Business: Fall River Helpers

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Homer Loring, who is developing a reputation as a "minute man" for New England industry, last week revealed that before he resigned the chairmanship of the Boston & Maine R. R. a month ago (TIME, March 26), he was developing plans to help the whole community of Fall River, as he had helped that railroad.

A few days after the Fall River fire (TIME, Feb. 13), he and Louis Kroh Liggett, president of the United Drug Co. and director of a dozen other important New England industries, decided that, as long as they intended to "rejuvenate" some New England community, they should begin with stricken Fall River. Mr. Loring put investigators to work, who soon found that Fall River cotton mill owners were in the mood for merging and refinancing. Such action required banking facilities, which Fall River lacked.

Thereupon Mr. Loring proposed to increase the capitalization of the B. M. C. Durfee Trust Co. of Fall River and have it absorb two other local banks, the Massasoit-Pocasset National and the Metacomet National. Last week directors of the three institutions agreed to accept Mr. Loring's plans, which of course are also Mr. Liggett's.