Give to your United Fund. The
fine work done by the organiza
tions participating in the drive
cannot be continued without your
support.
Tjr«$tone
GASTONIA
Know your Company. “Pioneer
and Pacemaker, The Story of Fire
stone” was recently sent to all em
ployees. The pictures and text will
give you a better understanding of
your company.
VOLUME III
GASTONIA, N. C., OCTOBER 25, 1954
NO. IG
Firestone Supervisors See Latest Machinery At Textile Exposition
*J>ho\vn above are photographs made of Firestone supervisors at the 18th Textile Exposition. Top left,
Moriow, J. M. Cooper, T. B. Ipock, Jr., L. B. McAbee, H. T. Aldridge, R, L. Tompkins and Clyde
^oss entering Textile Hall to view exposition. Top right, L. B. McAbee, J. M. Cooper and Ralph John-
Refreshing themselves during visits to the show. Bottom left, Wade Stiles, Belon Hanna, O’Neil
l^^nible, Jesse Hodge, Vernon Lovingood, W. R. Turner and James Ramey are shown at one of the 304
tooths. Bottom right, Carl Guffey, Carl Rape, Sam Honeycutt and Ray Thomas are shown getting
latest information on the Roberts High Draft Changeover from a company representative.
o Firestone supervisors saw the greatest show on earth
during the week of October 4, and it wasn't Ringling Bros.
Circus. It was the 18th Biennial Southern Textile Exposition,
held at Greenville, South Carolina, in Textile Hall.
This is probably the most un- 9"
usual trade or industrial show in
the nation to have run so long a
course, and which gets bigger and
bigger every time it is held. This
year’s show covered 80,000 square
feet of space chucked full of ma
chinery and equipment supplies—
a vital peak at “Tomorrow’s Mill
Today”. There were 304 exhibitors
showing their wares. They repre
sented every geographical area in
the United States and also came
from West Germany, Switzerland
and England.
Electric motion control to ma
chinery seemed strongly reflected
in the textile industry’s big ma
chinery, equipment and supply
show.
Great strides in electronics have
have advanced the automation pro
gram on textile machinery. Use of
individual motor drives, electronic
equipment, electromagnetic clutch
es and brakes, electronic stop-mo-
tion devices and others were all
viewed and are hastening the
trend in textile machinery.
Listed below are some remarks
made by the various supervisors
after they returned from the textile
show.
James M. Cooper, Time Study:
“Very good! The new develop
ments are worth making a trip
down to see.”
Clyde Moss, Assistant Superin
tendent says, “It was the largest
show I’ve ever attended. The trend
in machinery at the exposition
(Continued on Page 4)
^^Ison Kessell Heads Community Fund Drive Again
YOUR
UNITEP FUMD
TO YOUR
UNITED FUND
th
^ctured above are the groups of solicitors from the various departments in the plant, who under
^^idance of General Superintendent Nelson Kessell, helped put the Community Fund Drive over so
last year. No doubt many of the above will be back on the job this year making an effort
fu*
th'ive year’s drive a bigger success than the one last year. Over $11,000 was raised during the
year’- General Chairman Kessell is asking for the cooperation of each employee during this
succe
to
drive
This year the employee’s Com
munity Fund will be tied in again
with the greater Gastonia United
Fund. This means that a plant-
wide drive for funds will be held
during October 28 through Novem
ber 6.
General Superintendent Nelson
Kessell will again head up the
drive at this plant. He announced
that the same plan of solicitation
as used last year will be used again
this year.
Giving is always voluntary and
the success of the drive is up to
each individual employee. In 1953
the generous spirit of the em
ployees here at Firestone Textiles
was exemplified when a record
amount of over $11,000 was con
tributed.
During the drive each employee
will be contacted and asked to
sign a card listing the amount he
or she wishes to contribute to each
charitable organizations listed on
the card. The money will be deduct
ed weekly from your pay.
Mr. Kessell states, “If each em
ployee would give a day’s pay, we
could make this year’s drive a
greater success than last years.”
The following organizations will
be listed on the United Fund Cam
paign card: Children’s Home, Gas-
JV, A, Karl To Speak
At Safety Banquet
W. A. Karl, President of
Firestone Textiles, will ad
dress plant supervisors at a
supervisory dinner meeting
scheduled to be held on Oc
tober 27. Also scheduled to
attend this meeting are all
persons who have submitted
suggestions which have been
approved during the period
from July 1, 1953 to July 1,
1954.
Other highlights of the meeting
will be the recognition of out
standing performances in safety
by various departments and the
announcing of the winner of the
“Suggestioneer of the Year” A-
ward.
It has been an established cus
tom in the past to recognize the
person turning in the most approv
ed suggestions as the “Sugges
tioneer of the Year” and to pre
sent that person with an award
for his (or her) Interest and
achievement.
A supervisory safety c'ontest
conducted during the first six
months of the year added much
emphasis to the safety i)rogram.
While the winning team will re
ceive special recognition at this
time, members of all teams, win
ners and losers alike, are to be
commended for the excellent work
done in accident prevention this
year. The plant’s accident fre
quency rate at the end of the first
nine months is 1.11 as compared
with 2.02 for the same period in
1953.
order that we may surpass last year’s total.
(Continued on Page 4)
Employees Receive
Picture Book
Copies of the first picture his
tory of The Firestone Tire & Rub
ber Company were mailed early in
October to 45,000 employees, 17,000
stockholders and 14,000 direct
dealers throughout the United
States.
Although numerous books and
pamphlets about the Company have
been published since its founding
in 1900, none has used the pictorial
method of presentation to the ex
tent used in “Pioneer and Pace
maker, The Story of Firestone.”
Handsomely printed by R. R.
Donnelley & Sons Company, The
Lakeside Press, Chicago, 111., the
()4-page volume contains more than
150 pictures, many taken from the
archives of the Company and
others which were made as re
cently as the summer of 1954.
Employees particularly will
find in the pages of the book the
complete story of the growth of
the Company which employs them.
From it they will gain a better un
derstanding of the philosophy be
hind the slogan, “Best Today Still
Better Tomorrow.”