184 GILBERT HOLLAND MONTAGUE 



In 1877, with the aid of the Pennsylvania railroad, the 

 Empire Transportation company secured control of a refinery 

 at Communipaw, and began constructing others at Phila- 

 delphia. The roads in alliance with the Standard Oil com- 

 pany were the first to discover the encroachment, and resented 

 it before the Standard Oil company had time to act. "Un- 

 less checked," said Mr. Blanchard, of the Erie railroad, "the 

 result would be a diversion largely of the transportation of 

 oil from our roads. The New York Central road and our own 

 determined that we ought not to stand by and permit these 

 improvements and arrangements to be made, which, when 

 completed, would be beyond our control. We determined, 

 therefore, to make the issue with the Pennsylvania Railroad 

 company.'' At the suggestion of the railroads, accordingly, 

 the Standard Oil company, by ceasing on March 18, 1877, to 

 send freight over the Pennsylvania railroad, precipitated a 

 war between the great pipe lines and their allied roads. 



The suddenness and fury of the war for the oil traffic 

 which followed is explained only by the strained relations of 

 the trunk lines at that time. Since 1874, when the Baltimore 

 and Ohio railroad entered Chicago, there had been a ruinous 

 war of rates. Freight charges during this period from Chi- 

 cago to the seaboard had fallen from $1 to 10 cents. New 

 York Central and the Erie railroads had lost millions, and the 

 Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania railroads had 

 ceased to pay dividends. The struggle in the oil region was, 

 therefore, merely part of a contest extending half across the 

 continent. Beginning fully a month before the larger con- 

 test approached settlement, it continued bitterly for six 

 months until the very last agreements had been signed. In 

 this struggle the Columbia Conduit company connected with 

 a branch of the Reading railroad, and controlled the traffic 

 in the newly discovered Bradford district. The Empire 

 Transportation company meanwhile, aided by the Pennsyl- 

 vania railroad, sought by a tremenduous effort to crush the 

 United Pipe Line company and the Standard Oil company. 

 The Pennsylvania railroad carried oil at eight cents a barrel 

 less than cost, and ordered the refineries of the Empire Trans- 

 portation company to sell oil in the territory of the Standard 



