PAGE TWO
Tir«$ton« NEWS
OCTOBER 10,1954
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Qm tremeiK^em Uxttfe industry ranks
second in over-ali sks mnng AmBrim mdmirieSi B,200 plants
employ 1165,000 pmplB, with annual payrolls $f $1134,000,000.
Wre a permanent Industry, essential to mr country's very Hh
little wonder that
PROU
Tires Aid Marine Railway
FOUR FIRESTONE tubeless tires—each nine and a half feet
high—have made possible the development of this new marine rail
way for drydocking small ships where there are no permanent fa
cilities for repairing ships. The Army Transportation Corps ordered
the portable marine railway for use in overseas areas. Constructed
of steel beams and pipes, the marine railway can be knocked down
for transport by ship or truck to where it is needed next. Ships up
to 60 feet long can be cradled in the portable drydock with a load of
nearly a quarter-million pounds on the giant tubeless tires.
FIRESTONE NEWS
Volume III, No. 15, October 10, 1954
Published by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
Firestone Textiles Division
Gastonia, North Carolina
Department of Public Relations
Department Reporters
CARDING—Edna Harris, Jim Ballew, Jessie Westmoreland.
SPINNING—Ray Thomas, Mary Turner, Maude Johnson.
SPOOLING—Nell Bolick, Helen Reel, Rosalee Burger.
TWISTING—Hazel Foy, Annie Cosey, Dean Haun, Carrie Johnson,
Lorene Owensby, Dorothy Baber, Kathleen Clark.
SALES YARN TWISTING—Bonnie Dockery.
SYC WEAVING—Vivian Bumgardner, Lucille Davis, Sara Davis,
Nina Milton, Juanita McDonald.
CORD WEAVING—Roy Davis, Irene Burroughs, Mary Johnson.
QUALITY CONTROL—Dealva Jacobs, Leila Rape, Catherine Isham,
Louella Queen.
WINDING—Mazelle Lewis, Dorcas Atkinson, Ann Stevenson, Chris
tine Stroupe.
CLOTH ROOM—Margie Waldrop.
SHOP—Rosa Francum.
WAREHOUSE—George Harper, Albert Meeks.
PLASTIC DIP—Frances Huffman, Helen Guffey.
MAIN OFFICE—Mozelle Brockman.
SUPERINTENDENT’S OFFICE—Sue Van Dyke.
PERSONNEL OFFICE—Barbara Abernathy.
Firestone Among
Top Companies In
Stock Holding
THE Firestone Tire & Rubber
Company is one of America’s 50
top corporations whose common
stock shares are most widely held
in the portfolios of the nation’s
175 investment companies, it was
disclosed this week in the 1954
edition of Investment Companies.
Arthur Wiesenberger, publisher
of the 384-page book which is the
standard reference work in its
field, stated that 283,000 shares of
Firestone stock appeared in the
holdings of 26 funds as of Decem
ber 31, 1954. This represents 7.18
per cent of the Company’s out
standing stock.
“Selection of your stock by so
many investment firms represents
a significant tribute to your com
pany,” Mr, Wiesenberger noted in
a letter to Lee R. Jackson, Presi
dent. “As men whose financial
judgement is relied upon by so
many Americans, the heads of
these funds thoroughly study the
situation of all companies whose
shares are publicly held, and choose
those which, in their opinion, offer
best possibilities for growth of
capital and dividend payments.”
“It is noteworthy that the con
cerns whose stocks are chosen are
not only present leaders in their
fields but, in the judgment of the
funds appear to have the greatest
possibilities of continued develop
ment.”
Attends School
Fred Whitworth, son-in-law of
Deuel Bedding (Refreshment), en
ters the North Carolina Vocational
Textiles School in Belmont for the
fall session. Mr. Whitworth is a
veteran of the Korean Conflict and
will attend the school under the
provisions of the Korean veterans
educational program.
Four Receive 15-Year Fins
1
GENERAL MANAGER HAROLD MERCER, above, presents
Mrs. Lucy Phillips (spinner) her 15-year service pin. Others, left
to right, receiving indentical awards are Jessie Jones (Carding
fixer), Clinton Guffey (Spinning doffer), and Chester Tate (Twist
ing fixer).
New Power Sweeper Provides
Easy, Sanitary Way To Clean
Sweeping is fun when you are
using a Wilshire Power Sweeper
now in operation by the Shop in
areas where heavy sweeping is
necessary. By eliminating hand
sweeping, it replaces a slow, labor
ious, unsanitary method that has
remained unchanged for centuries
in the face of the steady trend in
modern plants toward time and
labor-saving machinery for all op
erations. The power sweeper not
only sweeps faster and cleaner but
is safer.
The sweeper is now used to clean
the back yard of the plant and the
three parking lots. This fall the
sweeper will be used to pick up
fallen leaves. It can be used to
sweep sidewalks and curbs.
The Wilshire has a seven and
one-half horsepower aircooled mo
tor, four cycle gasoline engine,
complete with stellite valves,
three speed automatic type trans
mission, “Duscon” dust control unit
with 12 inch impeller, eight vane,
semi-floating brush reel, and sepa
rate independent free action clutch
ing at operation right hand. All
moving parts are fully protected
by guards. The sweeper also is
equipped with headlights, tail
lights and side sweeper spotlight.
The sweeper makes a clean
sweep every time and picks up any
thing in its path with a speed of
2 to 15 miles per hour. It occupies
the same place as the mechanical
sweeper in the home and no modern
housewife would try to get along
without a vacuum cleaner, and go
back to the broom.
su cu
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Harris an
nounce the birth of a daughter on
July 1. Mrs. Harris is a daughter
of Mrs. Mollie Grimsley, warper
tender.
In The News
A new type of portable porch made its debut
at the Home and Flower Show in Cleveland, accord
ing to the Cleveland News. Produced in Akron, the
unit is a light but sturdy screened porch that can be
put up or taken down in 15 minutes.
“The top is made of waterproof canvas of pyra
midal shape,” the News reports. “Sides are of Fire
stone Velon screen and the framework is tubular
aluminum.
“One man can carry the unit which will enclose
a hundred square feet of space. It can be set on
lawns, terraces, brick, stone or concrete. Cost of the
Porta-Porch, according to the manufactutrers, is a
fraction of the price of a conventional screened
porch.”
* * *
The Kansas City Star in its editorial columns
lauded the Firestone Company for the motion pic
ture filmed recently on the Future Farmers of
America.
“If good will is worth anything—and of course
it is—Kansas City is fortunate in being the scene of
such a motion picture as The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company has produced on the Future
Farmers of America. This picture without a doubt
will give a new impetus to farm boys over the
nation to attend the annual convention of the Future
Farmers here. It will serve to emphasize to the
boys that Kansas City is the home of the F.F.A.
convention, that it is the city where the national
organization was formed.”
* * ^
Supervisory staff members of the Company will
receive copies of a reprint of an article in Ordnance
Magazine based on the talk given before the Indus
trial College of the Armed Forces in Washington by
J. E. Trainer, Executive Vice-President. Subject of
the talk was the significance of management-labor
relations.
“The valuable technique of balancing coopera
tion and teamwork between supervisors and workers
is a greater asset to maximum production than
superior technology or modern mechanization,” was
the magazine’s synopsis of the ideas presented in
Mr. Trainer’s talk. Ordnance is the bi-monthly
journal of the American Ordnance Association.
* * *
Foam rubber mattresses produced at Firestone
topped all others in tests of 14 brands conducted by
Consumers Union, the non-profit organization which
provides consumers with information and counsel on
goods and services.
In the March issue of its publication. Consumer
Reports, the organization reported results of inten
sive tests of the 14 brands for wear, durability*
comfort and firmness. For over-all quality Fire
stone-produced mattresses were at the top of the
list. Members of the Fall River, Mass., plant organi
zation can be proud to have their products recogniz
ed as the best on the market.
In general, the tests showed that foam rubber
mattresses have exceptional durability, and many
other excellent characteristics which give them de
cided advantages over other types of mattresses.
Consumers Unions tests were based largely on
government standards and sought to answer what
seemed to CU engineers the two most important
questions from the viewpoint of the consumer: How
does one foam rubber mattress compare with an
other in terms of body support? How long will it
continue to provide satisfactory performance?
ac-
The Firestone Story, by Alfred Lief, is
cording to the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Northwestern,
one of the latest books attracting attention ^
libraries. Says the Northwestern: “It is an interes
ing and illuminating narrative in which the reader
is taken into the inner sanctum of the mind
heart of Harvey S. Firestone, founder of The
stone Tire & Rubber Company, the first 50 years
which concern coincided with the half-way mark
the Twentieth Century.