^^the deadline in north
CAROLINA FOR REGISTERING
10 VOTE IN THE NOVEMBER
presidential election is
OCTOBER 25th! YOU MAY REG
IS fER ON ANY ONE OF THESE
DATES: OCTOBER 11, OCTOBER
18, OR OCTOBER 25. MAKE
CERTAIN THAT YOU ARE
REGISTERED.
NEWS
GASTONIA
NUMEROUS RECREATIONAL
ACTIVITIES GET UNDERWAY
AT FIRESTONE TEXTILES
THIS MONTH. IF NOT AL
READY AN ACTIVE PARTICI
PANT, THIS IS YOUR INVITA
TION TO BECOME ONE IN THE
IeMPLOYEE RECREATIONAL
[program.
VOLUME I
GASTONIA, N. C., SEPTEMBER 5, 1952
NO. 8
New Air Force Tire
Meets Air Force
High Speed Needs
A i^kvolutionary aviation
^ that can hit a runway at 250
cs an hour was announced re-
W-ntly by K. P''irestone, Vice-
lesulent in Charge of Research
and Development of The Firestone
'ie & Rubber Company, following
^ series of tests at the Wright Aij-
y^lopment Center, Air Research
iiiK )evelopment Command.
Ihis is the first tire of its size
to meet the high-speed phase
^ ^e^iuirements recently estab
lished by the Air Force.
y using 170-mile-an-hour race-
e construction principles that
ave been proved at the Indiana-
0 IS oOO-mile race, Firestone has
ucceeded in solving the once im-
ossi le problem of making a tire
nat will successfully land at twice
e speed now common to military
anes, according to Mr. Firestone.
* *
hi IIRE was developed with
(Ji^ nylon, and gum-
Pped fabric incorporating racing-
PG construction and compounds,
leady one of these tires has sur-
50 simulated landing at 2o0
es an hour in tests conducted by
I'orce engineers,
at 1952 Memorial Day Race
pj, ^anapolis. Firestone tires
5nn^ a new record of going
at an average speed
pproximating 129 miles an hour.
P speed on the straight-away of
track during the record-
rac Qualifying runs for the
hour
rpv
I'ace t‘ Firestone’s
Daifl development program
all World War II when
aircraft tires were
vide l^f ^P^^cifications that pro-
tioi/ I’ace-tire construc-
J)ass(3 the war,
at['fl tires have incorpor-
I'Oer these pi'inciples to
steadily increasing
speeds of new automo-
p‘*'9o Games To Be
®sumed At Girls' Club,
®P^ember 11
®VER POPULAR Bingo
and again this fall
starting Thursday,
pagt i-v As customary in the
at lo-nn^ second shift party will be
at 7.a„ 1^-5 the first shift party
thg ' P* Ki- Children who attend
sit iwust accompany and
ties vii parents. Bingo par-
!. scheduled for the second
iHoi^th Thursdays of each
September 11 and
Wace spring. Meeting
Clvi}j iisual will be the Girls’
THIS revolutionary aviation tire has landed on a laboratory
“runway” at 250 miles an hour in 50 simulated landings conducted
by Air Force engineers at the Wright Air Development Center, Air
Research and Development Command. Developed by The Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company on race tire principles proved in the
Indianapolis 500-mile race, this is the first tire of its size ever to
meet the high-speed phase of requirements recently established by
the Air Force. R. D. Van Arnam, aviation tire engineer, is pictured
above as he prepares a tire for a high-speed landing test in the
Akron test laboratories of Firestone.
Rise In Civilian Demand For Truck
Tires Seen By H. S. Fireslone, Jr.
^ A SUliSTAN'lTAL rise in civil
ian demand for I'eplacement truck
tires is foreseen by Harvey S.
Firestone, Jr., Chairman of The
Firestone Tire & Rubber Company,
in a statement issued recently. Mr.
Firestone’s statement follows:
“The long period of slow re
placement demand for truck tires
is substantially over, and a marked
recovery is anticipated in the next
several months. For more than a
year, the civilian replacement de
mand for truck tires has been sub
stantially below normal and a re
covery of at least 35 per cent from
current levels is anticipated.
“Three developments underlie the
expected recovery in truck tire de
mand. Truck operators’ inventories
of tires have been reduced to nor
mal, dealer inventories are rela
tively low and activity in a num
ber of industries that are large
shippers by truck is again on the
upgrade.
^ *
“Following Korea, truck opera
tors purchased tires far in excess
of normal requirements. This pro
tective buying was stimulated by
the feai- of a tire shortage and the
fear that war conditions would re
duce the amount of natural rubber
in truck tires which would reduce
their recapping possibilities.
“Retail demand for passenger
tires returned to ‘normal’ in the
first quarter but truck tire de
mand lagged because the consumer
overbuying of truck tires was much
more extensive than was the case
with passenger tires. For this
reason, it has taken a longer time
to work off the larger volume of
consumer stocks accumulated in
the post-Korean buying spree.
“Because of the slowdown in con
sumer buying of truck tires, deal
ers have followed a cautious policy
on inventories. Present low dealer
inventories are an element of
strength in the forward picture and
will need to be rebuilt as demand
picks up.
-Continued on Page Two-
Akron Plants Set New Safety Record
In Tire Manufacturing Industry
A new world record in industrial safety—5,300,000 accident-free
hours—has been set for the tire manufacturing industry iby the Akron
plants of The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, J. E. Trainer, Vice-
President in Charge of Production, announced August 29.
In establishing the new world record, the Firestone Akron plants
have surpassed their previous record by 1,500,000 hours set in 1948.
The world record just broken was made last year by the Memphis
tire plant of Firestone when it completed 4,397,000 hours of accident-
free work. The Firestone Des Moines plant held the world record of
3,523,900 hours before Memphis.
This outstanding safety record q
for the Akron plants started more
than two months ago, on June 27.
The safety record of Firestone
employees in all plants throughout
the world is the best in the indus
try and has earned for the Com
pany the Distinguished Service to
Safety Award of the National
Safety Council in six of the last
seven years.
During the record-breaking
safety period in the Firestone
Akron plants, approximately 14,-
000 men and women were employ
ed.
Mr. Trainer, who recently served
as Chairman of the Engineering
Committee of the President’s Coun
cil on Industrial Safety, in an
nouncing the exceptional safety
record set by Firestone, said:
“The fact that no one suffered
any injury during the past two
months makes all of us happy. The
men and women of Firestone,
through their wholehearted coop
eration in our safety program,
have made our plants the safest in
the industry—safer even than our
homes.”
Annual Hobby Show Set
For October 6-10
THE ANNUAL FALL Festival
and Hobby Show will be held this
year from October G - 10, at the
Firestone Dining Room. There will
be eight classifications of hobby
entries, which in turn are to be
subdivided into 24 divisions. W.
G. Henson, plant engineer, will act
as chairman for this event. Em
ployees are reminded to start
getting their entries ready for ex
hibition at the show. Complete de
tails on the Hobby Show will
appear in the September 20, issue
of the Firestone News.
New Club To Be Set Up
For Firestone Couples
THE RECREATION Department
has announced a “Once A Month
Club”—a new club to cater to
Firestone couples, single or mar
ried. The club will meet for the
first time on Friday, September 12,
7:30 p. m. at the Girls’ Club. The
club will decide for itself what
kind of entertainment and refresh
ments it wants for its monthly
meetings.
Starts To School
The first day of school each
year, like the last, is a day to
remember. Second Grader Tom
my Turner, 7, shown above, con
templates the school year ahead
as he approaches Abernethy
School for the opening exer
cises of the fall term. Tommy’s
father is Firestone Carpenter
Thomas Turner.
Finishes School
MISS LOUISE ALDRIDGE,
daughter of Twisting Overseer
Hobart Aldridge, graduated from
Mercy Hospital Nurses Training
School in Charlotte on August
21. Miss Aldridge is a 1949 grad
uate of Gastonia High School.
She plans to pursue her nursing
career in one of the Gastonia
Hospitals. The three-year nurses
training course was completed by
Miss Aldridge with a scholastic
average of “B plus”, placing her
in the top third of her class.
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