Evening star., 1925-08-26
WRIT AGAINST OIL
SALES IS REFUSED
Vacuum Company Loses
First Point in Fight Upon
Oil Company.

Chief Justice Mccoy of the District
! Supreme Court today refused pre-
liminary injunction against the Penn
Oil CO., WHICH was recently sued by
the Vacuum Oil Co. Ob = charge of
selling its own products when asked
for ''mobiloil'' oil. The answer of the
defendant company denied all the
allegations of the bill of complaint and
the chief justice declared the Vacuum
Oil Co. had been sworn out of court. "
Attorney Vernon f. West. who with
Attorneys Donaldson & Johnson ap-
pears for the plaintiff. gave notice Of
tilinS an applicat tion to amend the bill
! of complaint. Counsel for the Penn
! Oil Go. opposed the amendment at
! this time and the court declared a
formal motion would have to be made
Counsel declined to indicate where
they expected 10 change the allega
tions Of the bill of complaint.
Denies Selling "Drsinincs."
In its answer filed through At
/ torneys Alvin l.. Newmyer. Cra ndal
Mackey and Milton w King. the
| Penn Oil Co., of which Paul Himmel-
farh is president. makes p sweeping
denial of all the charges of "substitu-
tion" made in the suit OF the Vacuum
Oil Co. In particular the desenda nj
company points out that nowhere in
the bill of complaint nor in the at
tached affidavits does there appear a
charge that the Penn Oil Co. sold
crank case drainage as oil although
the Vacuum company has caused ad.
vertisements to be published contain
ing this inference, II is claimed.
Among the samples OF oil submitted
for examination. according TO the ad-
vertisement of the Vacuum Co
was found crank-case DRAWINGS in one
or two cases. but the Penn OH Co.
asserts that there is not word or
syllable in the bill of complaint or
in any of the affida Wits alleging or
inferring that the defendant company
or any of its filling stations furnished
such DRAWINGS.
The Penn Oil Co. points out that il
Is an Independent company not allied
with the Standard Oil Co.. of which
II claims the Vacuum company is an
aff1liated company. The injunction
suit. ii is asserted. is an effort to
eliminate fair competition in the oil
industry in Washington after efferts
by the Standard to purchase the husi-
ness Of the defendant had failed. The
company denies that 1T any OF its
more than 80 filling stations il has
ever sold as Mobiloil it's own product
when customer asked for MobtloiI
asserts. is we'll known among auto
mobile owners and dealers and there
exists for IL n popular demand be.
cause of its high grade and the spe-
cial manner of refining il. The com
panVs product. the court is told is OF
equal quality and efficiency. and is in
no manner inferior TO Mobiloil. No
signs are displayed at any of its sta =.
tions. says the company, Indicating
hn latt t..t1 l.
of the plaintiff is offered for sale
there.
Charges Standard Plot.
Never during its II years OF bust
ness, the Penn Oil Co. asserts has il
received single complaint from anv
customer that any of its agents or
employees has substituted or attempt.
ed TO substitute any of its brands OF
gasoline or oil for those of another
company prior to the filing of this
suit. The company advises the court
that ii has built up n large and lucra-
tive business. so that its rolling stock
of trucks and equipment cost nearly
100000. and that its sales OF gasoline
and oils approximate 5000 .00a gallons
yearly. Of which $50 900 ga Hons are oil
1t spends S25 .0h0 yearly in advertising
its own bra nds nj products the com
panN states. AnO mas not retied upon
the products of any other company to
build up its success The company
asserts that il has the largest business
in this vicinity competing with the
Standa rd Oil Co. and AYERS this liti-
cation to be for the purpose of iniur-
ing its business and not to correct
any grievance with respect to the
conduct of its business.
Attached to the answer OF the com
pany is a number OF atfidavits from
persons in charge of It's filing sta.
tions that they never sold any substi-
tute when asked for Mobiloil, and that
the oil sold by the Penn Oil Co. was
Al 90 cents per quart and not At 80
cents. the price OF the product of the
plaintiff. The report slips from the
various stations on the dates men
toned in the bill of complaint are
also submitted TO the court. together
with copies of newspaper containing
large advertise ments by The plaintiff
company In rela ton TO the filing of
the injunction suit.