The Watchman And Southron

NEW ENGLAND'S BIGGEST MILL MAY SHUT DOWN
Amoskeag Mills, the Biggest in World, Losing Money and May Be Forced into Liquidation

Manchester, N. H., Oct. 9.-Manchester, a city of 80,000 people, and virtually a one-industry town, fears an industrial panic if the possibility of the dismantling of the mills of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company should suddenly become a reality, as is threatened. The largest city in New Hampshire, prosperous when the Amoskeag is prosperous and otherwise when the big textile mill suffers a slump, finds itself in the uncomfortable position of waiting to see what happens now that the one big industry of the town is presumably on the auction block awaiting the highest bidder.

The Amoskeag, largest mills of their kind in the world, yearly cleaning up millions in cotton handling, reported within a year or two as having a $33,000,000 surplus, and at present, according to state records giving whole or part time employment to 10,500 operatives, is today being studied, inventoried appraised and bid on by financiers much in the manner as a house is auctioned off.

No officials have admitted that Amoskeag will go to the highest bidder. The trustees at the annual meeting sought permission from the stockholders to liquidate the holdings of the company in whole or in part and got it by an overwhelming majority. This move, although termed by one of the biggest Boston stockholders as merely a formality, seems to put Amoskeag up at public auction.

The offer of Curtis & Sanger of New York City to buy the Amoskeag at $100 per share and accrued dividends on preferred stock and $90 per share for common stock, has been turned down by the trustees as being nothing more than the junk price of the company's holdings. The offer of $42,309,990 and a split on the liquidation of assets, has not yet been acted upon and an attempt to force action on it at the annual meeting by a representative of the Edward C. Carrington interests, responsible for the bid, failed completely.

Frederick C. Dumaine, Amoskeag treasurer, has declared the mills and company holdings will never be sacrificed at an amount below what they are worth and will never be sold except as a going concern.

In the meantime, the company continues to turn into cash valuable holdings in this city including the famous textile field, built by Amoskeag and recently sold to the city for $60,000.

The company within the last year or two had adopted economy measures never before known in the history of the mills. High-paid officials have been dropped completely or relegated to the foreman class. Overseer jobs have been done away with, one man taking the place of two and three.

Amoskeag has built a costly Rayon plant employing 200 specially trained workers, in an attempt to bring back the former popularity to her gingham lines. No automatic looms have been added and old looms made into automatics by the hundreds. It is understood Amoskeag has made changes to the point where not over 11,000 operatives full time would be required to turn out the volume of product that, 16,500 worked on in the Amoskeag and Stark mills following the war.

Promises Mills Won't Be Junked.

New York, Oct. 9.-Edward C. Carrington said here the city of Manchester may rest assured that if the interests he represents gets the mills they will not be junked nor will they employ fewer persons.

"I represent an interest," Mr. Carrington said "that will not only utilize every bit of power produced, but will employ more workers than at present. I am buying the property for one of the leading industrial corporations of the world."

At this juncture Mr. Carrington denied that he represented, as reported, the Insull interests. He did not care to explain, he said, the nature of the industry, since it would immediately reveal the identity of his client, nor would Mr. Carrington admit that he represented an industry new to New Hampshire though that impression prevails in some quarters.

"The stockholders," Mr. Carrington continued, "are forming a protective committee to compel the trustees to liquidate the company. Stockholders who gave their proxies for the special meeting in Manchester last week did so under the impression that they were going to vote on a resolution authorizing trustees to liquidate. Instead the resolution which was voted merely gave discretionary powers to the trustees to act. M. Dumaine, the treasurer, who has the most likeable personality and whom I respect highly, then sprung a surprise when he announced that the trustees intend to continue operations of the plant in spite of the unprofitable character of the business.

With that Mr. Carrington showed a telegram he sent to Mr. Dumaine which said "your statement admits a loss in operation for the fiscal year of $400,253." After emphasizing this point by showing that this sum amounted to more than $1,000 a day loss Mr. Carrington asserted his interest would be able to operate the plant profitably.