PAGE TWO KTiWi APRIL 25, 1955 - .v: ■ ON THE LAST day of her 20-year service record, Bessie Allen received an appreciation gift from her fellow employees in Spinning. Presenting it was Overseer Sam Guffey. Retires After Score Of Years In Spinning Department Here For Bessie Allen the voice of the spindles was silenced when, at 3 p. m., March 30, she performed her last dutiful task, walked out of Third Floor Spinning, West End, and went home to a life of retirement after almost 20 years at Firestone. It was on July 2, 1935, when O Mrs. Allen began counting time for Firestone here, although she had some time to her credit in textiles with the plant before it was under present ownership. Eighteen years of her stay here were devoted to spinning and the remainder of the time was given over to one other assignment. On her final day at work her friends in Spinning gave her a brief surprise party, features of which were the presentation of a pink satin housecoat and a pair of bed room slippers of black satin— along with gestures of friendship and appreciation for her devotion to the job. New Nylon Airplane Cord Tire Announced 1 ^ Jf Gives Longer Wear, More Landings A new nylon cord airplane tire that gives up to 20 per cent more landings than tires now used on the main and nose wheels of large commer cial airlines has been announc ed by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. The new Sky Champion tire is made with safety-tensioned, gum-dipped high-strength ny lon and incorporates new com pounding techniques develop ed in the Firestone Research and Development Labora tories. H. D. Tompkins, Vice-President, Trade Sales, said the new Sky Champion Gear Grip tire has a flatter profile, wider ribs and new tread compounds to provide longer wear. Extensive service testing has proved that this new tire delivers up to 20 per cent more landings, he said. THE RETIRED worker had been finding ways to use her time long before the day of her leaving the plant. Two years ago she added the hobby of collecting miniature pitchers and other what-nots. This was in addition to her gardening and flower culture, which she plans to carry on actively in retirement. “Now I plan to go home and be sides my regular tasks about the house, I’ll spend some time just sitting in the shade,” she said. And when she rests in the shade, per chance the voice of the spindles will resound in her ears, arousing mem ories of the score of years she spent here. New Dealer Sales Manager Appointed G. D. Hitler, formerly Manager O of the Milwaukee sales district, has been appointed Manager of Dealer Sales for The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. In his new position, Mr. Hitler has the responsibility of assisting the Company’s main office sales department in Akron in developing plans and programs for the im provement of sales and profits of Firestone’s independent dealers through the country. Mr. Hitler, of Circleville, Ohio, joined the Firestone Company’s college training class in 1929 after his graduation from Kenyon Col lege. His first assignment was territory salesman in the Cinci nnati district responsible for the Charleston, West Virginia, area. He also served as Store Manager in Lima, Ohio, Truck Tire Sales Manager in Cincinnati, Truck Tire Sales Manager and later Assistant District Manager in Columbus, and Manager of Truck Tire Sales for the Central Division in Akron. In 1943 Mr. Hitler went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, as District Man ager and worked there for 10 years before becoming District Manager in Milwaukee. FIRESTONE NEWS Volume IV, No. 8, April 25, 1955 Published by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company Firestone Textiles Division Gastonia, North Carolina Department of Public Relations CLAUDE CALLAWAY, Editor Department Reporters CARDING—Edna Harris, Jim Ballew, Jessie Westmoreland. SPINNING—Ray Thomas, Mary Turner, Maude Johnson. SPOOLING—Nell Bolick, Helen Reel, Rosalee Burger. TWISTING—Pearl Aldridge, Corrie Johnson, Lorene Owensby, Dorothy Baber, Dean Haun, and Vera Carswell. SALES YARN TWISTING—Elmina Bradshaw. SVC WEAVING—Vivian Bumgardner, Lucille Davis, Sara Davis, Nina Milton, Juanita McDonald. CORD WEAVING—Roy Davis, Irene Burroughs, Mary Johnson. QUALITY CONTROL—Sally Crawford, Leila Rape, and Louella Queen. WINDING—Mayzelle Lewis, Ann Stevenson, and Christine Stroupe. CLOTH ROOM—Margie Waldrop. SHOP—Rosie Francum. WAREHOUSE—Patsy Haynes, George Harper, Albert Meeks, Rosevelt Rainey. PLASTIC DIP—Frances Huffman. MAIN OFFICE—Mozelle Brockman. SUPERINTENDENT’S OFFICE—Sue Van Dyke. PERSONNEL OFFICE—Barbara Abernathy. In Music Festivul A rating of “excellent” went to Miss Betty Ann McAbee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. B. McAbee, at a North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs Festival, held April 2, at Queens College in Charlotte. Miss McAbee, whose father is Safety Director at Firestone, was featured at the piano in the Char lotte festival. NEW NYLON CORD Sky Champion Gear Grip airplane tires, developed and produced by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, are shown on a Northwest Orient Airlines plane. Skid resistors are built into these new tires to increase their traction and to minimize skid burns. The skid resistors also provide increas ed resistance to tearing and better traction in landings on wet sur faces. A new material recently dis covered by Firestone scientists has been added to the new airplane tires to protect them from attack by fumes and oil and from ozone concentrations encountered under certain atmospheric conditions. “With the co-operation of a major airline,” Mr. Tompkins said, “a number of tires were tested on aircraft making frequent landings in high zone Pacific Coast areas. Results of these tests enabled the Company’s chemists to develop the new material and incorporate it in the formula for making all Fire stone airplane tires. This new ma terial represents a substantial sav ing to airline operators by elimi nating premature tire failure re sulting from weather checking and cracking. YOUR TRAVEL NOTEBOOK Tour Smokies For Spring Color Spring’s a-busin’ out all over the Great Smoky Moun tains. And you’re invited to take part in the Fifth Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains Na tional Park, April 27 through 30. Those who make the tours will enjoy the beauty of moun tain wildflowers at the peak of the spring blooming season. The Pilgrimage will have the services of nationally-known bot anists and naturalists to lead all tours. Botanists have listed some 1,300 species of flowering plants, 1,800 kinds of gungi, 330 mosses and liverworts and 230 lichens in this rich area. Registration opens at 12 noon, Wednesday, April 27 in the Andy Huff House of the Mountain View Hotel, Gatlinburg, Tenn., “capital” of the Great Smokies, Accomoda tions in and near Gatlinburg in clude facilities for some 5,000 guests as well as restaurants and intriguing gift shops. Prepared field lunches are available. Elected Treasurer Of T B Association Francis B. Galligan, Superin tendent of the Cotton Division, was re-elected Treasurer of the Gaston County Tuberculosis Association, at a meeting held in Main Street Methodist Church, April 5. This is the fourth year that Mr. Galligan has been elected Treasurer of the TB Association. Five At Plant Complete 15 Years’ Service RECENTLY FIVE EMPLOYEES at the plant completed a record of 15 years’ service to th® Company. They were congratulated by General Manager Harold Mercer and presented 15-year service pins. Those in the picture, from left, are: Mrs. Nettie Corn, Rayon Weaving; Mrs. Carrie Helm^’ Spinning; Mr. Mercer; William C. Watts, Carding; and Claude Bolding, Carding. Frontus Lyles, Card ing, was not present for the picture.
