Business: Amoskeag

The biggest U. S. bankers are essentially promoters. The biggest U. S. tycoons are likewise better known for feats of enterprise than for managerial shrewdness. Last week, however, Frederic Christopher Dumaine, 63-year-old treasurer of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co., received great acclaim for an accomplishment that involved neither a bright idea nor super-salesmanship.

Amoskeag, located in Manchester, N. H., is the world’s largest maker of cotton cloth, operating 20,000 looms. When the present period of irregularity descended on the textile industry, Amoskeag reflected it with declined earnings climaxing in a deficit and no dividend in 1928. During this time Textiler Dumaine sifted and shifted the Amoskeag personnel, insisted upon basing production on unfilled orders. Last week, while most textile companies gloomily faced an even sharper depression, Amoskeag startled everyone by declaring a dividend of $1 per share and a 5% of salary bonus to its 10,000 employes.