Volume 2
HIGH POINT WEAVING CO. and HILLCREST THROWING CO., High Point, N. C.. June, 1945
Number 6
Awards To Be Made
Soon Recognizing
Length of Service
Sometime in the near future, in a
setting appropriate for the occasion,
service pins will be awarded to those
employees who have completed 5, 10,
and 15 years continuous service with
Burlington Mills. Committees from
both plants are working on arrange
ments for making these awards. These
plans, when completed, will be an
nounced on the bulletin boards in
each plant. At High Point Wea\ing, 5
employees will receive pins in recogni
tion of 15 years unbroken service with
the Company, 48 employees will re
ceive a 10 year pin and 192 will re
ceive a 5 year award. Hillcrest will pre
sent 10 year pins to 2 employees, 5
year pins to 56 employees. Based on
present employment totals, 42% of
High Point Weaving employees and
26% of Hillcrest Throwing employees
will receive scrvice pin awards.
In order to qualify for a service pin
award, an employee must have been
continuously employed in one of the
Burlington Mill’s unt'ts for at least a
period of 5 continuou’!^';ars. The clos
ing date for this year’s awards was June
1st. 'Ihere are many employees receiv
ing 5 year pins who*^^. soon qualify
for a 10 year pin ancM^l receive these
at a later date following their qualifi
cation.
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If You Don’t Believe
If you don’t believe things have
changed greatly for the better, take a
look at this list of company rules. It
was posted for the advice and informa
tion of workers in the Chicago store
of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co., some 80
years ago:
“Store must be open from six in the
morning until nine at night the year
round.
“Store must be swept; counters,
base shelves and showcases dusted;
lamps trimmed, filled and chimneys
cleaned; pens made; windows and
doors opened; a pail of water and
bucket of coal brought in before
breakfast (if there is time to do so) and
attend to the customers who call.
“The employee who is in the habit
of smoking Spanish cigars, getting
shaved at the barber shop, going to
dances and other places of amuse
ment, will surely give his employer rea
son to be suspicious of his integrity
and honesty.
“Each employee must pay not less
than $5.00 a year to the church and
must attend Sunday school regularly.'
“Men employees are given one eve
ning a week for courting and two if
they attend prayer meeting.
“After fourteen hours of work in
the store the leisure hours should be
spent mostly in reading. '
After that sort of a day's work, the
last remark scarcely seems necessary.
Who would have energy for anything
else?
—The Speardiiead.
Who is This Man Called Uncle Sam?
From radio and headline they’re
shouting that Uncle Sam needs men—
sons, husbands, fathers. We’re told
Uncle Sam needs all the money he
can get and borrow. lie wants us- to
buy his Bonds with our savings and
with a part of our pay check each week.
Uncle Sam has stopped us from build
ing homes, buying cars and many
necessities of life, lie is telling us how
much gas we can burn, how much food
we can eat—how much, how little, how
often—period.
Who is this guy, anyhow? Who IS
Uncle Sam? Have you ever asked
yourself this question?
Funny thing, but Uncle Sam is not
the President, or the Congress, or the
Supreme Court, or the Army or Navy,
or e\en the fellow who collects the tax.
Who then is the lanky MASTER with
the funny goatee and striped pants?
Well, to our ancestors Uncle Sam
was the fellow who thumbed his nose
at the Red Coats and chased them
hell-bent-for-election back across the
sea. He was Paul Revere, Israel Put
nam, George Washington. Through
thousands like them he gave meaning
to the word “freedom” and with blood
and sweat car\’cd out a pattern of
democracy for us to follow.
Uncle Sam is many things! He is
the homely, humble, lanky, unhappy
lad from Hodgenville, born and
raised in a log cabin in the woods, but
rising to innnortality at Gettysburg and
dying a martyred president of the
United States.
Uncle Sam is the scientist and the
dreamer who made the Kittky Hawk
fly, and the Claremont sail by steam.
1 ie is the fellow who laid the rails over
Western waste in spite of sa\ages,
feuds, hell or high water.
He is Irish, English, French, Ger
man, Russian, Greek, Italian, Polish,
Chinese—or what have you. He is
Catholic, Protestant, Jew. lie is a con
glomeration of divinity, culture, pride,
brains, wealth and guts. He is a
mixture of the fighting Irish, the de
termined Dutch, the ingenious French,
the proud English, the scientific Ger
mans, the reliable Swedes. He has the
Gallic urge to dream and to create. He
has the sweet melody of song of the
Celtic heart. Out of all this batter,
energy and gusto he has mixed and
created a symbol, a wayward strength,
a mighty empire, noble, proud, brave,
tough and free, with a great heart and
compassion for the whole civilized
world.
Continued on page 6 colimui 4
Plants Announce
Wage Increase
A general wage increase of 5e per
hour on all hourly and piece rated jobs
went into effect at High Point Weav
ing and Hillcrest Throwing Plants,
Monday, June 4, according to an
nouncement posted on all bulletin
boards by A. B. Bell, L. C. Easter and
R. L. Phillips superintendents at that
time. A 5c per hour premium for work
during the third shift was also granted.
Application for these increases was
made by Burlington Mills several
weeks ago and since then has been
followed closely by management to
get favorable action by the War Labor
Board. In commenting upon the ap
proval of these increases by the Board,
Mr. W. I. Spencer, Plants Manager,
said, “It has always been our policy
to pay rates equal to or better than
the textile industry as a whole, and so
it is with distinct satisfaction that Bur
lington Mills’ management is able to
put these higher rates into effect.” As
stated previously, these increases mean
that wage rates have been raised be
tween 56% and 60% overall in the
Company since 1940. 'I’his includes
seven separate general wage increases
and means that take-home pay for the
current 48-lu)ur week will be more than
double the earnings of the standard
40-hour in 1940.
Overseers’ Team
Wallops Lexington
On Thursday, May 31st, the Over
seers’ Club of High Point Weaving
traveled to Lexington Silk Mill where
they engaged the Key Club of that
plant in a softball game, 'i’he game
was played on Siicnccr I'icld, home of
the “Silk Mill Sluggers.” Despite the
fact that our team was considerably
handicapped by the fact that the
home club had their own grovnid
rules, that they had our manager ar
rested, shot an umpire, used an over
sized bat, sample of which we have in
our pos.session at the present time and
will publish in the next issue, is evi
dence of the fact that we were i>lay-
ing under disadvantage. Nevertheless,
we did manage to win. The reason of
course, that we won was the fact that
the quality and quantity of our play
ing personnel was of a nuich higher
caliber, than Lexington was able to
muster plus the fact that the um
pires were able to get matters under
control and to suppress all unfair
practices. It should be stated that the
umpires were Mr. W. I. Spencer and
Buck Danieley, the latter from the
Main Office in Greensboro. The
score of the game was 7-2 in favor of
High Point. 'I'he superb pitching of
R. J. Beane was an outstanding fac
tor of the game, while Gilbert Lewis,
of the same team, connected for the
circuit. Brooks Huff was all over the
outfield snagging Texas leaguers at
will.
Following the pmc, the Lexington
fellows made up for their misdeeds by
serving a very luscious dinner of coun
try ham at their club house.