PAGE TWO
DECEMBER 25, 1953
MAKING an early visit to the home of Luther Foy, canteen
supervisor, Santa Claus, above, poses with Mrs. Rachel Dugan of the
Weaving Department, one of the first arrivals for the First Shift
Tie-in-hands and Inspectors Christmas Party held at the Foy home
in the Crowders Mountain section of the county. Hostess for the
evening was Mrs. Luther Foy, inspector in Cord Weaving.
Christmas Tree Safety Rules
1. Cut a growing tree or pur
chase one which shows it has not
been allowed to dry out by pro
longed storage. When too dry, tree
branches are brittle and shed
needles easily. (Test flexibility of
small branches and retention of
needles.)
2. Stand the tree in water out
doors until you are ready to use it
indoors.
3. Bring the tree indoors just
before Christmas and remove it
as soon as it has served its pur
pose.
4. The larger the tree, the great
er the hazard, so do not get one
any larger than you need.
5. Just before setting up the
tree, saw off the trunk at an angle
at least one inch above the original
cut.
6. Place the freshly cut tree
trunk in water and keep level of
water above the cut the entire time
the tree is indoors.
7. Support the tree well. Keep it
away from sources of heat (fire
places, radiators, etc.) and place it
so that, standing or fallen, it could
not block the way out of the room
or out of the house in case of fire.
8. Do not use wax candles on the
tree or nearby where there is any
chance for an open flame to contact
the tree or combustibles piled be
neath the tree.
9. Use only electric lighting sets
that bear the UL (Underwriters’
Laboratories, Inc.) label.
10. Check lighting sets each year
before using, for frayed wires,
loose connections, and broken sock
ets.
11. Be sure the fuse of the elec
tric circuit serving the tree is not
over 15 amperes. Cord sets with a
fuse in the plug, bearing a UL
label, are available. Do not plug
too many cords in one outlet.
12. Make certain that all tree
lighting is turned off before re
tiring or leaving the house.
Next NCRS Board
Meeting To Be Here,
February 20
Recreation Director Ralph John
son attended a Board of Directors
meeting of the North Carolina Rec
reation Society December 12-13, in
Winston-Salem, N. C.
Mr. Johnson, vice-president of
the organization, announced that
the next meeting would be held at
Firestone Textiles on Saturday,
February 20.
FIRESTONE NEWS
Volume II, No. 23, December 25, 1953
Published at Gastonia, North Carolina
By Firestone Textiles
A Diyision of
The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
Department of Industrial Relations
R. H. HOOD, Editor
Department Reporters
CARDING—Edna Harris, Jessie Westmoreland.
SPINNING—Lois Bolding, Mary Turner, Maude Johnson.
SPOOLING—Nell Bolick, Helen Reel, Rosalee Burger.
TWISTING—Annie Cosey, Grace Stowe, Hazel Foy, Dean Haun.
SALES YARN TWISTING—Elene Dodgins.
WEAVING—Mary Johnson, Lucille Davis, Inez Rhyne, Irene Bur
roughs, Vivian Bumgardner, Nina Milton, Sarah Davis.
QUALITY CONTROL—Dealva Jacobs, Leila Rape, Irene Burroughs,
Catherine Isham, Margaret Tate.
WINDING—Mayzelle Lewis, Ann Stevenson, Christine Stroupe.
CLOTH ROOM—Margie Waldrop.
SHOP—Cramer Little.
WAREHOUSE—George Harper, Albert Meeks.
MAIN OFFICE—Mozelle Brockman.
SUPERINTENDENT’S OFFICE—Sue Van Dyke.
Homer Hall Wins First Place In Safety Slogan
Contest; Oscar Jacobs and Cramer Little Follow
A MAIN OFFICE employee, Homer Hall, has won the 1953 Safety Slogan Contest. The three-judge
contest panel selected Mr. Hall’s entry—“Safety is my business and your business for our business”—as
the best of the 355 original slogans submitted in the contest.
Oscar Jacobs of the Shop won*
second place with the slogan: “We
like no ism’s but safety-ism at
Firestone.”
Another Shop employee, Cramer
Little, won third place with this
entry: “No rule can measure the
value of good safety habits.”
In addition to the first three
winners who received $25, $15, and
$10 respectively for their efforts,
there were ten other winners ($5
each) whose names and slogans
are listed as follows:
Rosie Francum, Shop, “Safety
pays at home, at work, at play.”
Joe Givens, Cable Twisting, “Be
alert at all times and be safe.”
Verdie Smith, Spooling, “Your
job is only as safe as you make it.”
Juanita McDonald, Syc Weaving,
“Practice Safety today, be here to
morrow.”
Eva Stockton, Cloth Room,
“Safety is individual responsibili
ty.”
Ralph Johnson, Recreation, “You
can’t afford an accident — Safety
pays.”
Ray Cloninger, Plastic Dip,
“Stop, think, then do your job.”
R. H. Hood, Firestone News, “Be
safe or you may not live to be
sorry.”
R. H. Hood, Firestone News,
“It costs nothing to be safe; plenty
not to be.”
Juanita McDonald, Syc Weav
ing, “An ounce of Prevention is
worth a pound of Regret.”
The judges for the contest were:
Mr. W. G. Hardin, Personnel and
Safety Director for Rex Mills;
Mr. Bryan Hurd, Safety Director
for the Cramerton Division of Bur
lington Mills; Mr. W. G. Alligood,
Industrial Relations Dierctor for
American-Efird Mills.
Safety Director L. B. McAbee,
as well as the judges were im
pressed with the number and quali
ty of the slogans submitted. Speak
ing for himself Mr. McAbee said,
“The participants have done some
real thinking in this contest, and
have produced for us a good supply
of original and highly practical
safety slogans. We intend to make
good use of them, both winners and
others.”
Football Bowl Contest
Closes December 31st
Deadline for the Football Bowl
Contest is December 31st. Contest
entry blanks are obtainable at the
employee clubs, or at the Recrea
tion Office. Three prizesi—$15,
$10, and $5—will be awarded the
three best entries as determined
by (1) the most bowl game win
ners picked correctly, or, in case
of ties (2) the best prediction of
game scores.
Scholarship Winner Sets
High Mid-Semester Marks
Miss Claudette Taylor, winner
of the first Firestone Scholarship
for this area, is making honor
grades at Duke University, accord
ing to her father. Second Hand
Claude Taylor. Her mid-semester
report, he says, gives her an A
minus average in her first year
subjects: English, French, chemis-
i try, mathematics, and religion.
HOMER HALL, bottom right, receives congratulations and a
twenty-five-dollar check from General Manager Harold Mercer upon
being selected first-prize winner in the recently conducted Safety
Slogan Contest. Other winners, with their awards in parenthesis, are:
First row at left, Mrs. Eva Stockton, cloth burler ($5.00). Second
row, left to right, Mesdames Rosie Francum, tool room clerk ($5.00);
Verdie Smith, warper tender ($5.00); and Juanita McDonald, battery
filler ($10.00). Third row, Oscar Jacobs, Shop ($15.00); Cramer
Little, Shop ($10.00); and Ray Cloninger, Plastic Dip ($5.00).
Fourth row, Ralph Johnson, recreation director ($5.00); R. H. Hood,
editor of Firestone News ($10.00); and Joe Givens, twister tender
($5.00). Safety Director L. B. McAbee, at rear, was pleased with the
participation in the contest, there being 355 slogans submitted during
the month-long contest ending November 30.
Joseph A. Meek Appointed Industrial
Relations Director For Parent Company
APPOINTMENT of Joseph A. Meek as Director of Industrial
Relations of The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company was announced
recently by J. E. Trainer, Vice-President.
Mr. Meek has been General Fac-0
tory Manager of the Firestone
plant in Memphis, Tennessee, since
October, 1951, and before that was
Assistant Director of Industrial
Relations in Akron from 1946 to
1951. He will take over his new
duties in Akron immediately, ac
cording to Mr. Trainer.
Mr. Meek is a native of East
Palestine, Ohio, and a graduate
of Ohio Wesleyan University. He
joined Firestone in the Cost De
partment in 1925, was transferred
to the Time Study Department in
1926, and in 1928 moved to Los
Angeles to establish the Industrial
Relations Department at the newly
established Firestone subsidiary
plant in that city.
^ ^ ^
HE served as Production Mana
ger of the Los Angeles plant until
1942 when he was transferred to
the Nebraska Defense Corpora
tion, a bomb-loading plant opera
ted by Firestone in Fremont,
Nebraska. In 1943 he was appoint
ed General Manager of the plant.
In 1944 Mr. Meek was granted
a leave of absence from Firestone
to serve as Deputy Field Director
of Ammunition Plants, U. S. Army
Ordnance. In this capacity he
served as Chief Civilian Advisor
to the U. S. Ordnance Department
directing the operation of the more
than 60 shell-and-bomb-loading
plants in the country.
JOSEPH MEEK, Director of
Industrial Relations of The Fir^'
stone Tire & Rubber Company- |
At the end of World War
Meek received the War Depart
ment Exceptional Civilian Service
Award for his outstanding work
Deputy Field Director of
tion Plants.
In 1945 Mr. Meek returned
Akron as Assistant Director
Industrial Relations.