USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Manchester on the Merrimack, the story of a city > Part 17
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quarters and laid upon them responsibility for the preservation of law and order. The Gov- ernor and Council in Concord took the strike under advisement. The services of the State Labor Department were sought. On June 5, the sound of looms operating in the Coolidge Mill created the assumption that activities were being resumed. But twelve thousand men and women, strongly organized and thoroughly convinced of the justice of their rebellion, were not to be diverted from their purpose by any appearances of a "return to normalcy". There were prompt reprisals and the immediate dis- order at the mill gates resulted in the arrest of several strikers and an injunction to restrain any further interference with the rights of any individual who wished to work.
For nine months, the strike dragged on, piling up losses and dislocations from which the Amoskeag was never to recover and which contributed directly, though by delayed action, to its eventual downfall. Finally, on Novem- ber 15, 1922, seventy-five per cent of the operatives voted to terminate the strike by accepting the terms of the company. Once again the hum of spindles and the whirr of machinery gladdened the hearts of those who had begun to see the handwriting on the wall.
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The strike was over. The retroactive effects were not immediately apparent and though there was undoubtedly an awareness of the fundamental incompleteness of recovery, it was submerged under a courageous optimism. Progress and expansion characterized the fol- lowing decade up to the fateful December 24, 1935.
It is well to pause and mention briefly some of the more important enterprises brought to completion in these years that immediately preceded action in the bankruptcy court. They contributed to the picture so nearly blotted out in 1936.
The new Queen City Bridge in the southern part of the city was completed and dedicated in 1923. The Manchester Water Works, under the managership of Percy Shaw, superintendent, accomplished an outstanding health-measure by diverting the waters of several brooks, open to pollution, away from Lake Massabesic, source of the community's water supply. Five years later the city's drinking water was further pro- tected by the installation of a chlorination plant. Two new high school buildings were completed in 1922, the Practical Arts and the West Side High School. A Boys' Club camp was established in Bedford, the site being the
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gift of Dr. George Foster. The new Manchester Country Club house, located just beyond the town line in Bedford, was dedicated in October 1923. In 1924 the new and modern Carpenter Hotel, equipped with two hundred rooms, each provided with a bath, was opened. Two years later the old Manchester House, formerly Shepherd's Inn, was sold to Thomas R. Varick and renamed the Rice-Varick Hotel.
In 1927 a zoning ordinance was passed by which definite restrictions were placed upon the type and size of buildings to be permitted in the various districts. The summer of that year saw the opening of the new Public Service Company building at the corner of Elm and Lowell Streets, and at about the same time a city traffic signal system was installed and operated by this company at the instigation of the city government. In August the first steps were taken toward the construction of an aviation field, the city government authorizing a loan of fifteen thousand dollars. In June of 1928 the city authorized a bond issue of thirty- four-thousand-five hundred dollars for the erection of a memorial to the men who lost their lives in World War I. The design sub- mitted by Lucien Gosselin, a local sculptor was
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adopted, and ground was broken on Victory Park in November in preparation for the work. This tribute to the heroes of the recent war seemed to demand a similar token of recogni- tion of the sacrifices made by Manchester lads in the Spanish War. In pursuance of this obli- gation, forty-three hundred dollars was ap- propriated by the city and a statue was erected in Hanover Common (now Bronstein Park) and dedicated on July 4, 1929. The year 1931 brought the organization of the Council of Social Agencies, a merging of various charitable groups, resulting in greater working efficiency. In June of that year the Federal Radio Commis- sion granted to the Hotel Carpenter the right to establish a radio station. This was the begin- ning of W. F. E. A., which was opened in March 1932 .* The Christina Parker Wing-a memorial to Mrs. Walter H. Parker-was added to the Elliot Hospital, in April 1933, to house the maternity department. On May 12 of that year, the new Masonic Temple on Elm Street was dedicated with suitable exercises. Allan M. Wilson, Grand Master, delivered the oration.
* Manchester has now two additional radio stations, WMUR and WKBR.
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Expansion, improvement, progress. New buildings, enlargement and modernization of the old, increased educational facilities, an air- field, airmail service, a radio station, two new bank buildings. Viewed superficially, the pic- ture of Manchester as it proceeded along the third decade of the new century was a happy one. But there were undercurrents. Things were not well with the old Amoskeag, and as we have seen, Amoskeag was the pulse of Man- chester. In 1932, the Company operated at a net loss of one-million-two-hundred-thousand dollars. The year 1933 brought a strike ac- companied by such disorder that Mayor Damase Caron requested military protection for mill property. From then on there were in- termittent closings not all due to local condi- tions. Northern textile concerns were, all of them, conscious of the threat of southern com- petition. The years 1933 and 1934 saw much unemployment and privation in Manchester, and although the situation was duplicated else- where, it must be acknowledged that by late summer and early autum in 1935 the local mills were definitely and undeniably "in a bad way".
As if an industrial crisis were not enough, the spring of 1936 brought a flood that ex- ceeded all records in amount of damage to prop- erty and general dislocation. The river, close
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to the heart of the city, turned upon it and gave rein to one of its most violent moods of demon- iac fury. It was as if it were registering a pro- test at the man-made conditions along its banks. Breaking all bounds and precedents, it de- veloped into a raging torrent, rioting through the empty mill yards, flooding basements, first floors, even second story tiers; burying machin- ery under tons of mud and silt, robbing hun- dreds of their homes, creating havoc with the water supply, the lighting and telephone sys- tems, and producing throughout the commun- ity a major emergency. All industry was at a standstill, all normal activities interrupted.
But the city rose to the crisis. The Red Cross, the American Legion, the Manchester Police Force, the Board of Health, aided by ready vol- unteers, all functioned with commendable effici- ency. Churches and club houses were opened to refugees; food and clothing were provided by relief agencies and by individuals; Station W.F. E.A. did notable service in preventing isolation of one section of the city from another. Over two hundred guardsmen of the National Guard were called into action to protect property in the flooded areas and to prevent possible loot- ing. Five hundred men toiled for forty-eight
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hours at the Amoskeag gate house to hold off the destruction that threatened to engulf the plant, using fifty thousand sand bags to form the emergency dam that held the raging waters. McGregor Bridge went down; the Boston and Maine railroad tracks above the falls were sub- merged under five feet of water; two huge oil tanks, each with a capacity of five million gal- lons, but fortunately empty, were swept from their foundations on the island below the falls, and crashed against the span of Granite Bridge; the North Weare railroad bridge crumpled un- der the impact of huge ice cakes and swept down stream. Private property loss in the community was estimated as one hundred and seventy nine thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight dollars, while the city suffered losses totaling well over a million. Damage to the Amoskeag was esti- mated at two million, five hundred thousand dollars. To mills and municipality alike the flood dealt a staggering blow.
The raging power of a river, unharnessed, is an appalling thing. Frederick W. Branch, a Manchester lawyer who pursues his avocation of writing verse with outstanding success, pro- vides in his poem "Floodtime" a rare word-pic- ture applicable to Manchester in 1936:
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FLOODTIME
They dammed my falls and rapids for shuttle, loom and wheel;
Their bridges leaped across me on arch and truss of steel;
Through penstock, gate and spillway my captive waters ran,
And I flowed, a sullen servant, to the works and wants of Man.
They knew my former greatness, in my terraced banks they read
The height of my ancient waters and the breadth of my olden bed;
But they thought that I'd forgotten those Springs when I used to go
Mad with the melt of the ice-cap and its age-old drifts of snow.
They thought that I'd forgotten, when I could have told them tales
Of ponds on the distant meadows and lakes on the intervales,
And silver salmon schooling on the level, yellow sand Of my quiet, sunlit shallows, where their noisy cities stand.
Under the snug, ice blanket I had spread across my bed,
I drowsed and dreamed while Winter stamped and shouted overhead;
And all along my valley tall, white drifts grew taller still,
Mocking the noonday sunshine from the lee of each windy hill.
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Then I was roused from my dreaming by the beat of the warm Spring rain,
The sound of running water was sweet in my ears again,
And the days that I'd not forgotten came flooding back to me,
When I was a broad, young river, headstrong, untamed and free.
I broke the ice above me, I rose in my narrow bed Till over the sodden lowlands my creeping waters spread.
Then, as I swelled and deepened to the rain and melting snow,
I raised a roaring chantey of the days of long ago.
I called to the waking rivers, to the brooks and the farthest rills
To pour their icy waters down from the frozen hills As they did in those first, wild Springtimes when the Sun had set them free,
And down the track of the glacier I rolled to a fog- bound sea.
They joined in my hymn of floodtime, they echoed my glad commands,
Rushing to meet me, bringing the loot of their busy hands:
Bridges and dams and houses, soil of a thousand farms:
Racing their plundered trophies down to my waiting arms.
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Manchester on the Merrimack
I swallowed the busy highways, I gnawed at the stubborn piers,
I snatched away the bridges that had tricked me through the years,
And the lights went out behind me as my full-flood strength arose
To still the hateful humming of the busy dynamos.
I covered my ancient shallows; I filled my lakes again; I trooped through the streets of cities to shout at the doors of men:
The same, mad, muddy monster I was when the glaciers died,
Rioting down to the Ocean, Lord of the countryside.
Hardly had the torrent subsided before re- cruits were at work under the Works Progress Administration, cleaning up the debris which was especially a menace on the west side of the river. The Manchester Building Department and the Board of Health cooperated in con- demning houses rendered unfit for occupancy and in recommending suitable alterations. In a relatively brief time normal conditions were restored.
To return to the financial crisis confronting the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company: ironi- cally, on the very day before Christmas, 1935, the corporation filed a petition in the United States Court in Boston to reorganize its finan-
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cial structure, under the 77B clause of the bankruptcy act.
The blow had fallen.
In order fully to understand the situation in the corporation and in the city, it is necessary to review briefly the developments since De- cember, 1932. Under the date of December 23 of that year, the holders of the Amoskeag twenty-year six per cent Gold Bonds were cir- cularized through a statement, signed by every member of the board of trustees. This state- ment called attention to certain facts relating to the financial condition of the company and emphasized the difficulty of continuing the payment of bond interest. It also contained the suggestion that it would be to the advantage of the bond-holders to adopt some plan tending to increase the security of their principal and that it would be to the ad- vantage of the company to be relieved of the necessity of diminishing its quick assets further by the payment of fixed interest charges. These two purposes might be accomplished by the conversion of the bonds into preferred shares entitled to non-cumulative dividends at the rate of seven per cent per annum. It was further suggested, as an alternative to the con- version of bonds into an equal amount of pre- ferred shares, that a fair solution of the prob-
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Manchester on the Merrimack
lem would be to give the bondholders the privilege of surrendering their bonds and ac- cepting thirty-five per cent of the face value in cash and fifty per cent in preferred shares of the character outlined above. Each bondholder was requested to indicate his preference con- cerning these suggestions.
Developments between the issuing of this circular in December, 1932, and the date of February 11, 1933, brought the following letter:
Boston, February 11, 1933.
To the bondholders of the
Amoskeag Manufacturing Company:
Very few bond holders have shown any interest in the suggestion made by the circular dated De- cember 23, 1932, that it would be for their interest, as well as that of the company, to surrender their bonds in exchange for preferred shares, or for cash and preferred shares. The trustees have therefore come reluctantly to the conclusion that it would be inadvisable to pursue the matter further. The cir- cular above mentioned is hereby withdrawn.
By order of the trustees ----
The wheels of doom continued to grind on, and as has been indicated, the blow fell on December 24, 1935. On January 20, 1936, the United States District Court issued an order requiring the Amoskeag Company to submit
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its plan for reorganization not later than March of that year. In compliance with this order, a proposed plan was filed by the man- agement of the company for the consideration of the Court. This plan was approved by the Bondholders Protective Committee which had been organized to protect the interests of the bondholders.
Under the major provisions of this plan, the holders of the bonds were offered a choice of (a) one share of preferred stock and fifteen shares of common stock, or (b) fifty dollars in cash and one half of one share of second pre- ferred stock, for each one hundred dollar principal amount of bonds surrendered. The holders of first preferred stock would be en- titled to receive non-cumulative preferential dividends at the rate of five per cent per annum before dividends would be paid on junior stock. The holders of second preferred stock would be entitled to non-cumulative preferential dividends at the rate of four per cent per annum, such dividends to be paid in any year before any dividends were paid on the com- mon stock.
On March 9, 1936, the bondholders also re- ceived a copy of a letter sent to the chairman of the Bondholders' Protective Committee, signed by F. C. Dumaine, Treasurer of the
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Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. In this letter Mr. Dumaine expressed the opinion that if certain conditions desired by the manage- ment and outlined in this communication could be met and the plan of reorganization approved, a reasonable chance of successful operation of the plant would exist and reopen- ing of the mills would be justified. On April 27, 1936, the Court referred the Proposed Plan of Reorganization to Arthur Black as Special Master, "for consideration and report on the fairness and feasibility of the plan and the ob- jections filed thereto."
The first formal hearing was held on June 10, and at this time the management withdrew the plan which had been submitted on March 9, on the ground that it was no longer feasible. Two reasons for this withdrawal were indi- cated: first, the large vote for Option B, which would reduce the working capital by more than two million, three hundred thousand dollars; and second, the unexpected expendi- tures made necessary by the flood of March 19. This action left the whole problem in a state of uncertainty and set the stage for the final curtain in the tragic drama being enacted. On July 9, 1936, the report of Special Master Black was made public. Most of the facts herein quoted are gathered from this report
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The City That Would Not Die
which concluded with the following words: "For more than twelve years losses in the indus- try have far exceeded the gains. In spite of drastic liquidation we still have at least twenty- five per cent more spindles than the market warrants. No man has the temerity to say when an improvement will come or how far it will go. In my judgment reorganization is im- possible. That being so, I believe it is kindest to all concerned to say so at once. I therefore recommend that liquidation be started at once, and that all salaries now being paid, or expenses incurred on the chance of reopening, be stopped at once. There should be no further expense, except for the preservation of the property."
This pronouncement was followed by an order of liquidation from Federal Judge George C. Sweeney, and on August 8 announcement was made by Samuel T. Freeman and Company, Auctioneers, that the Amoskeag plant, includ- ing all real estate and equipment, would be sold at auction at an early date. Attorney Black appointed Frederick C. Dumaine, Joseph P. Carney and William Parker Straw as the three liquidating trustees. Joseph O. Tremblay, Thomas S. Prendergast and Arthur N. Sheldon were appointed to appraise mills, machinery, tenements and all other real estate. The value
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Manchester on the Merrimack
of the Corporation was placed at approxi- mately five million dollars.
The possibilities, indeed the probabilities, in- herent in the situation during that summer of 1936 were appalling. The humiliation of the auction block for the proud old corporation was unthinkable in the minds of those whose lives, like the very life of the city, were identi- fied with it. And what of its destiny there- after? There was every prospect that many of the sturdy old structures would be demolished, the very bricks that formed them scattered, and that those remaining would be reduced to empty shells and left to crumble into decaying wrecks. Then-whither our city? The men of Manchester caught .visions of catastrophe; they foresaw the very spirit of ruin creeping, like a menacing fog, up over the hill from those dismal relics, enveloping the busy activity of Elm Street, shrouding the tall tiers of the new Amoskeag Bank building, the new Merchants' Bank building, spreading its ghostly fingers out in all directions and settling like a deadly pall over the stricken city.
And the men of Manchester would not have it so. They were aware of the glory and the obligation of proud heritage. Stark, Blodget, Straw, Blood, Bean: there were names to con- jure with. They had builded well, watching
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The City That Would Not Die
that no weakness be allowed in the laying of those old foundations. And the vigor of their spirit animated these descendants, challenged with the task of guarding the superstructure and of saving it from complete annihilation.
The events of that autumn in Manchester attracted attention far and wide, as the story of the city that would not die spread out be- yond the boundaries of New England and was recounted all over the country. It was a story of faith and a story of courage. When, in this materialistic age, a group of men, trained in the hard school of modern business and familiar with the uncompromising pattern of modern commerce, unhesitatingly offer their time and their money, their energy and their thought to save a city, there is drama in the per- formance. They were aware of the hazards of the situation, these men who undertook the venture; they faced the risks to their capital and visualized the sacrifices of convenience and leisure the pursuit of their purpose would de- mand. But they did not flinch.
And so, the Amoskeag Industries of Man- chester was launched, buying out the old Amoskeag Manufacturing Company which, by court order, must be sold. Instead of the degradation of the auction block a more orderly procedure by private sale was planned
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Manchester on the Merrimack
by which the entire plant, machinery, equip- ment, tenement houses-all the physical assets in the company were purchased by this group of loyal citizens. Even after the auctioneers were on the premises, affixing price tags to fur- nishings and equipment, these men marshalled their forces and advanced their plan with in- credible swiftness. The property had been ap- praised at five million dollars. The Public Ser- vice Company of New Hampshire bought the hydro-electric plant at Amoskeag Falls for two million two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars. Five hundred thousand dollars, paid im- mediately to bind the bargain and forestall the auctioneer, was raised "right on Elm Street". The five Manchester savings banks loaned three million dollars, and it was assured that the outlying property scattered here and there within city limits could be disposed of advan- tageously enough to take care of the greater part of the remainder.
October 13, 1936, was the date of the in- corporation of the Amoskeag Industries, and the following officers took over the task of guiding its destinies: Arthur E. Moreau, Presi- dent; Frank P. Carpenter, Vice-President; Harry L. Davis, Treasurer; John R. McLane, Clerk. The directors were Harry L. Additon, Norwin S. Bean, Frank P. Carpenter, Marston
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The City That Would Not Die
Heard, Harry C. Jones, Arthur E. Moreau, and Willard D. Rand.
The significance of that story of vigorous re- sourcefulness and faith is a living thing today, not only on the banks of the Merrimack by Amoskeag Falls, but throughout the country. Here is democracy in action. Here is the record of a plant including seventy-five factory build- ings lining the river for a distance of well over two miles and employing some sixteen thou- sand operatives, being faced with catastrophe and being saved, not by marches on Washing- ton begging favors, not by appointing com- mittees to study the situation, not by burden- ing a municipal government with a long-term debt; but by honest, straight-forward, unselfish action.
And so from far and wide reputable concerns were encouraged to bring their projects to Manchester, to build their hopes and stake their belief in Manchester. And Amoskeag Diversified Industries became a reality. Today there are one hundred and twenty business en- terprises occupying space in the old mill build- ings and providing employment for twelve- thousand-five-hundred individuals, many of whom otherwise would have joined the ranks of the uprooted, those whose livelihood through no fault of their own has become a
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Manchester on the Merrimack
precarious and uncertain thing. The adjective "diversified" applies not only to the different forms of industry busily turning out needed products, but also to the activities of the group of men who direct Amoskeag Industries in this year of 1948. Following is a list of officers and directors:
Arthur E. Moreau, President
Arthur O. Roberts, Vice-President
William Parker Straw, Agent
Willard D. Rand, Treasurer
Fred M. Caswell, Assistant-Treasurer
John R. McLane, Clerk
Directors
Harry L. Additon*
Arthur E. Moreau
Norwin S. Bean
Albert J. Precourt
Aretas B. Carpenter
Willard D. Rand
Joseph W. Epply
James D. Smart
Arthur L. Franks
Avery R. Schiller
Marston Heard
Harry M. Bickford
Edmund F. Jewell
Joseph H. Geisel
Harry C. Jones
* Deceased.
Thus capital from diversified sources has made possible the importation of skills and purposes and capabilities equally diversified,
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and the hum of resumed activity up and down the river after the dark years that threatened desolation is a goodly thing. In a world dis- organized by upheavals and dislocations of overwhelming proportions, Amoskeag still carries on, and Manchester-On-the-Merrimack is a vigorous and living city.
Manchester on the Merrimack
Today
On May 29, 1940, the Manchester Electric Street Railway functioned for the last time, when one lone car made the farewell run from the car barn on Depot Street to the northern terminus on Elm Street, carrying some officials of the company and invited guests. Already, on May 26, the present system of bus trans- portation operated by the Public Service Com- pany of New Hampshire, had been initiated, beginning with a fleet of eighteen busses as equipment. 1940, 1895, 1877: significant dates marking retrospectively the milestones of progress in street transportation, the bus, the trolley car, the horse car. Back of the horse car was the democrat wagon and the pung sleigh, in the days when only the venturesome journeyed to Boston or Portsmouth by stage coach.
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