The disappearance of Miller, the man on whom the firm had depended for superintending building and refining, the withdrawal of Wilson, with whom the enterprise had origi nated and on which it had staked its hopes of finding a ready market, and the series of suits for infringement of patents, suits which cost Matthews thousands of dollars as well as much embarrassment and delay, were troubles brought on him, so he believed, as the result of a deliberate attempt on the part of the Vacuum Oil Company to make good C. M. Everest's threat to do all in his power to ruin the Buffalo Lubricating 'Works, and, in the spring of 1883, he brought a civil suit against the Everests for $roo,000. While Matthews was working up his case he learned that Miller had returned from California, that he had left the Everests because he claimed they had "not treated him right," and that he was idle in Rochester. Miller seems to have left California chiefly because he had gotten it into his head that the information he had about the measures the Vacuum had taken to prevent the Buffalo Works carrying on their business was valuable. H. B. Everest testified that Miller once said to him after he was settled in California : "Mr. Everest, you have always been kind to me, and I shall do nothing to injure you, but I am going to bust the Standard." I said: "Al, how will you go to work to do that?" "More ways than one," he said; "they can't afford to let me loose," he said. "Sha'n't be bought off, either, unless I get something for it. It will cost them more than twenty five or fifty thousand dollars before they get through with me." I said: "Al, I think you can make more money raising fruit in California than you can fighting the Standard." This conversation was held immediately after the Vacuum had paid Miller $1,000, in addition to the salary of $1,5oo they gave him, and for no apparent purpose except to keep him quiet.
When Matthews learned of Miller's return he asked him to come to Buffalo, and evidently got from him then, for the first time, the story of the pressure the Everests had brought to bear on him to leave the Buffalo Lubricating Works, the "fixing" of the still at their advice so that something would the transfer of his property, his two years of semi idleness on $1,5oo a year and a bonus of $1,000, paid for a reason which can only be surmised, and his final breaking in California, because, as he claimed, he saw no settled employ ment in view and no prospect of the Everests doing more for him than they were, and, as they claimed, because he believed he could get a big sum from the Standard to keep silent. To all of this Miller made deposition in July, 1884.
The first civil suit was brought to trial early in March, 1885, and it resulted in the jury giving a verdict of $2o,000 to Matthews for damages. The court set the sum aside, claim ing that they had proved only $4,000 in damages and that he would not sustain an award of punitive damages. Matthews's counsel now obtained a stay of proceedings and finally a new trial. Now about this time Matthews secured evidence which emboldened him to give his suit a much wider range than he had at first intended. This was the testimony of the lawyer Truesdale, quoted above, that in his office Everest had suggested that Miller "arrange the machinery so that it would bust up or smash up." The explosion
of June 15 was immediately construed as the result of this counsel. On the strength of this evidence Matthews insti tuted a second civil suit for damages of $25o,000 caused by conspiracy to blow up the works of the Buffalo company, to entice away its employees, to bring unfounded suits against it, and to slander the company's product, and he added to the original defendants the three other directors of the Vacuum Works — H. H. Rogers, J. D. Archbold and Ambrose McGregor — and the Standard Oil Company of New York, the Acme Oil Company of New York and the Vacuum Oil Company. Matthews seems to have argued that, as Rogers, Archbold and McGregor were directors with the Everests in the Vacuum Oil Company, they had probably been consulted by the Everests concerning Miller, and could be included in the conspiracy, and, as the Vacuum, Standard Oil Company and Acme Oil Company were all concerns in the Standard Oil Trust, they, too, could be included. He also went before the Grand Jury of Erie County in opposition to the advice of his counsel and secured there an indictment of H. H. Rogers, J. D. Archbold, Ambrose McGregor and the two Everests for criminal conspiracy. The defendants succeeded in getting the indictment set aside the first time, but Matthews re-presented the case, and a second indictment was found of the same persons. It should be noted that Mr. McGregor was indicted only because he was a director of the Vacuum Works, his name not being mentioned in the evidence presented to the Grand Jury.
An indictment for conspiracy of three men of such promi nence as Mr. Rogers, Mr. Archbold and Mr. McGregor riveted the attention of the whole country on the coming trial. It was apparent from the first that the Standard meant to put up a big fight to have the indictment quashed. They had, indeed, set a strong machinery at work immediately to get evidence on which to bring a counter charge of conspiracy ; that is, that Matthews's intention in starting the Buffalo Lubri cating Works was never to do business, but to force the Stand ard to buy him out at a big price. They at once set a detective to work on the case, one item of his instructions reading: "We have reason to believe that the suit is brought for the purpose of forcing the Standard to purchase the works of the Buffalo Lubricating Company, and Matthews has made certain state ments to that effect ; would like reports of any statements or admissions by him in relation to his objects in these suits." Under the direction of this detective, a man employed in Matthews's works for some months made daily reports of what he saw and heard there, copies of which were forwarded to the Standard office in New York. A detective was also put on Miller's track. Miller was now employed in a refinery in Corry, Pennsylvania, and here he was for a long time under espionage. The chief expression obtained from him was by luring him into a saloon one Sunday afternoon and getting him half drunk. While in this condition, the saloon-keeper testified, he said the Buffalo suit was a humbug, but there was money in it and that they (he and the persons who were drinking with him) might as well make it as anybody.