PAGE FOUR
NEWS !
MAY 10, 1953
Quality Controls.
Fiber Strength Test Applied To Cotton By Lots
One of the ways high quality is
maintained for cotton yarns and
fabrics leaving this plant is by
testing the fibers of cotton from
which these products are made for
tensile strength. Operating on the
theory that the earlier potential
trouble is spotted the better, this
test is used to determine fiber
strength of the cotton in a bale
before it starts into production.
When samples, representative of
100-bale lots, are tested for fiber
strength and fail to measure up
to the standards set for the lot in
question, those lots are rejected.
Since no two bales of cotton are
exactly identical in all characteris
tics they are always mixed by lots
in the Opening Room in order that
the cotton leaving that room will
strike an average of the variations
within the particular lot. It is
thus the average fiber strength of
a lot of cotton that counts as far
as the fiber strength test is con
cerned.
The fiber strength test is con
ducted with the aid of the Pressley
Machine, an instrument that to a
high degree of accuracy can
measure the tensile strength of
staple fibers. Into this machine
are placed “ribbons”, very small
and finely combed samples of cot
ton, which are broken by the
increasing force of a weight mov
ing down an inclined plane. The
pressure exerted by the measured
amount of force needed to break
the fibers is recorded and then the
sample is placed on a precision
balance and weighed in milli
grams.
The answer the operator gets
from the Pressley Machine is
known as the Pressley Fiber Index.
This index number is as much as
the Quality Control Department
needs to know about fiber strength.
From it they can decide at once
whether a lot of cotton is to be
accepted for production or reject
ed.
PRESSLEY TEST—Shown here is
the best machine ever devised for test
ing fiber tensile strength of cotton.
Called the Pressley Machine, this device
provides information which is the basis
of the acceptance or rejection of cotton
for use at Firestone Textiles.
THE first step in making a Pressley Test is illustrated above:
Getting the cotton sample prepared by combing out the short fibers.
The second step consists of placing the tiny sample of cotton in the
Pressley Clamp where the fibers are made to support a steadily in
creasing weight until they break. The force needed to break the fiber
is noted, then the fibers are weighed on a precision balance. The
object of these procedures is to arrive at a “Pressley Fiber Index”
figure. From this figure the tensile strength is pounds per unit area
cross-section of the fiber can be determined.
After getting the “green light”
as it were at this stage the cotton
is opened, forwarded to the pickers,
the cards, and to drawing where a
second and identical Pressley
Test is conducted to determine any
abnormal variations from the re
sults obtained for the lot in ques
tion when it was first tested. If
it passes at this point, as it usual
ly does, the Pi'essley Test is final
ly passed.
And why all these precautions
regarding the fiber strength of
cotton before and during the pro
duction of yarn? The only assured
way to produce a yarn of high
breaking strength, which is a ne
cessity in high quality yarns of the
type Firestone is producing, is to
be sure that the cotton fibers that
go into the yarns are uniformly
high, as far as lots are concerned,
in fiber breaking strength. The
Pressley Test is one of the Quality
Control tests that helps guarantee
quality production.
VOICE OF FIRESTONE
May 11—Roberta Peters
Shall We Dance from
“The King and I”
Passepied
To a Wild Rose
Harp Solo, Lucile Lawrence
Hymn to the Sun
from “Le Coq d’Or”
I passed by Your Window
Poet and Peasant Overture
Romany Life
from “The Fortune Teller”
May 18—Brian Sullivan
In a Hurry, from “Katinka”
At Dawning
La Bamba de Vera Cruz
Flower Song, from “Carmen”
Passing By
Overture to Gypsy Baron
Magic is the Moonlight
May 25—Eleanor Steber
Paree
So in Love, from
“Kiss Me Kate”
Recessional
Elsa’s Dream from “Lohengrin’
Stardust
Jig and Finale from
“Henry VIII Suite”
Night and Day
Rodgers
Delibes
MacDowell
Orchestra & Ch.
Peters
Orchestra
Rimsky-Korsakov Peters
Brahe
Von Suppe
Herbert
Friml
Cadman
Tucci
Bizet
Purcell
Strauss
Grover
Padilla
Porter
DeKoven
Wagner
Carmichael
St. Saens
Porter
Peters
Orchestra
Peters & Chorus
Orchestra & Ch.
Sullivan
Orchestra
Sullivan
Sullivan & Ch.
Orchestra
Sullivan & Ch.
Orchestra & Ch.
Steber
Orchestra & Ch.
Steber
Steber
Orchestra
Steber & Ch.
Fishing Club Officers
Elected For All Shifts
Payton Lewis, Carding Depart
ment, has been elected President
of the First and Third Shifts Fish
ing Club. He will be assisted by
Woodrow Wooten, Vice-President,
and Ralph Johnson, Secretary and
Treasurer.
A. O. Ammons, second shift su
perintendent, will serve as Presi
dent of the Second Shift Fishing
Club. Serving with him are Mason
Strickland, Vice-President, and
Ralph Johnson, Secretary and
Treasurer.
Employee-ln-Service
Gets Chief Clerk Job
S/Sgt. Jerry W. Turner, suii of
Second Hand and Mrs. W. R. Turn
er, has recently been assigned to
Headquarters Airways Service
at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
He is performing duties there as
chief clerk in the communications
system division of the directorate
of engineering.
Until entering the Air Force in
1951, Sgt. Turner was an employee
at Firestone Textiles. Prior to go
ing to Maryland, he had been sta
tioned in Texas, Missouri, and
overseas in Kwajalein.
Sgt. Turner is married to the
former Gretchel Rector, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Gus Rector, 1645
West Fifth Avenue, Gastonia. He
and Mrs. Turner are presently re
siding at 7600 District Heights
Parkway, District Heights, Md.
Red Cross Given $720.50
The Employees Community
Fund has made a donation of
$720.50 to the American Red Cross.
This contribution, made in behalf
of Firestone Textiles employees,
represents that charity’s share of
the total community fund subscrib
ed to by employees in the first
annual Community Fund Drive
held in February.
Cuff Notes
The Recreation Department an
nounces that outdoor movies will
be shown again this summer, start
ing early in June. These movies
have proven to be quite popular
with all ages in the past. The Rec
reation Department has already
scheduled a summer movie pro
gram which, according to Recrea
tion Director Ralph Johnson, will
be entertaining to the entire
family.
Hospital Open House
Gaston Memorial Hospital will
observe National Hospital Week,
which begins May 10, by having
Open House on Tuesday, May 12,
from 2 to 4 p. m. This is the first
year for a nation-wide recognition
of hospitals, according to informa
tion received from Administrator
Fred Hubbard of the Memorial
Hospital.
Mr. Hubbard has extended to
Firestone Textiles employees a
cordial invitation to come by the
hospital on May 12 for a personal
“look-see” at its equipment and
buildings.
Returns to Work
Miss Mary Turner, spinner, has
returned to work following an ill
ness and an accident. She had re
covered from pneumonia only to
become involved in an automobile
accident on April 18. However,
she has now overcome the effects
of both and is back on her job in
the Spinning Department. She
also serves as a reporter for the
plant newspaper.
Camp Firestone’s
’53 Season Begins
(Continued From Page 1)
As always, the major activity at
the camp will be fishing. The
lake’s population of crappies and
bass are reckoned to be as good as
last year, which for expert fisher
men, at the camp, was considered
a good year. All sorts of fishing
supplies are available for rental
or purchase at Lake James. These
include motors for boats, fishing
bait, fishing takle, and artificial
flys and lures of every description.
Row boats which are adaptable
for use wih outboard motors are
available free to Firestone em
ployees.
In addition there are other popu
lar recreational opportunities a-
vailable to all Camp Firestone
visitors. Most important of these
are; Swimming, boating, hikingi
nature lore, horseshoe pitching)
softball, and for the children)
swings and seesaws.
Reservations for the camp are
now available to employees and
families of employees. Those wish
ing to secure accommodations
the camp are requested to do so
at the Industrial Relations Office
as soon as possible.
Reporter’s Choice
IMi
* * i
TYPICAL MOTHER—Mrs. Julia H. Long, Weaving Department,
was selected by the reporters of Firestone News as the “Typi<^^^
Firestone Mother for 1953”. Mrs. Long has by her devotion to hei
family—she has six children—and her unassuming, but chariniri^i
personality earned the friendship and profound respect of all
know her. The plant newspaper is proud to honor Mrs. Long
“Typical Mother” at the time especially reserved for her and othei^’J
like her: Mother’s Day, May 10, 1953.
SEC. 34.66 P. L. & R*
U. POSTAGE
PAID
GASTONIA, N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29