I always seek the good that is
in people and leave the bad to
Him who made mankind and
knows how to round off the cor
ners.
-Goethe's Mother.
Tir«$ton«
GASTONIA
The supreme happiness of life is
the conviction of being loved for
yourself, or, more correctly, being
loved in spite of yourself.
—Victor Hugo,
VOLUME VI
GASTONIA, N. C., APRIL, 1957
No. 4
THE COMPANY GROWS. .
Business Opportunity Challenge To Be Met
Through Extensive Construction, Expansion
☆ ☆ ☆
Four new manufacturing
plants totaling approximately
$30,000,000 in cost will be com
pleted by Firestone during the
next few months, in one of the
largest concentrated building
programs ever undertaken in
the rubber industry.
In addition to the new plants
under construction, the Company
is going ahead with extensive
expansion, modernization, and
improvement plans in many of
its existing plants, according to
Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., Com
ps ny Chairman.
The Company’s vast construc
tion and facilities-improvement
program is expected to favorably
affect supply and demand for
FOR EMPLOYEES
Firestone Tires Are Offered
Under New Changeover Plan
A special program making it
possible for Firestone employees
buying new cars to change orig
inal equipment tires to new Fire
stone DeLuxe Champion tube-
less tires, has been announced
by General Manager Harold
Mercer.
An eriiployee purchasing a
new car having original tires of
a brand other than Firestone,
and with not more than 100
miles wear on them, may have
them switched to Firestone tires
for $1 per tire. Any balancing
charges or sales taxes that may
apply will be added to the
charge of $1 per tire.
The changeover program ap
plies to DeLuxe Champion tube-
less tires, but if employees wish
to change to higher-priced tires
—such as Supreme or 500—they
may work out their own special
arraiigeineiits with Lhe Firestone
dealer.
HEADQUARTERS for the
tire-changeover program in the
Gastonia area is the Firestone
Store at Franklin and Marietta.
—Turn to page 8
tire cord fabric and fabric for
Firestone Airide rubber springs.
The new plants scheduled for
completion between now and
October are a butadiene manu
facturing plant at Orange, Tex
as; a tire plant at Havana, Cuba;
an air springs plant at Nobles-
ville, Ind.; and a tire plant in
Manila, Philippine Islands.
EXPANSION, improvement or
modernization plans are under
way at Firestone plants at Potts-
town. Pa.; Lake Charles, La.;
Akron, Ohio; Fall River, Mass.;
Los Angeles, Calif.; and Des
Moines, Iowa, in the United
States; and in Brentford, Eng
land; Buenos Aires, Argentina;
and Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
A multimillion-dollar expansion
program has also been announc
ed for Firestone’s Hamilton, On
tario, Canada plant. Construc
tion of the new facilities is ex
pected to begin no later than
April.
“This construction and im
provement program will put
Firestone in a better position
than ever before to take ad-
—Turn to page 2
TOWERS BLEND with a complicated pattern of pipes and
tanks to form a section of the Company's new butadiene plant at
Orange, Texas. The giant structure is scheduled for completion
in April. It will produce 40,000 tons of butadiene a year for the
making of synthetic rubber. Butane, the raw material, will be piped
from Texas oil fields. Increased production of synthetic rubber tires
creates added supply and demand for tire cord fabric produced at
the Gastonia plant.
Resurrection Day Service Projected
The fifth annual Firestone
community Easter sunrise serv
ice will be held at 7 a.m., April
21 on the lawn in front of the
Girls Club. In case of inclement
weather, the service will move
inside.
Ministers of the four churches
in the community will have a
part on the program. Hymns
will be sung by the Firestone
Singers and other members of
choirs from the various con
gregations.
The annual event is sponsored
jointly by the Firestone Recrea
tion Council and village
churches, including Firestone
Wesleyan Methodist, West Ave
nue Presbyterian, Loray Baptist
and Covenant Methodist.
Following the hour-long serv
ice, coffee and doughnuts will
be served at the Girls Club.
On Plant Tour In March: Engineering Students See Industry At Work
Fifty-two students in indus
trial engineering at North Caro
lina State College saw industry
at work at Firestone, when they
toured the mill in mid-March.
Juniors and seniors enrolled in
the Plant Layout and Materials
Handling course traveled here
with their instructor. Professor
George Redman.
Included in the visiting group
ware Ted Walker, an assistant
instructor in the course; and the
drivers of the two chartered
buses.
After a look at the operation
here, the visitors were enter
tained at a luncheon in the Girls
Club. Attending were General
Manager Harold Mercer and a
number of others from manage
ment.
THE PLANT tour for the stu
dents was a part of their annual
Visits to industrial establish
ments, required for graduation
in the industrial engineering
study sequence at State College.
On the trip to Gastonia, the stu
dents also visited a factory
which makes corrugated boxes.
And in Charlotte they visited
four plants. Later this spring the
class will make two more trips
of one day each, to plants in
Eastern North Carolina.
Professor Redman said that
each student would hand in a
written report on each plant
visited on the tour schedule. The
visits to industry have been a
part of the industrial engineer
ing course for the past three
years.
Professor Redman and his
students were impressed by the
“vast operation” here—“world’s
largest textile plant under one
roof.”
“Efficiency with which ma
terials are handled along the
production lines is a good ex
ample of mechanization in the
textile industry today,” Mr.
Redman noted.
PURPOSE of the plant tours
is to give students some concept
of the different manufacturing
establishments, their layout and
methods of handling materials;
and to introduce students to a
general understanding of the
scope of industry in the state.
This is done with the hope that
engineering students graduating
from State will seek employ
ment in North Carolina indus
tries.
“By making tours of plants
such as Firestone, we seek to
foster a closer relationship be
tween the College of Engineer
ing and the industries of the
state,” Professor Redman said.
Below: Students and plant guides line up for tour. Right: Rep
resentative of the visitors' close-up view of the operations here is
this scene in the Synthetics Weaving Department. From left, George
Mathews, Laurel Hill; W. C. Calton, Jr., Raleigh; L. B. McAbee,
assistant director of Industrial Relations; and Professor George
Redman, Industrial Engineering Department, N. C. State College.