THE TRAIL OF THE TRUST.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9410, 2 April 1909, Page 8

THE TRAIL OF THE TRUST.

STANDARD. OIL ACTIVITY. In order to meet the demands of its European trade, winch is rapidly expanding, the Standard Oil Company is now planning developments involving the employment cf nearly 100 more ships and'the establishment of a gigantic central refinery in New Jersey, on Staten Island Sound, just by the Port of New York, and thus furnishing a splendid centre for world-wide distribution. It is the cheerful hope of the Standard Oil Trust to extinguish such oompeittiou in the oil trade as may still exist in Europe, auditho chances of its doing so are not regarded as, unfavourable. “In Europe,” remarked one representative of the Standard Oil Company when interviewed, “theyspeak of us as a great industrial octopus stifling- and murdering small traders. Europeans, and particularly Britishers, are tolerant and sensible. They say, ‘Give ns good oil, and cheap,’ and they do not talk a lot of nonsense about giant monopolies and faw|defying trusts. No, we do not anticipate England putting a tariff on Standard Oil so as to assist the English companies. ” The new plant will be the largest in the world, one section of it covering almost a thousand acres. It will be the company's main plant, and its products will be shipped direct from the New Jersey coast to every part of the world where oil is used. Although the Standard Oil Trnst now has in operation more than 75,000 miles of pipe-lines it will be necessary to [construct many thousands of miles more to bring the crude oil to the new plant from the fields of the west and south, reaching as far as the Indian territory. In addition to the pipe-lines the plant Will be fed by two railroads. The refined oil, paraffin, gasolin, and other products turned out there will naturally add to the , shipping problem. The Standard Oil Company at present charters hundreds of vessels for carrying freight abroad, although the company itself owns ,73 monster oil-tank steamships and 33 cargo steamships. One hundred or more new tank steamships will be added to the fleet, as the cost of shipping oil by tank is Jess than one-half cost of shipping by barrel. The company now employs 71,000 men, but will be compelled to engage 1200 more to work in the first section of the new plant as soon as this is completed. The company also intends to instal new trnnk pipe-lines, so that branch refiners in every part of the United States may be supplied direct with crude oil.