The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1923-08-16
More Than Six Cents Gallon Cut in Gasoline
Prices Goes Into Effect Here Today
at All Filling Stations.
KENOSHA PRICE IS NOW 1871 CENTS
All Filling Stations Affected by Nationwide Move to
Bring Down Price of Gasoline Which
Struck KenOsha Today.

stations here at 22.7 cents a gallon
and Solite-high test gasoline at 25.7.
The cut ordered affects both grades
dropping the prices respectively to
1911 cents and 1911 cents.
Chester Dibble, manager of the Ke-
nosha plant of the Standard Oil com
pany, received notification this morn
ing that the price had been slashed
throughout the district and directing
that the cut be put into effect here.
Others Follow Suit
Charles Lockwood of the Lockwood
Oil company-the yellow stations-ln
Kenosha announced that the price for
New Navy gasoline, the grade sold to
correspond with the regular grade of
Standard Oil, had been cut from 70
cents a gallon to 1871 .cents-a slash
of SO cents gallon. Likewise the
Pedley company, owners of green sta
tions in Kenosha, announced that 1t
would meet the cut, slashing its price
from 227 a gallon to 1911 cents. 9th
er grades are cut accordingly.
Independent dealers maintained that
they had long sought three-cent cut
in the price but that their contracts
to take gasoline at the current price
had made this impossible. They
maintained that the big cut would
bring the price far below the cost of
production and distribution. This
was also the stand taken by the
Standard Oil company of Indiana in
announcing the cut as the next step
in the gasoline war declared recently
by the governor of South Dakota.
Echo of Western Situation.
The cut in gasoline prices in Keno
sha comes as an echo of the war be-
ing waged in South Dakota as de-
scribed by the following:
@The controversy which led to the
price cut was started by the National
Petroleum Marketers' association
through its president, L. V. Nicholas.
In kilograms to leading men in the in
dustry, kilograms which he threaten
ed to make public if they did not
read to action. Mr.. Nicholas charged
that the larger interests were arbi-
trarily sustaining the price of crude
oil at time when there was a glut
of gasoline, and demanded that crude
prices be cut.
Those to whom the Nicholas tele-
grams were addressed refused to
adopt the Nicholas plan and all the
correspondence was made public. 1t
charged that the law of supply and
demand had been throttled, that crude
prices were abnormally high and gas
oline illogically cheap to the distress
of small refners. 1t recommended
that instead of limiting crude produc-
ton, crude prices and gasoline both
be cut
Taking a cue from this number of
public officials started an agitation
for lower gasoline prices. Governor
w. H. McMaster of South Dakota
bought gasoline in the open market
and began selling it for Is cents, MAX
ing preparations for large distribu-
ton at that price. Standard Oil of
Indiana cut the retail price to 16
cents in South Dakota. This led
governors of other states in Standard
territory at we'll as automobile clubs,
mayors and publicists generally to de-
mand a similar price. All of these
petitions were granted and more with
the announcement of new Standard
prices last night.
Mr.. Nicholas early yesterday after
noon, when he understood that the
Standard cut was cents, issued a
statement lauding the company for its
action. Later, when he learned that
the cut was &c cents, he recalled the
first statement and issued >another
condemning the action as being de-
liberately destructive. Earlier in the
day he had commented on the cut to
16 cents in South Dakota, charging
Standard interests with maintaining
a price of A cents in excess of fair
valuation for many months then cut
ting it 4.6 cents below a fair price.