*
VflijLfl 2
first Erwin Mill in
Wfst Durham ,
By Zoe Young
The Erwin Cotton Mills Com
pany was founded by charter dated
April 20, 1892. The incorporators
of tiie organization were: Messrs.
Washington Duke, B. N. Duke,
George W. Watts, W. W. Fuller,
and W. A. Erwin. Mr. B. N. Duke
was made President, Mr. Geo. W.
Watts Vice-President, and Mr. W.
A. Erwin Secretary and Treasurer.
These officers remained unchanged
until the death of Mr. Watts in
1922 when Mr. John Sprunt Hill
was made Vice-President. Mr. B.
N. Duke resigned as President in
1927, and Mr. W. A. Erwin was
named to succeed him.
The first mill was built in West
Durham in 1893 with 5,000 spindles
and looms to weave the yarn pro
duction. The mill was doubled in
size in 1896. At first muslin and
sheetings were manufactured, and
a good paxt of the product was used
for tafaaawo bags. In 1898 this
prodaat was changed to denims,
whidk were made here for the first
time in tie South. This first unit
as oonpUted in 1896 is now known
as Ho. 1 Mill of the Company. It
has a total of 596 looms and 27,468
spatdUa, ahd manufactures sheet
ings.
1* 190$ No. 2 Mill was started at
Ervia, Jr. C., then known as Duke.
T|p rations for selecting Duke as
a site for the mill were —the prox
imitf of the Cape Fear River,
wfcidbf it was thought might be de
veloped as a water power; the
pMngmity of the cotton fields; and
tha probable supply of adequate
lafeftrfor operation. This mill con
sMM of 1,024 looms and about
: | (Continued on Page 4)
Durham and Erwin Plants
Added to Chatter Circulation
mih this issue THE EBWIN
CgjjHCß expands its coverage to
aHthree areas of the Erwin Cotton
Mite Coaipany. The paper was
twgtt last July at Cooleemee and
tpofaeea enthusiastically carried on
eftpr naa. W. G. Marks, now
Safety Engineer at the Central Of
fic&fwaa ftfce first editor of THK
Since he moved to Dur-
J. W. Wall, Personnel Man
ifest at Cooleemee, has acted as
the paper.
With the months the paper has
gRMp ia size, showing increased
ifisnat to the point that the Com
pfktty felt such a paper should serve
With this aim in mind,
ff wop-in-chief to supervise and
Jijgrdiiiate workings of three staffs
has >ee» secured.
t * Calvert a graduate stu
d*\M Wke Uai»**ity has as
sum edt-tta fata M Wito r-in-chief
of the inhliftlfiii .
« -- - - - - 9
It igJwfud erefyoae will fed that
the internal and lumtfajm ss of this
paper will igpand OB his or her
personal inttait » ft, Therefore,
everyone sboual eaafcribute as many
news items, piilmiis, etc., as pos
sible. In tura known that all
fellow workeif *Ol receive pleasure
from reading' alea. their friends
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j* r s . S F i4?*ms
Erwin G. /. Gets Rose from Janet Blair
Marine Hawley Awarded
Purple Heart with Star
Pfc. Alenzo Hawley, of the Ma
rines, gets an American Beauty
Rose from the bouquet carried by
lovely movie actress, Janet Blair, as
she tours the wards of the .U S.
Naval Hospital in the Charleston
Navy Yard for the Sixth War Loan
Drive. Private First Class Haw
ley of Dunn, N. C., Route 3, wears
the Purple Heart Medal for wounds
received in action in the Marshalls
and is now eligible for a star on
that decoration for wounds received
in the fighting on Saipan.
Pfc. Hawley, who has been home
recuperating from wounds received
in action, has returned to Asheville
to await further orders. He is the
son of Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Hawley.
and neighbors. The servicemen
look forward to receiving all news
from home.
Management intends that this
publication will be non-partisan,
non-sectarian, and has no function
other than providing employees
with items of interest that will keep
them informed about their mill and
community.
The Cooleemee staff has been do
ing a great job. Every employee
thanks them for the idea they have
so enthusiastically executed.
WANTED—a cartoonist. Add
your talent to the staffs.
EASTER GREETINGS
MARCH, 1945
To the Boys in Service
It is swell to hear from you.
Keep those letters and cards
coming and we will do our best
to answer each of them. The
paper hopes to include more of
your news and local news that
will interest you. Address your
note to the paper to EBWIN
CHATTER, BOX 577, West Dur
ham Station, Durham, N. C.
Lotsa Luck from All the Erwin
Family and Hurfy Home.
Victory Gardens
Yield Savings
Plant Now and Pluck
Dollars Later
Ration points have again been
placed on many canned vegetables
and fruits . . . 300,000 farm labor
ers have been inducted into the
Armed Forces . . . farm machinery
is wearing out . . . transportation
is even more over-burdened this
year . . . the situation on the entire
food front has tightened up. But
it can be greatly alleviated if more
Americans will produce their own
vegetables in large quantities this
summer by cultivating Victory Gar
dens.
Here are a few hints designed to
make your gardening tasks lighter
and your yield greater. First, plan
your garden carefully on paper be
fore you start any "ground" work.
Take into consideration the fact
that the garden area should have
at least six hours of sun daily; that
the ground should not be too sandy
(Continued on Page 4)
Springtime Calls for Clean-Up
and Paint-Up and Safely
FIRE DEPARTMENTS CALL
FOR SPRING CLEAN-UP
Citizens Can Help Prevent Fire
Losses by Following Few
- Simple Rules
Figures just released indicate
that during 1944 fire losses in the
United States have amounted to ap
proximately $424,000,000.00. It is
the duty of every citizen of our
community to do his or her best to
prevent any unnecessary fire losses.
It is up to every individual to
not only look for fire liaaards, but
to act promptly when a fire occurs,
and to remember that the origin of
most of our fires can be traced to
a thoughtless act or improper pre
cautions on the part of some in
dividual.
A spring clean-up drive in the
home will be aiding the war effort
because through co-operating in
such a drive we will be eliminating
many of the causes of fires and
saving vital materials which can
not be replaced until the war's end.
Common sense rules which every
one may follow in avoiding fires
are as follows:
1. "Act promptly to get rid of
(Continued on Page 4)
SPRING HEALTH CLEAN-UP
IN ALL COMMUNITIES
IS URGED
With spring only a whisper away,
sanitation programs are expected to
accelerate in such a manner as to
affeet just about every household.
Victory gardeners, those patri
otic people who are contributing
importantly to the war effort, and
at the same time are earning them
selves assets of health and an in
teresting contest with the soil, are
perhaps the first group health regu
lations confront.
Stable manure, deemed a prime
requisite for some cultivators of the
soil, must be spread upon the land
promptly, and not left in a heap in
some corner of the lot.
"If manure is left to stand, with
in a short while it will smell to high
heaven and will cause a rapid
breeding of flies," J. H. Epperson,
Superintendent of Durham's Health
Department, warns.
"Most folks having a garden stay
pretty well in line with rules of san
itation, but those persons who per
sist in visiting the eity disposal
plant and getting themselves a lot of
sludge to place upon their gardens,
(Continued on Page 4)
mi T#mr mSbK iMtst *
- JMML
Ihiwlur I
SAFETY CONTESTS NOW
UNDERWAY
Interest in These Contests Now
Running Sigh by All Employees
in the Erwin MMs
The Inter-Plant Safety Contest
which began January 1, 1945, is
now in its uiird month with con
siderable improvement being shown
over the first month when part of
the mills got off to a slow start.
Everyone expresses the view
by the end of the contest period in
June our mills should be making
some outstanding safety records
which in the final analysis mMna
much more than records because it
represents employees who have
saved themselves painful injuries as
well as loss of income through
these accidents.
In the units located at Durham
and Erwin individual departments
who are competing for a prise are
really showing some fine competi
tive spirit with accident prevention
being one of the principal topics of
conversation. Proof of thi« is seen
when we find the individual depart
ments arguing good naturedly as to
whether a certain accident is to be
charged to them or to some other
department. Under the terms of
this contest every employee in the
winning department of each mill
will receive a prise, but now that
the contest is well started employees
report that their goal is more to bet
ter the reeords of other departments
than to actually reeeive a prize
which means that we have developed
the real spirit of co-operation with
our fellojv employee^.
Proof that accident prevention is
something that is good for all of
us is clearly seen by observing those
employees who now realise the
value of such activity and who are
gaining real personal satisfaction
by doing their fellow worker a good
turn, helping him or her to prevent
an accident.
Let us all remember that these
efforts we are now putting forth
mean not only the prevention of in
juries to ourselves, but the prompt
delivery of supplies to our fighting
forces which in turn may be the
means of preventing suffering to
those who are in the front line pro
tecting our jobs and our homes.
—W. G. Marks
INTER-PLANT SAFETY
Steadings for the First Two
Months of 1945 Against the First.
Two Moaths of 1944
Improvement
/Mill No. Over Last Year
Cloth 800m —Numbers
2 sad 5 Perfect Beeord
Mill No. 6 Perfect Beeord
Mill. No. 2 85% Better
Mill No. 4 ...70% Better
Mill No. 4
Bleachery-Sewing.,. 18% Worse
Mill 57% Worse
Mill No. 5... 206% Worse
Mill No. 8 Finishing. .815% Worse
Mill No. 8 845% Worse
Total JSil Mills .'.8% Better