USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Manchester on the Merrimack, the story of a city > Part 16
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From 1864 to 1879 the Union was under the management of the firm of Campbell and Hans- com, the former, James M. Campbell, being the powerful element in the partnership. It was a day when "personal journalism" was popular, and James M. Campbell was pleased to ex- emplify the trend, composing articles of such violence that there were protesting reverbera- tions from many quarters. The paper was suc- cessful, however, and in 1874 set up its presses in a new home, on the southwest corner of Man- chester Street and Nutfield Lane. In 1879 it passed into the hands of Hutchins, Riedel and Company, and very soon became a veritable state paper, with a long subscription list "up north". This was the era that saw the innova- tion of the early morning "paper train", leaving town as soon as the Union was off the press, thus scoring one over the Boston papers that sought to serve the same territory.
In 1896 the Union Publishing Company was formed with Gordon Woodbury at its head. Combining wide experience with excellent literary taste, Mr. Woodbury turned his ener- gies to promoting the interest not only of Man- chester, but of New Hampshire as a whole. In 1905, Rosecrans Pillsbury took control, and the policies of the paper, Democratic since its in- ception, became "with no fuss or flurry" Re-
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publican, to be merged eight years later, as we have seen, with the Leader when it was pur- chased by Messrs. Knox and Muehling.
It was a world of widening horizons that altered the emphasis in the journalism of the early twentieth century. The newspapers were quick to reflect this growing world outlook. Back in the placid 90's, who could visualize that America, separated from Europe by the com- fortably-wide Atlantic and the supposedly con- clusive Monroe Doctrine, would in a few brief years find herself embroiled in a world war? Who would have prophecied that the shot fired in far-away Serajevo on that June day of 1914 would so quickly reverberate in little Manches- ter-on-the-Merrimack?
By November of that year fully three thou- sand women in Manchester were busy working for the Red Cross under the general supervision of Mrs. William K. Robbins, ably assisted by Miss Mary Ella Batchelder, Mrs. George B. Dodge, Mrs. Hugh Flack, Mrs. Arthur L. Franks, and Mrs. Samuel P. Hunt. Within a few months there was a Women's War Relief Committee, and soon willing hands were mak- ing surgical sponges, folded and packed with the utmost care according to the direction of a demonstrator sent from Boston headquarters. July of 1915 saw the organization of the local
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branch of the New Hampshire League for Na- tional Defense, with the following citizens serv- ing as directors: Sherman E. Burroughs, A. B. Jenks, Fred W. Lamb, Eugene Quirin and P. H. Sullivan. The local representatives on the State Board of Directors were Sherman E. Burroughs, A. B. Jenks, Frank Knox, Fred W. Lamb, W. T. Nichols, Eugene E. Reed and Gordon Wood- bury. 1916 brought the formation of the local chapter of the Red Cross, an organization that has grown and developed with the years, per- forming valuable service to the community. Since 1918 Mrs. Melvin Gould has ably filled the position of executive secretary. Early in World War II, the generosity of Mrs. John L. Sullivan provided the organization with ample quarters for carrying on all its activities: Carpenter House, formerly the home of Mrs. Sullivan's grandfather, Frank P. Carpenter.
Events moved swiftly in Manchester as the nation surged ahead into the inevitable con- flict. As in the emergency of the Civil War, the city worked as a unit, all creeds and na- tionalities welded together for a purpose. Duplicating the Civil War pattern, also, the Amoskeag Company was in the lead in war- effort. In February of 1917 it announced its readiness to raise and equip a regiment of troops, and a few weeks later the Textile Club
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offered to Governor Henry W. Keyes all the resources of its seventeen hundred members. That same year, the company donated fifty acres of land in various parts of the city for garden plots to contribute toward food pro- duction. It has been estimated that nearly twenty-five thousand dollars worth of vegeta- bles were raised in these war gardens.
Patriotic fervor expressed itself in mass meetings, flag raisings, parades, as the solemn portents of the hour became increasingly ap- parent. The month of March brought Dean Laycock of Dartmouth to address a huge crowd at Palace Theatre. "War is a terrible thing," he said, "but there is one thing more terrible. That is any kind of national dishonor or national slavery." On the platform of the Auditorium, at a May mass meeting, was a group of gray-haired veterans of the Civil War. Major Frank Knox, presiding, paid tribute to these "boys of '61", pointing out to the audi- ence that in this emergency they had offered their services "to do what they can". Thunder- ing applause greeted this recognition of the im- perishable quality of patriotism, surviving the years. Then Major Knox climaxed his speech: "Is there anyone in this audience whose heart is not as staunch as theirs?" There could have been no stronger persuasion for recruits.
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Col. Parker Straw addressed a throng of young men at the Y.M.C.A. reminding them: "This is no time for recrimination or criticism. We are confronted by terrible facts, not theories. It is a time when everyone should stand behind the president, who, armed with the sword of justice and supported by the entire nation, shall yet bring us into an honorable peace." At five o'clock on Registration Day, when eighty-three hundred men had been registered in the city, the huge flag pole, presented by the Amoskeag Company, was dedicated at Merrimack Com- mon. It was an impressive ceremony, sym- bolizing the renewed loyalty of a community to the emblem that slowly rose to its position as the band swung into the strains of The Star Spangled Banner.
Late in July the National Guard of New Hampshire was called to the service, and on August 22 three long troop trains from Con- cord passed through Manchester, en route to Boxford, Massachusetts, where the men went into active training. Early in September, the first group of local drafted men were on their way to camp in Ayer, Massachusetts. The war had caught up with Manchester.
The Sheridan Guards, strengthened in num- bers by new recruits, were assigned to Com- pany B of the 103rd Infantry of the Yankee
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Division, and well did they acquit themselves in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Chemin-des-Dames, Bois-de-Belleau, Chateau- Thierry, St. Mihiel, Verdun, Meuse-Argonne- the lists of these battles record the heroic ser- vice of Manchester men. Over in Sweeney Park, west of the river, is the memorial bust of Henry J. Sweeney, first of the local youths to sacrifice his life in action .*
Civilian contribution to the war effort was not lagging. The Amoskeag Textile Club con- ducted a Red Cross Carnival, raising well over three thousand dollars for the Red Cross. The Manchester City Library sponsored a silver thimble collection for which not only thimbles but spoons, watches, rings, bracelets, mugs, coins-anything silver and salable was accepted, sold, and the proceeds given to the Red Cross. Manchester's subscriptions to the five Liberty Loans was twenty-two million, seven-hundred- and-twenty-eight thousand, eight hundred and fifty dollars; to the Red Cross, two-hundred-
* The memory of this young soldier is further hon- ored in the name Henry J. Sweeney Post of the Ameri- can Legion, now occupying the old Armory building. William H. Jutras, the first Franco-American from Manchester to sacrifice his life in World War I, is honored also in the Post bearing his name. There is a third American Legion Post in the city, Manchester 79.
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and-four thousand dollars; to the United War Work Fund, two-hundred-and forty-four thousand dollars; to the Public Safety Fund, over eleven thousand dollars; to the Knights of Columbus Fund, twenty-three-thousand, seven hundred dollars; and for Thrift Stamps, one million. Parades, rallies, mass meetings fea- tured the drives for the different funds. Sec- retary of War, Newton D. Baker came in 1917, when the second Liberty Loan drive was launched, and reviewed one of the most spectacular parades ever seen in the city. Under the direction of Chief Marshall Henry B. Fairbanks, fully ten thousand men and women marched in a drenching rain, carry- ing out the pre-arranged schedule and demon- strating the sturdiness of civilian spirit in time of stress. Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, was guest of honor in 1918.
The relief and joy of the armistice in No- vember, 1918, was tempered by the influenza epidemic which had ravaged the city for weeks, since early September, and which took a toll of four hundred and thirty four lives. The Board of Health took immediate steps to cope with the situation, and the whole community, individuals and organizations alike, cooperated to the fullest extent. Mr. W. L. Shaw was ap- pointed Director of Public Health, and the
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most stringent rules were put into effect gov- erning stores, restaurants, bowling alleys and all gathering places, while schools were closed and even inter-family visiting was prohibited. The Notre Dame Emergency Hospital was rapidly filled to overflowing; the Knights of Columbus Club house was thrown open to receive pa- tients as was the Cercle National headquarters in West Manchester. The Amoskeag Veterans offered the use of their armory. Volunteer nurses from the Amoskeag Company, ** the McElwain Shoe Company, and the F. M. Hoyt Shoe Company, were placed at the disposal of the Board of Health. The first two above in- dustries provided quantities of food for afflicted families. The Amoskeag donated a thousand yards of cotton flannel for emergency use, and scores of people loaned their private cars for transportation of doctors and nurses as well as for conveyance of patients to hospitals. The situation, tragic as it was, afforded another striking example of a community welded into a unit in a crisis.
The epidemic waned, the war ended, and Manchester sought to recover her balance in a
** The Amoskeag Company had for some time main- tained a corps of six nurses under the supervision of Miss Mary Stearns, R.N.
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still-reeling world. She had risen to the chal- lenge of the hour. On the wire-strewn fields of Europe, on the mine-strewn seas, her men had done their part. In uniform and on the home- front, her women had done their part. Her industries had done their part, furnishing power that a world in turmoil might continue to be served.
And who shall say that the very rhythm of the river did not reach to the farthest corner of the war-torn globe? For it was Zo Elliot, a Manchester man, who composed the melody for the famous "Long, Long Trail", written by Stoddard King, a melody that caught the ear with its lilting music and touched the heart with its wistfulness-a melody that was sung up and down the long, long trails of Europe by dough- boys and distinguished "brass hats" alike. Schuman Heink sang it, and Caruso and Alma Gluck and John McCormack. And when the British monarch, King George V, heard it in London, he rose and remained standing till the last note died away: royalty, symbol of pomp and power, humble in the presence of a song.
One would not presume to trace the sources of immortal music. But Zo Elliot was born and bred in Manchester-on-the-Merrimack.
In the turn of the century, particularly after the conclusion of World War I, Manchester in
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common with the rest of the world was con- scious of a weakened hold on the old patterns of living. Change was in the air. The mills felt it; the city felt it. And in the early morning hours of a quiet Sunday in August, 1920, the old Amoskeag bridge, built in 1854, slowly and without commotion or violence settled and sank into the river. No one saw it fall, and so quietly was the disintegration accomplished that only one person in the sleeping city was aroused.
Yesterday was over and done with. Perhaps it was fitting that the old bridge should make the gesture of final relinquishment.
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AMOSKEAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY
The City That Would Not Die
It is an indisputable fact that never since the founding of old Derryfield and the turbulent town meetings of the early days, was the des- tiny of the community so menaced as during the 1930's. Never was there so much appre- hension and uncertainty in the question, "Whither our city?" For only by a virtual miracle in 1936 did Manchester-on-the-Merri- mack escape the fate of becoming a veritable ghost-city. The old Amoskeag, that institu- tion by which the community had lived and
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had its being, was at the point of death, stricken with a complication of ailments, some of them readily diagnosed, others more obscure.
In order to understand and evaluate the origin of this critical situation, it is necessary to make a brief excursion into the period ante- dating the 30's, to follow the corporation through its period of phenomenal prosperity, and then to note the subtle workings of the forces that all but accomplished its complete extinction.
It was in 1878 that Ezekiel Straw retired from the position of agent of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, to be followed for a brief period by Judge Daniel Clark and Colonel Thomas L. Livermore. Seven years later, in 1885, Ezekiel Straw's son, Herman F. Straw, succeeded to his father's post, to guide the affairs of the great plant and to see his efforts rewarded by an extent of growth and expansion far exceeding Samuel Blodget's ex- ultant vision. The year 1885 was in more re- spects than one significant in the Company's history. Herman Straw himself, reviewing the scene in 1920, had this to say: "The decision of the late T. Jefferson Coolidge in 1885 to build the Jefferson Mill was, in my opinion, the turning point in the history of the Amos- keag Manufacturing Company. The early 80's
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was a critical time in the history of the com- pany in that there was serious talk of the man- ufacturing business leaving this section for the south. Mr. Coolidge met the situation squarely by building the Jefferson Mill. Had T. Jeffer- son Coolidge decided not to build the Jefferson Mill in 1885, the Amoskeag plant might not have been very much larger today than it was thirty-five years ago."
In other words, the Amoskeag got under way in 1885 with the full-speed-ahead signal. Those were rich years. The hand of "H. F." on the helm was a skilled one, deft in avoiding dangerous rocks and reefs. Labor troubles were practically unheard of under his manage- ment, and he was known in mill manufacturing circles as the ablest cotton mill manufacturer of his day. His was the leading role, but he was ably supported by men, experts in their field, whose contributions were inestimably valuable. There was Captain Charles H. Manning, super- intendent of the power department of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company from 1882 until 1913. His attainments were widely recog- nized in the scientific world but his service and activities were not limited to the mills. For twenty-eight years he was a member of the Board of Water Commissioners, serving much of that period as its president, and for eighteen
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years he was a member of the school board. There was also Perry H. Dow of the Land and Water Department, under whose supervision the Amoskeag dam was constructed and other important projects initiated and completed. And there was a host of executives, overseers and employees of all ranks, loyal to the com- pany as one is loyal to a friend, by whom "the Amoskeag" was imbued with personality. Fifty years, even sixty years, were not unknown spans of tenure in posts of greater or lesser re- sponsibility, and the lives of individuals built themselves into the mills with pride in the process and with a sense of vital affiliation with a great and growing enterprise.
In 1917, Herman F. Straw resigned his posi- tion as Agent, and was succeeded by his son, William Parker Straw, who, upon assuming these responsibilities, was the third member of the family to hold the position in three suc- cessive generations. Since 1905 he had been Superintendent, following Harry E. Parker, and his active connection with the company dated from 1899, immediately upon his gradua- tion from Harvard. He resigned his post in 1929, and was succeeded by Arthur O. Roberts.
After his resignation, Herman F. Straw con- tinued his activities with the company until the very day of his death in July, 1929. He
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maintained an office at the plant and gave the best of his mature wisdom and ripened judg- ment to the corporation into which he and his father had built their very lives. Indeed the Straw name and Amoskeag had come to be synonymous and almost interchangeable. And today when the old mills are in the hands of diversified industries, it is significant that the two banks bearing the honored old name, Amoskeag, are under the direction of two of Herman Straw's sons, William Parker Straw as president of the Amoskeag Savings Bank, and H. Ellis Straw as president of the Amoskeag National.
It is of interest to note that in the period between 1841 and 1936, almost a full century, only four men occupied the position of pay- master. The first was Charles Richardson, whose service covered the years 1841 to 1854. He was followed by his nephew, Charles L. Richardson, who served from 1854 to 1899. John W. Rowley held the position from 1899 to 1918, when Fred M. Caswell was appointed to the post. Mr. Caswell's association with Amoskeag-he is now with Amoskeag Indus- tries-covers over half a century. He is the third generation in his family to be identified with the company. His son also was employed for fourteen years in the Amoskeag office.
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Down through the years a host of able and devoted men have served as executives in the mills. Many of them contributed generously not only to the development of the industries but also to the civic, social and religious life of the community. Among them were:
Samuel Blodget Kidder, Superintendent of Locks and Canals.
Robert Read, Superintendent of Land and Water Department.
David A. Bunton, Builder of the first stone dam at the Falls.
Horace P. Simpson, Superintendent of Jefferson Mill.
William A. Burke, Superintendent of Machine Shop. Oliver W. Bayley, Superintendent of Machine Shop. Marcellus Gould, Superintendent of Carding.
Cyrus W. Baldwin (inventor of the seamless bag), Agent of Amoskeag Machine Shop.
William G. Perry, early Manufacturing Superin- tendent.
Benjamin Wiesner, Head Designer.
Marshall P. Hall, Assistant Paymaster.
Henry L. Bailey, Superintendent of Jefferson Mill. Henry A. Farrington, Superintendent of Cloth Finishing.
Israel Dow, Superintendent of Land and Water Department.
Freeman Higgins, Master Mechanic.
Edwin H. Hobbs, Superintendent of Land and Water Department.
Elliot C. Lambert, Superintendent of Cotton Manufacturing.
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A. H. Sanborn, Chief Draughtsman.
William K. Robbins, Superintendent of Dyeing. Frank L. Clarke, Chief Electrical Engineer.
Albert Merrill, Superintendent of Electrical De- partment.
Later successors to these earlier executives included:
John C. Marshall, Superintendent of Worsted Department.
Ralph S. Nelson, Superintendent of Finishing Department.
Walter G. Diman, Superintendent of Steam Power. Albert W. Thompson, Superintendent of Mechan- ical Department.
Herman E. Thompson, Superintendent of Mechan- ical Department.
William C. Swallow, Manager of Employment Department.
Howard I. Russell, Superintendent of Cotton Carding.
Winthrop Parker, Superintendent of Cotton Spinning.
Manley H. Varney, Superintendent of Cotton Finishing Department.
C. Fred Broughton, Superintendent of Weaving. Forrester E. Jewett, Superintendent of Dressing. Charles M. Baker, Superintendent of Weaving.
Henry W. Wheeler, Jr., Superintendent of Wor- sted Department.
Howard D. Corkum, Superintendent of Dyeing. Alfred H. Vose, Head of Engineering Department. Ernest W. Johnson, Superintendent of Cotton Manufacturing.
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In 1911, the Amoskeag Textile Club was founded, "one of the strongest and clearest ex- ponents of its class to be found in the country", to quote from the historian Waldo Browne's description. One of the avowed objects of the club was to advance the acquaintanceship of the employees of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, and well did it serve its purpose over a period of many years. William Parker Straw, later to succeed his father as Agent of the mills, was the first president, with the following Board of Directors: Finance, Charles E. Chap- man; Athletic, Charles F. Broughton; Lands and Buildings, Perry H. Dow; Membership, Herbert E. Richardson; Entertainment, Fred M. Caswell; Gun Club, Winthrop Parker; Agri- cultural, Frank R. Vose; Educational and Wel- fare Work, William K. Robbins; Ways and Means, Frank W. Garland; Music, Frank L. McBride; Boy Scouts, Frank L. Clarke. One of the outstanding projects of the club was the publication of the semi-monthly magazine, The Amoskeag Bulletin, of which William B. Mckay was the first editor, assisted by Manley H. Varney as associate editor, and later by Fred W. Lamb. Even more important as an asset to the city was the development of Textile Field by the remodeling of Varick Park. On Septem- ber 8, 1913, the new grounds were dedicated
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with a suitable program of entertainment under the leadership of Perry H. Dow, Manley H. Varney and Fred M. Caswell serving as committee of arrangements. A baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and a team from the community's Manufacturers' League was the outstanding feature of the program. It is said that fifteen thousand people were in at- tendance in the course of the day.
Another offshoot of the Textile Club was the Textile School, designed to promote effi- ciency among the employees and to remove the stigma of drudgery from the processes of their work. The Amoskeag Women's Textile Club was organized in 1913.
The Textile Club and its various offshoots were major indications of the general condi- tion of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Com- pany during these early years of the century. A mere glance at the records furnishes addi- tional proofs of the prosperity and the in- creasing reach of the industry during this period. At the annual meeting in October of 1917 there was the gratifying report of a profit of one million three hundred and thirty three thousand, six hundred and nine dollars. On December 5, of that year the Company pur- chased from the American Locomotive Com- pany the buildings and real estate of the old
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Locomotive Works. In 1919, the profits had jumped to nearly eight million dollars. In 1920 the stockholders voted to declare a hundred per cent dividend.
This was the year also of the construction of the dam and power house at Amoskeag Falls, whereby all the power of the river was made available, providing from four to five thousand more horse power units than had been used previously. At least four hundred men were employed on this project which was completed at a cost exceeding five hundred thousand dol- lars. The complete motorization of all the company trucks and the retirement of the last horse in the yard followed in 1921. The first motor trucks had been purchased in 1907.
Permanent prosperity seemed to be estab- lished. And yet there was the far-off, menacing rumble of thunder. On December 6, 1920, the Company posted ominous notices. For the fol- lowing two weeks the mills would run on a three-day schedule, and after that there would be a complete closing for two weeks. Upon reopening, it was announced, they would operate on a three-day a week schedule, with a twenty-two-and-a-half-per cent reduction in wages.
February, 1922, brought on even more drastic announcement: twenty per cent re-
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duction in the rate of payment for all hour and piece work, and increased working hours from forty-eight to fifty-four weekly.
The reaction was immediate. The officials of the United Textile Workers of America, of which nearly all the local operatives were mem- bers, authorized a strike vote. Twelve thou- sand and thirty-two signified their decision to reject the cut, and one hundred and eighteen voted to accept.
The great strike was on.
Mass-meetings, picketing, parades, campaign- ing and tag days to obtain funds for food and clothing for the unemployed, suppressed or open excitement-all this was part of the pic- ture. Doubt, uncertainty and apprehension were in the air, with the bitterness of man pitted against his brother. Only the river serenely pursued its unchanging course, flow- ing on past the great masses of brick within which the silenced machinery and the absence of all normal activity were somehow terrible and menacing. The Manchester municipal government appointed a special committee to investigate the situation in the hope of better- ing it. Chief-of-Police Michael J. Healy sum- moned Vice-president Starr of the Textile Workers and Denis M. Fleming to head-
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