The craftsman is superior to Ihe
product of his craft.
—Philo (AD 40)
Tir«$ton«
GASTONIA
At the end of the work you may
judge of the workman.
—Thomas Fuller
VOLUME V
GASTONIA, N. C., SEPTEMBER, 1956
NUMBER 9
ON TOUR OF PARKS
SCHOOL
ZONE
Akron Scouts Visit Plant, Camp Firestone
BACK TO SCHOOL-SAFELY
This little girl is going to school. She’ll be crossing
streets, getting on and off the bus, running home for lunch
or at the day’s end.
So, drive carefully. Drive slowly near her school. Don’t
pass her school bus when it’s stopped.
Carol Wilkes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hansford Wilkes,
203 Graham street, is in the second grade at Myrtle School
this year. Her mother, Mary Wilkes, is employed in the Re
spooling Department.
Carol symbolizes all the children who will return to
school within the next few weeks. Each child will appreciate
your caution when you’re driving.
Four top-ranking Boy
Scouts from the Southern
District of Akron, Ohio,
stopped in Gastonia August
22, for a tour of the plant,
after which they were en
tertained at a luncheon. Ac
companied by Harold Warf-
fuel, Scouting Director of the
Company’s Akron plants, the
scouts went from here to
Camp Firestone, near
Marion, for an overnight
stay.
For the tour and luncheon
here, the Akron scouts were
joined by John Law Knox,
1956 Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.,
Award winner at Firestone
Textiles.
EACH YEAR the Company
Scouting program provides
special recognition for out
standing achievement in scout
ing in all cities of the United
States where Firestone operates
major plants.
At the headquarters plants in
Akron the top scout each year
receives a medallion represent
ing the Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.,
Award. Of the 50 Akron scouts
honored annually, the three who
rank next to the top award win
ner, are signally honored.
The roving camping tour each
year is a part of the award for
the four leading scouts.
In past years the winners have
gone on canoe trips into Canada.
This year, the 2,500-mile camp
ing trip covered the states of
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
—Turn to page 8
☆
☆
☆
Ministers Find Profit In Pulpit Exchange
Two ministers — a Southerner
and a New Englander — have
a novel but practical approach
to “that second summer vaca
tion.” The Rev. G. W. Bum
garner, pastor of Covenant
Methodist Church in the Fire
stone community and the Rev.
Ivan L. Nickerson, pastor of
Liberty Methodist Church,
Springfield, Mass., combined
Free Booklet
On Eye Care
The National Society for the
Prevention of Blindness esti-
^'^ates that one in every four
School children needs eye care,
that more than one million
pMer Americans have the blind-
'^g disease glaucoma.
During September, "Sight-
^Sving Month," this non-profit
®*9anization will be glad to
®®nd you a free booklet on
l^roper eye care. Write:
Prevention of blindness
^^90 Broadway
York 19, New York
work with pleasure for the three
last Sundays of August, in an
exchange of pulpits at the two
churches.
For both clergymen, the ex
perience added up to a fresh
approach to their routine duties,
plus new looks at two sections
of the United States, some 1,000
miles apart.
WHILE the Firestone com
munity minister, with Mrs.
Bumgarner and children, Burton
and Alice were in New England,
they occupied the Liberty
Church parsonage in Spring
field. He presided over the Sun
day services there during the
three-week period, and per
formed the other regular min
isterial tasks. And in between,
the Bumgarners worked into the
busy schedule some sightseeing
around historic Boston and vi
cinity.
At the same time, the New
England minister, together with
Mrs. Nickerson and sons Mark
and Scott, lived at The Covenant
parsonage on North Highland
street in Gastonia. At the church
the Rev. Mr. Nickerson preached
and swapped other ministerial
duties with the regular pastor.
Besides, the Nickersons visited
places of interest in the Caro-
linas and other parts of the
South.
The visiting clergyman in
Gastonia was educated at Wes
leyan University and the Har
vard Divinity School. He served
pastorates for five years, taught
Bible and English at Suffield
Academy, Suffield, Conn., for
two years, and is in his fourth
year as pastor at Liberty
Church, Springfield.
At Dedication
A number of women of Fire
stone families assisted in serving
as hostesses at the open house
and dedicatory program of the
new Gaston County Agriculture
Center, near Dallas, August 7.
Women from plant families
who helped on the program are
members of the Pisgah Home
Demonstration Club.
i
HAROLD WARFFUEL (center). Scout Director at the Com
pany's Akron plants, holds the card sliver being fed into a draw
ing frame. Studying this carding operation with him are two 1956
Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., Scouting Award winners. They are
Anthony Cookro, Akron, (left); and John Law Knox. Gastonia.
LOOKING OVER a large roll of nylon tire fabric are Akron
Boy Scouts (from left): Hugh Allen, Gordon Stump and Charles
Truza. Floyd H. Whitaker (in background), explains the weaving
process for this material destined for the huge multi-stage, high
tensioning gum-dip unit at the plant here.
Company To Grow Rubber In Brazil
Within six years the first yield
of rubber latex is expected from
the 3,000-acre plantation being
established by the Firestone
Company in eastern Brazil.
The rubber-growing project,
near Itubera, will supply the
Company tire plant at Sao
Paulo, 1,400 miles to the south,
and other Brazilian plants. On a
12,000-acre site, the plantation is
the Company’s first in that
country. The permanent work
force is expected to number
1,000.
THE SITE was chosen because
of the availability of labor,
plentiful rainfall, stable climate,
nearness to ocean transport and
hydroelectric power, and the
rich soil that thickly blankets
the rolling hill country near
Itubera,
The land was surveyed for
Firestone in early 1954. Since
then more than 700 acres have
been cleared and some acres
planted with high-yielding rub
ber trees brought to Brazil from
the Firestone plantations in
Liberia, West Africa.
ONE BOUNDARY of the land
is the Rio Serinhaem. At the
base of its picturesque 200-foot
falls is a hydroelectric plant that
provides power for Itubera, local
industry and Firestone’s planta
tion.
Across the river from the
power plant, the Company plans
to build a rubber processing fac
tory. Here liquid latex will be
preserved for shipment or co
agulated and processed into
sheet rubber.