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COMMUNITY AGENCIES SHARE EMPLOYEE GIFTS
The Gaston Couniy Tuberculosis Associa-
lion fund was increased by $511.50 in March
when the annual employee contribution was
made. Above: Mrs. Coit Robinson of Lowell,
county chairman of the 1956 Christmas Seals
sale, looks over the check, presented by
Comptroller E. J. Mechem. Above Right; A
check for $1,226.50 was presented to the
Gaston County Heart Fund in March. Coun
ty Heart Fund Chairman, L. A. Wolfe,
(right), receives the contribution from Willie
Beattie, Spinning Department. Mr. Beattie,
who suffered a minor coronary seizure in
April of 1956# is a volunteer worker in the
interest of the Heart Fund. Looking on are
T. B. Ipock, Jr., Industrial Relations direc
tor; and A. P. Aldridge, Jr., who served as
co-chairman of the county Heart Fund with
G. N. Henson, Jr. The Heart Fund and
Tuberculosis Association gifts represent an
nual employee contributions collected dur
ing the last UF Campaign at the plant.
Construction And Expansion Program
—From page 1
Ben Davis, Men's Club clerk (left), and A. P. Honeycutt.
He Traded Life Of Adventure
For A Career In Textiles
Archibald Pinkney Honeycutt
has always had music in his soul.
But he never developed it be
yond the ’’hobby” stage during
his almost half-century of em
ployment in textile mills in Pied
mont North Carolina.
Fifty-eight years ago, when he
was 17 years old, his vocal-cord
imitations of the piano gained
attention of Buckskin Bill, a
famed Westerner of his day, who
had a wandering variety show.
Buckskin offered Honeycutt $100
a month, with his board, lodging
and travel expenses to boot, if
he’d come along with the enter
tainment troupe and do his piano
act.
OLDTIMERS here recollect
the Card Room retiree as one
who was able to reproduce tunes
on an imaginary piano. When
he’d touch his knee, elbow or the
bottom of his foot, you’d be con
vinced beyond a shadow of
doubt that the “piano” melody
was coming right straight from
that part of his body.
Archie didn’t join the Buck
skin Bill cast, but rather chose
to remain in his home state. For
by family tradition, he was des
tined to be a textile worker. He
has had working experience in
several mills in the Piedmont,
his last 15 years of employment
having been spent at Firestone.
He has been retired from the
Carding Department for six
years.
USUALLY each summer he
plans a fishing trip to Newport
News, Va., where he. visits a son.
Two other sons, George and
Worth, are employed in Weav
ing. A daughter, Mrs. Paul
Bolick, works in Twisting.
Besides his piano imitations,
Honeycutt has played a harmon
ica “almost all his life.” But un
til a friend gave him a harmon
ica for Christmas last year, his
practice had become neglected.
Oh March 7—his 75th birthday
—colleagues at the Men’s Club
presented him with a new Hoh-
ner instrument. Almost every
weekday the retired speeder
tender comes to the Club, where
he plays billiards and checkers,
and often throws in a harmonica
tune for good measure.
vantage of the expanded op
portunities for business in the
years ahead,” Mr. Firestone said.
“The expansion program will
increase our capacity for the
production of synthetic rubber to
230,000 tons a year within the
next few months,” he added.
“This high level capacity for
synthetic production, plus our
facilities for producing natural
rubber in Liberia and Brazil,
marks our company as the
world’s largest producer of rub
ber.”
THE LARGEST new construc
tion project is the plant at
Orange, Texas, which will manu
facture butadiene, a basic in
gredient in the production of
synthetic rubber, for Firestone
synthetic plants at Lake Charles
and Akron. This plant is sched
uler for completion by early
April.
Firestone’s air springs plant at
Noblesville is set for completion
in June and will go into produc
tion by July.
Executives of the company ex
pect substantial business vol
ume in the new product to be
marketed as “Airide” by Fire
stone. The springs are designed
to replace steel springs in auto
mobiles of the future. They will
permit cars to be constructed
with a lower center of gravity
than any automobiles mass pro
duced so far, and give a much
softer ride than steel spring
vehicles.
THE HAVANA plant, now
under construction, will begin
producing tires by early 'fall.
This factory will help fulfill the
desire of the Cuban government
for the production of enough
tires within that island to satisfy
all domestic requirements of
car and truck owners.
The Philippine plant ten miles
outside Manila is expected to be
producing tires for passenger
cars, trucks and off-the-road ve
hicles by October. This is the
14th foreign plant to be built by
Firestone. Purpose of its opera
tion is to service the more than
115,000 motor vehicles in the
Philippines as well as the
thousands of new cars and trucks
being assembled and imported
each year into the islands.
APRIL, 1957
Plant Featured
In Textile World
Firestone’s Gastonia plant was
featured in a double-page lay
out of text and photographs in
the March, 1957, issue of Textile
World. Under title of “New
Processes Improve Tire - Cord
Fabrics,” the article tells of the
transition from cotton to rayon
and nylon tire cord fabric-mak-
ing here.
It describes general production
procedures in converting of syn
thetics into the tire cord ma
terial, as it is readied for ship
ment to Firestone tire plants
throughout the world.
“To insure safety in tires,
quality is the first consideration
at Firestone,” the author writes.
He explains that this safety is
insured with the well-organized
Quality Control Department,
which tests materials in the lab
oratory and inspects them as
they are turned out on the pro
duction line.
PHOTOGRAPHS accompany
ing the article show scenes in the
Ply and Cable Twisting, and the
Synthetics Weaving depart
ments.
The Textile World article
makes particular mention of the
process by which tension is
“locked” into nylon fabric for
tires by the giant electronic
Safety - Tensioning and Gum-
Dipping Unit, the most revolu
tionary installation made at the
plant in recent years.
Pan-American Day
Is April 14
The United States will join 21
American republics in observ
ance of Pan-American Day on
April 14. On this date in 1890 the
first International Conference of
American States was held in
Washington. At that time a reso
lution was adopted which result
ed in creation of the organization
known today as the Pan-Ameri
can Union.
Pan-American Day is intended
“to give expression to the spirit
of solidarity and to the senti
ments of cordiality and friendly
feeling which the government
of this country entertains to
ward the peoples and govern
ments of the other republics of
the American continent.”
IN THE GASTONIA GAZETTE
Employees Commended For Blood Donations
Note: The following is a reprint of an editorial
in The Gastonia Gazette, commenting on the re
cent visit of the Red Cross Bloodmobile to Fire
stone Textiles.
Cooperation is needed in just about every
thing that has for its objective the better
ment of mankind. Just about the truest
example of this is the blood bank. Without
cooperation from citizens the blood bank
would be a failure.
Several months ago Gaston’s blood bank
was in a fair way of losing its status with
the Red Cross. However, we are glad to say
that during the last few months there has
been a noticeable increase in blood dona
tions.
Latest organization to come to the front
and do more than its share in the way of
blood donations is Firestone Textiles.
Booked for a visit to that live-wire organi
zation, the Bloodmobile hoped to come away
with its quota of 125 pints.
However, the Firestone people exceeded
the quota by giving 157 pints, 32 pints more
than the amount expected. This to our way
of thinking was an excellent showing.
We congratulate the Firestone organiza
tion as a whole for the fine showing, but at
the same time extend an “extra congratula-
tion” to Billy G. McSwain, J, R, Benfleld>
John S. Mitchell, C. M. Plyler, and Arnold
Grindle.
They became gallon donors and each
ceived credit cards for one year of
blood for their families.
Other organizations would do well to keep
in mind what Firestone did in the way
blood donations, and try to equal or surpass
this fine record the next time the bloodmO'
bile visits their community.