The
MILL
lM««d Every Two Weeks By
*ad For the Employees
WHISTLE
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY, INC,
Manufacturing Division, Spray, North Carolina
Volume Three
Monday, February 12, 1945
Sixty Years of
Continuous Service
On Tuesday, January 30, the en
tire personnel of the Marshall Field &
Company office force gathered at the
Main Office for a 15 minute ceremony
such as none had ever before attended
and in all probability none will ever
attend again. For it is only once in a
life time that a group are privileged to
attend a ceremony marking the sixtieth
anniversary of a fellow employee’s con
nection with the company.
On this occasion the honoree was
Ernest D Pitcher, who on that date
completed 60 years of continuous service
with the company. During those sixty
years Mr. Pitcher has held many re
sponsible positions in a manner that has
brought him the admiration and high
respect of everyone. Nearly all of our
top executives have at one time in
their career been closely associated with
Mr. Pitcher, and all unhesitantly give
him much of the credit for their suc
cess.
The ceremony wa^ in charge of J. F.
Wilson, one of Mr. Pitcher's “boys” of
several years ago. Short talks were
made by Vice-president and General
Manager Luther Hodges, another of Mr.
Pitcher’s “boys”; Comptroller Earl
Brown, S. L. Golden and Mrs. Kirk
patrick, all who have been closely asso
ciated with Mr. Pitcher for many years.
Mr. Pitcher, in a few well chosen
words, thanked the gathering and ex
pressed appreciation for a gift of 60
American Beauty roses.
Tuesday evening in the Railroad
Room of Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, Va.,
Mr. Pitcher was honored at a dinner
attended by executives of the manu-
fauturing and retail divisions. Mr.
Hodges was toastmaster, and brief re
marks lauding the honoree’s ideals and
personal chararter were made by
Messrs. J. F. Wilson, H. W. Whitcomb
and Dr. John B. Ray, of Spray, and by
Austin T. Graves of the retail division.
Mr. Hodges presented the company’s
60-year diamond pin and Mr. Whitcomb
presented a handsome leather binder
filled with congratulatory messages
from friends and associates. In his res
ponse, Mr. Pitcher described the high
lights of his experience since joining the
company in 1885.
V . . . —
Invest in more U. S. War Bonds.
Number Sixteen
General Manager of
Retail Store Visits Mills
W. S. street. Vice
President o f Mar
shall Field & Com
pany and General
Manager of the
Chicago retail and
suburban stores was
a visitor in the mills
last week. Mr. Street
Addressed the joint
meeting of the
Carolina Councils
on Thursday evening, January 25th,
and his talk was both enjoyable and
instructive.
Mr. Street, prior to assuming his
present duties on February 8, 1943,
was president and general manager of
Frederick & Nelson, the company’s store
in Seattle, Washington, a position he
assumed in January, 1943, after a bril
liant career as general merchandise
manager and assistant general man
ager for about five years.
While Marshall Field & Company is
Mr. Street’s first love, hunting and fish
ing run a mighty close second. The
entire Street family, consisting of Mr.
and Mrs. Street and three children, are
enthusiastic sportsmen and sports
women.
We are looking forward to another
visit from Mr. Street in the near fu
ture.
V . . . —
Pvt. Phillip Pender
Prisoner of War
In a recent issue we reported that
Pvt. Phillip M. Pender, son of Mr. and
Mrs. C. M. Pender, was missing in
action in Germany on December 17
1944.
On February 2nd the Government
notified Pvt. Pender’s parents that their
son was a prisoner of war.
Mr. Pender, Master Mechanic at the
Woolen Mill, has received calls and
messages fi-om various parts of the
country informing him that they had
picked up, on their short wave radio,
the news that his son was a prisoner.
We are all rejoicing with Mr. and
Mrs. Pender in the good news and look
forward confidently to the day when
Phillip, along with many other Ameri
can prisoners, will be liberated.
Incorporation of
Draper Discussed
A committee of citizens interested in
the incorporation of the Town of Drap
er has contacted the management of
Marshall Field & Company with re
gard to the attitude of the Company.
The committee of citizens met with
Messrs. Luther H. Hodges, Vice-presi
dent of Marshall Field & Company, and
General Manager of the Manufactur
ing Division; Harold W. Whitcomb, As
sistant General Manager; J. Frank Wil
son, Production Manager; and B. C.
Trotter, Counsel.
The Management of the Company
stated that although it had favored a
combination Sanitary District and Civic
Association as the most conservative
and most economical procedure for the
Town of Draper, yet it would not have
any objection to the incorporation of
Draper, provided the citizens were given
a chance to vote as to whether or not
the Town should be incorporated. '
V . . . —
Pfc. W. C. Phillips Gets
Good Conduct Medal
Headquarters, Panama Canal De
partment—In recognition of more than
one year of active military service
marked by “exemplary behavior, ef
ficiency and fidelity,” the good conduct
medal has been awarded to Pfc. Wil
liam C. Phillips, of Fieldale, Va., it
was announced today by the Panama
Coast Artillery Command.
Pfc. Phillips was cited for “fidelity
through faithful and exact performance
of duty, efficiency through capacity to
produce desired results, and behavior
such as to deserve emulation.”
He is a supply clerk on duty with a
mine battery in Col. William H. Sweets
harbor defense organization. He has
served with the Coast Artillery forces
in Panama since August, 1943.
His mother, Mrs. Adda M. Phillips,
and his sisters, Carrie and Jane Phillips,
live in Fieldale. Another sister,Maude
Phillips, resides in Danville. He has
two brothers in the service: S/Sgt. Ro
bert Phillips is with the Infantry in
France, and Pvt. Ben Phillips is with
the Infantry at Fort Meade, Md.
In civil life, the Fieldale coast ar
tilleryman was a textile worker em
ployed by Marshall Field and Co.,
Fieldale,