ck to the
other by means of large oil tanks on wheels, which could not be
prevented from passing over the railroad track at the public crossing.
After several months the railroad company allowed the pipes to be laid
under its track, but it soon appeared that another combination had been
effected to destroy the value of this concession. A railroad war had
given the three trunk lines an opportunity to force the Baltimore and
Ohio into the pool. A uniform rate of $1.15 was established for
shipments of refined petroleum from any point to the seaboard. While
this was in itself an unjust discrimination against Pittsburgh, which is
250 miles nearer tidewater than Cleveland, the railroads in addition
granted the Standard secret rebates which enabled it to sell its oil on
the coast for less than the sum of its first cost at the refineries and
the open rate of transportation to the points of export. The independent
refiners of Pittsburgh found themselves again cut off from the market,
but necessity soon made them discover another outlet. Shipping their oil
down the Ohio River to Huntington, W. Va., they had it taken by the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad to Richmond. In spite of the fact that this
route was more than twice as long as the direct line from Pittsburgh to
the seaboard, and in spite of the further fact that it necessitated an
expensive transfer, a rate equal to about two-thirds of the trunk line
rate for the direct shipment proved remunerative to the Chesapeake and
Ohio. The independent refiners kept up their competition for some time,
but the great disadvantage of river travel and the insufficient export
facilities of Richmond finally forced them to give up the contest.

Until the year 1877 the Standard Oil Company had worked hand in hand
with the railroads. It had obtained all its privileges by asking for
them and by holding out inducements to railroad managers to grant them.
It now commenced to dictate terms to refractory railroad companies.

The Pennsylvania road ventured to carry oil not the property of the
Standard on terms which that company did not approve. The latter ordered
the road to refuse to carry the product of their competitors. This the
railroad company declined to do, and the Standard at once withdrew its
custom. The Pennsylvania retaliated by carrying the oil of the
independent refineries at merely nominal rates and even went so far as
to make its rates dependent upon the profits realized by the shippe