“The great need of this world is
faith and more real service on the
part of each and every one of us.”
Harvey S. Firestone
GASTONIA
A safe vacation is a good va
cation and vice versa. Insure the
success of your vacation by driv
ing carefully and avoiding un
necessary hazards while away.
VOLUME II
GASTONIA, N. C., AUGUST 15, 1953
NO. 15
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Vacation bound—Mr. and Mrs. Belon D. Hanna and daughter, Betty, load their automobile
to leaving on a week long trip to various places of interest in Florida. Mr. Hanna, who says he will
in as much fishing as possible, is giving his Firestone outboard motor priority on truck space. Mrs.
confides that she would like nothing better than a week of rest under a shade tree. As for
a softball player on one of the plant teams, she plans to play softball in Florida if she can find
pickup team.
T. Dickson Cites ^'Dollars
Cents'^ Cost Of Accidents
Of
^HlCE T. DICKSON, Executive Secretary of the Gastonia Chamber
ji. '^^merce, told plant supervisors that they and all employees of
1]^ are achieving great things in safety because of consistent,
''vork in the field. “Records such as yours reflect a day-in-and-day-
^^^paign to eliminate accidents from your plant,” Mr. Dickson
Ve beginning' of his talk at the August 5th safety meeting
Us
Figures compiled by theO—
*'ionai ‘'V" is the dollars-and-cents loss from
^ bafety Council, the speak-
to the appalling eco-
ioss resulting each year
'*^>1(1 i^ ti^i® country,
acco figures never take into
tl)e physical suffering on
huj^. of the thouaandiS of
cidnv,! i^^dividuals involved in ac-
> Mr. Dickson observed,
derij. ^.^^tii^ated total cost of acci-
the country last year, con-
8 I3J1,. ^ ioss of earning power, was
^ 600 million dollars. This
9G,000 accidental deaths from all
causes, and 0,700,000 injuries of all
kinds.
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INDUSTRY, though showing
progress each year in safety, was
charged with 2,000,000 accidental
injuries in 1952. In North Carolina
there were 14,000 occupational in
juries last year. The home,
strangely enough, is not as safe as
(Continued on Page 2)
¥
T. DICKSON of the
Chamber
i^ew JKedtord riant
Gets Large Contract
Commerce talks
Manager Harold Mercer, left, and Safety Director L. B.
^®^iowing the August 5th safety meeting in the Girls’ Club.
supervisors at the meeting that good safety records
piled by “day-in-and-day-out efforts to eliminate accidents”.
A CONTRACT award of eight
million dollai’S was made recently
to New Bedford Defense Products,
a subsidiary of The Firestone Tire
& Rubber Company, by the Boston
Ordnance District, Army Ordnance
Procurement Agency in New Eng
land. The contract is for produc
tion of 106-mm. shells.
This is the Army’s second
major award this year to the same
Firestone subsidiary. In February,
a contract for retooling facilities
and production of 155-mm. shells
with a total dollar value of 22 mil
lion dollars was signed.
According to Colonel Douglas
G. Ludlam, Commanding Officer
of the District, and James E.
Trainer, Vice-President in Charge
of Production and a director of
the Firestone Company, the new
contract calls for production to
begin in February, 1954.
Commenting on the award, John
S. Pfeil, Civilian District Chief of
the Boston Ordnance District, said,
"It is a pleasure to be able to an
nounce this eight million dollar
contract award to the New Bed
ford plant of Firestone. With over
30 million dollars worth of Army
Ordnance contracts now, this fa
cility has become an important
segment of our District’s mission.
Firestone and its New Bedford De
fense Products plant is a splendid
source with production ‘know how’
for ‘heavy shell’ production.”
Employees Make Plans For Plant
VacationWeek Starting August 21
WITH eager anticipation, not unlike that seen in school youngsters
as summer approaches, the approximately 2300 employees at Fire
stone Textiles are taking at least a week of their vacation starting
11 p. m, Friday, August 21. In the week to follow employees will be
found at vacation centers throughout the Carolinas and beyond. And,
not a few will decide to take their ease under a shade tree in their
own back yard. In any event, it’s vacation and that’s a magic word!
Mr. and Mrs. Belon Hanna and
daughter, Betty, for example, plan
to make a quick tour of Florida
with time-out for fishing, resting,
or softball—depending on which
member of the family is involved.
An “at random” sampling of
other employee-vacation-plans re
vealed that:
Bud Calhoun, millwright, and
his wife, Maxine, are planning a
trip to her home town of Lula, Ga.
He’s taking his fishing rod and
reel “just in case”.
Arnold Grindle, packer in the
Winding Department, and his wife.
May, are taking a 2 or 3-day trip
through the mountains of North
Carolina. They want to visit Mari
on, Chimney Rock, Cherokee, and
Fontana Dam.
Mrs. Kathleen Hodge, reclaimer,
and her hubsand, Jessie Hodge,
second hand, are going to Myrtle
Beach if they have time. “We're
re-modeling our home right now
and we would like to fmish that
job first,” she explains.
Johnny Mercer, Shop, will visit
Blowing Rock with his father, Gen
eral Manager Harold Mercer, and
other members of the family.
Johnny will enter the School of
Agriculture at N. C. State College
upon his return.
Pavement Research
Shows Longer Life
For Asphalt-Latex
Lexington, Ky. — Asphalt road
paving mixtures which contain a
new synthetic latex compound have
a longer life expectancy in roads
than a conventional asphalt. Uni
versity of Kentucky experimental
workers have found.
The University of Kentucky’s
conclusion is based upon the dis
covery by The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company of a low-cost
latex compound different from
any rubber heretofore used in
asphalt road tests.
Announcement of the new
asphalt-latex material was made
by Raymond C. Firestone, Vice-
President in Charge of Research
ctnu Deveioi-meui/ of The Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company.
About one year ago. University
officials announced that Firestone
had awarded the University a new
research contract, thus extending a
program initiated two years ago.
Since then, research workers in
the University of Kentucky Col
lege of Engineering have been con
ducting a series of tests on dif
ferent types of rubberized pave
ments. Mr. Firestone’s announce
ment is the first public report of
progress on an entirely different
approach to rubber in roads.
(Continued on Page 2)
COY REESE, section man, and
his wife, Mary, respooler, are
thinking about a trip to Newport,
Tenn. There, in what both call
home, they can fish at Douglas
Dam and otherwise renew acquain-
(Continued on Page 2)
Advance To State Tourney
DISTRICT SEVEN WINNERS—The Sudduth All-Stars and
Coaches Sam Fowler, left, and Ralph Johnson, right, are shown above
following their victory over the Little Southern All-Stars at Todd
Field. As a result of this win the Sudduth team, which includes
a number of Firestone boys on its roster, will compete in State and
possibly Regional competition.