Since starting in business 24 years ago, the Carrier Corp. and its corporate predecessors have set up air-conditioning outfits in establishments ranging from hamburger stands to textile mills, from racehorse stables in Ceylon to a copper mine in Arizona, from a gorilla's cage in Ringling Bros, circus to Texas hotels and Manhattan department stores.
Last week it started another job that may lead 62-year-old Board Chairman Willis Haviland Carrier and his company, largest in the business, into an entirely new field. Already air conditioning is an important factor in the textile industry, which...