Unbounded Standard

When the Standard Oil Trust was dissolved in 1911, Standard Oil of New York took New York and New England as its province, Standard Oil of New Jersey got New Jersey and the Middle Atlantic States and each agreed to keep out of the other's territory. Standard of New Jersey was the first to step out of bounds; in 1929 it acquired Beacon Oil Co. with retail outlets in New York and New England. Last week Standard Oil of New York (now Socony-Vacuum) seemed on the point of retaliating by crossing the Hudson River to sell Socony products in New Jersey. Ostensible reason: New Yorkers motoring into New Jersey through the Hudson Tunnel and over the new George Washington Bridge were persistently demanding Socony products.

Thousands of service stations operated by more than a dozen major companies dot the roads of small, thickly-populated New Jersey which is one of the most highly competitive oil and gasoline States in the land. Oilmen felt certain that Socony would not be so foolhardy as to build new ones. Rather, they expected Socony to buy up existing chains of small companies and independents. Socony officials denied that they intended to start a price war.

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