ts of the cement trust, which is accused of having taken advantage of the fin ancial weakness of the Arizona Port land Cement company ten years ago.
 May Furnish County Cement
 A great deal of cement will be need cd by the GiIIespies in their Gila river enterprise and an understanding is said to have been reached with the county by which cement will be fur nished in road construction, in which
  needed.
 This plant was formerly installed at the Roosevelt dam site by the govern ment on the recommendation of recla- nation officials. Previous to it's in- stallation the cement trust made a fight against it, threatening the ad- rninistration if it should so enter into competition with it. Previous to that time the trusts were supposed to be all powerful That was in the early days of the Roosevelt administration during which the Curbing of the trusts pro ceeded- MT. Roosevelt took a short cut in this case as he did in many similar ones and the cement plant was put in.
 Cement Trust Broke 1t
 The Arizona Portland Cement com pany was formed in 1909. It was in operation only six months when it was developed that a pulverizer had been substituted for a ball machine so that it's capacity was limited to 165 barrels day instead of 400 barrels on which production the company had fixed a price of $2.00 a barrel On that basis t was estimated that cement could be produced at a cost of S165 a barrel.
 A trial run of seven Gays developed daily production of 400 barrels but it was then discovered that the plant had been primed for that test and never thereafter was there such a production.
 The cement trust forced the price o- cement down to $200 a barrel. less than the cost of production and frefghr 10 Phoenix, and that price was main. tained for the six months the loca plant was in operation, at a savins 10 this region, it was estimated, O S50,0O0.
 The Arizona Portland Cement com pany later installed a ball machine bu # had no working capital and when ever it attempted to raise money i found sinister and effective infIu ence against it.