PAGE FOUR
NIWS
NOVEMBER 24, 1954
For the first time a tubeless truck tire will be used as standard
equipment on light trucks of major manufacturers who are using
this Firestone tire on 1955 model trucks. This tire also is being
produced as a replacement tire for older model light trucks. Follow
ing years of research and development work, the first tubeless tire
for trucks was announced by Firestone early in 1953. Millions of
miles of test driving show that the frequency of road delays is
reduced by more than 72 per cent with the tubeless tire as compared
with tire and tube combinations. Presenting the new tire in front
of the Firestone Research Building in Akron, Ohio, is Miss Janet
Farley.
Firestone Tubeless
Tires Exceed Million
Production In November
Will Reach Five Million
By End Of 1954
Lee R. Jackson, President
of The Firestone Tire & Rub
ber Company, has revealed
that the Company is produc
ing tubeless tires during No
vember at a rate exceeding
one million a month in its
United States plants. By early
1955, he said, this rate will be
substantially increased.
With an expected increase in
large-scale tubeless truck tire pro
duction, Firestone’s output of
tubeless tires will constitute “a
very large percentage of the Com
pany’s total production” by this
time next year, Mr. Jackson said.
Widespread acceptance of the
new tire can be seen in the fact
that major automobile manufactur
ers are using it as standard equip
ment on all 1955 models, he said.
And the results of truck manufac
turers’ tests of a new tubeless tire
developed by Firestone indicate
that the 1956 models of major
truck manufacturers may be using
Firestone tubeless tires as stan
dard equipment.
Major manufacturers of light
trucks, he pointed out, are using or
scheduling Firestone tubeless tires
as standard equipment.
Other tests of Firestone tube
less tires on taxicab fleets, cover
ing millions of miles, have shown
that delays due to tire trouble are
reduced more than 82 per cent, and
tests of the new tire on trucks have
shown a 75 per cent reduction of
delays due to the same cause.
The development of a one-
piece, drop-center rim by Firestone
makes changes of tubeless truck
tires as simple as the mounting
and demounting of passenger car
tires, Mr, Jackson said. Other ad
vantages of tubeless truck tires,
as he outlined them, were: cooler
Firestone In The News
Foamex Products
Shown In Chicago
Foamex mattress fillers and
cushioning for dual sleep equip
ment were exhibited for the first
time at the National Association
of Bedding Manufacturers Conven
tion in Chicago, November 14-17.
Space in the Normandie Lounge
on the second floor of the Conrad
Hilton Hotel was taken by the
Firestone Industrial Products Com
pany of Akron, Ohio for this ex
hibit. Included were mattress fill
ers of various densities, a range of
cored stock and slab stock, as well
as the various promotions which
are available to Foamex mattress
manufacturers.
In addition to this exhibit space,
the Foamex Division of Firestone
maintained its headquarters in the
Conrad Hilton.
running, longer mileage, freedom
from tube failures that account
for many road delays and a great
saving in weight.
“This will permit truckers to in
crease their payloads and decrease
their operating costs,” Mr. Jackson
said.
As an example of the weight-
saving feature of the tubeless
truck tire, Mr. Jackson made this
comparison: A conventional trac
tor trailer, 9.00-20 tire, tube and
flap weigh about 101 pounds and a
conventional wheel 95 pounds,
making a total assembly weight
of 196 pounds. On the other hand,
the same size tire on a drop-
center wheel weighs approximately
168 pounds. The difference is 28
pounds. A tractor trailer unit
equipped with ten of the new tube
less tires would therefore have a
reduction of 280 pounds, “a big
factor in the operation of commer
cial trucks,” he asserted.
Practically all of Firestone’s
tire development programs are de
voted to a continuing improve
ment of the complete line of tube
less tires Firestone announced
more than a year ago for passen
ger cars, trucks, tractors, off-the-
highway equipment and airplanes,
Mr. Jackson said.
“During the past two years,” he
revealed, “Firestone has spent
millions of dollars on development
work and installation of modern
production equipment for the sole
purpose of making better and more
economical tubeless tires for mo
torists.”
By the end of this year, Mr.
Jackson said, Firestone will have
produced more than five million
tubeless tires.
COMMUNITY FUND
(Continued From Page 1)
Each employee was contacted and
given the privilege of indicating
the amount he or she desired to
contribute.
FIRESTONE
(Continued From Page 1)
Firestone asserted, “we made it
possible for every person to go as
far as his will and his skill permit,
provided that he does not deprive
any of his fellowmen of this same
right.”
It is therefore not surprising
that other nations wish they had
“the material possessions, the po
litical liberties and the sociologi
cal advantages which we Ameri
cans enjoy,” he said.
Instead of adopting the Ameri
can system of competitive free en
terprise, Mr. Firestone said, some
nations waste “their time and our
money in unsuccessful experiments
with doctrines which have failed
miserably in the past and which,
at best, promise only in the far-
distant future a standard of living
which we Americans already en
joy today.”
Individual Initiative Raises
Standard of Living
Mr. Firestone continued: “Most
of these alien ideas were original
ly conceived by theorists who
sought to better the lot of the
common man. In places where
such experiments have been tried,
they have merely succeeded in re
ducing the standard of living.
Over here, America has sought to
better the lot of all her people by
fostering individual initiative
through a system designed to pro
duce a higher standard of living.”
' Complaints against the Ameri
can economic system originate for
various reasons, he said.
“But, fortunately,” he said, “only
a few starry-eyed fanatics and pro
fessional rabble-rousers want to
destroy the structure we have built
and start all over again. Instead,
most of us wisely advocate refine
ment, renovation and repair.”
Manv objections to the American
system are based on false ideas,
Mr. Firestone asserted. One objec
tion is that workers get “the small
est share of the income which man
ufacturing produces and that the
owners receive fabulous amounts.”
He detailed what happens to a
sales dollar in industry and said,
“approximately eighty-six cents
out of every dollar of sales by
manufacturers go for salaries and
wages.”
Other critics turn their guns on
the owners of American industry,
giving the impression their num
ber is few.
“Actually,” he declared, “some
eight and one-half million people
own shares in American industry.”
Another widely believed but
false idea, he said, was that time
saving machinery deprives workers
of their jobs.
“The error of this idea is evi
dent to all who understand the
workings of mass production,” he
said. “For example, in the early
days of the automobile, it took five
men to do what one man with the
aid of machinery can do today. Yet,
there are twenty-three times as
many people employed in the in
dustry as there were in 1905.”
Education A Factor In
America’s Greatness
Turning to the high ratio of
educated American men and
women, Mr. Firestone said that
they were one of the primary fac
tors that have made America
great.
“This is, indeed, the age of
specialization,” he said, “and the
man or woman who goes into the
world to make a living under
present conditions is handicapped
unless he or she has had the ad
vantage of education and training.
“The young men and women of
todav have before them oppor
tunities greater than have ever
before existed since the beginning
of time.
“Looking back along the road
that Americans have travelled in
the past, it may seem that so much
has been accomplished that there
mav be a shortage of opportunities
in the future. But when we glance
along the road ahead, we realize
that there are many more oppor
tunities ahead than there were in
the years gone by.
“Think of the manv new inven
tions and discoveries of the last
few years on which whole new in
dustries are being built: Electron
ics, atomic energy, svnthetic
chemistrv, antibiotics, plastics and
hundreds of other new and revolu
tionary developments are still in
their infancy.
The United Nations and the
problems which that oreanization
faces mav well create wholly new
and different fields of endeavor in
financp. in sociology and in law.
“Under our svstem of competi
tive free pnternrise. to all who are
Tournaments To
Decide Sports
Champions
To determine who is the champ
ion in men and women’s sports at
Firestone Textiles, a departmental
tournament is now under way, an
nouncement has been made by
Ralph Johnson, director of recrea
tion.
For the tournament, which is
open to all shifts of the plant, en
tries were received through Satur
day, November 20, and pairings
were made the following Monday.
The contests include bowling,
shuffleboard, billiards, ping pong
and checkers for the men. For
women tournaments are being held
in bowling, shuffleboard, and ping
pong.
When the champions in various
activities and departments have
been selected, a tournament of
champions will be held to decide
who is the top winner in each
activity on any shift of the entire
Firestone plant in Gastonia.
In listing rules for the tourna
ment, Mr. Johnson explained that
an individual who wishes to par
ticipate must compete along with
members of the team he or she was
with at time of entering the tourna
ment. For example, if an employee
works in Winding and bowls for
Carding, he must compete on the
Carding team.
There must be at least four en
tries in any activity before a tour
nament may be held, Mr. Johnson
further explained, and added: “All
matches will be completed as soon
as possible. When a match is com
pleted, the winner will be advanced
on the pairing board.”
Teen-agers and Village Girls are
eligible for the competition, Mr-
Johnson pointed out.
Paper Seeks Tips
On Employees' Hobbies
Perhaps it’s photography, collec
ting glassware, raising pigeonsi
dabbling in paints, or any othel
diversion that rates some of youf
serious attention in leisure mo'
ments. If you have a hobby, the
story of which has not already been
featured in Firestone News, the
plant paper is interested in hav
ing your name as news tip to a
story with pictures for possible use
in forthcoming editions. Leave your
name at the News office or call by;
telephone, so that additional
formation concerning you and your
hobby may be obtained.
willing to work ,to think and to
dare, the American Way brings
rich rewards.”
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
P. 0. BOX 551
GASTONIA, N. C.
SEC. 34.66 P. L. & R.
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
GASTONIA, N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29
Form 3547 Requested