Newspapers / Firestone News (Gastonia, N.C.) / May 1, 1957, edition 1 / Page 5
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MAY, 1957 PAGE 5 a Chairman Honored By German Republic Comptroller Marks 20 Years With Company Upon his recent completion of 20 years of serv ice with the Company, Comptroller E. J. Mechem received congratulations from General Manager Harold Mercer, and was presented a gold watch and service pin. Mr. Mechem is a native of Jack sonville, Fla., and was educated in the schools of Burlington, Kan. On March 22, 1937, he began working for the Company in the district office and stores system in the Oklahoma City, Okla., area and a few months later went to a similar job in Dallas, Texas district, involving some 25 Company stores. In 1943 he was transferred to the administra tive department of the Company’s synthetic rub ber operation in Port Neches, Texas. Remaining there through 1948, he was then assigned to the auditing department of the Akron General Of fices. After approximately three years there he moved to the Gastonia plant as Comptroller. In the photo above, from left; General Super intendent Nelson Kessell, Mr. Mechem, Mr. Mercer, and Cotton Division Superintendent F. B. Galligan. One of the most certain paths to permanent peace is a liberal interchange of trade among na tions cf the free world. And from the mutual benefits of private enterprise may well come the lasting strength of international understanding. These were views expressed by Company Chairman Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., upon his be ing presented the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Ger many, March 30. The Chairman was accorded the high honor in recognition of his “outstanding services in furthering friendly relations be tween the United States and Germany.” PRESIDENT Theodor Heuss of the Federal Republic of Ger many bestowed the award last December 20, and it was pre sented on the President’s behalf by Ambassador Heinz L. Kreke- ler at the ambassador’s residence in Washington. In making the presentation. Ambassador Krekeler told Mr. Firestone: “With farsightedness and un derstanding you have devoted yourself to economic relations between our two countries. You have shown how these relations can be placed upon an enduring basis. By doing so you have made a significant contribution to the economic rebuilding of my country. Your efforts for the greater liberalization of world trade are also well known in Germany,” he continued. “The economic relations be tween our two countries for de velopment and expansion, of which you have done so much, provide a firm foundation for the continued growth of human and cultural contacts. Your achievements thus go beyond the economic sphere into the field of general human relations on which alone lasting friendship between two peoples can be built.” Since 1950, the Company has been associated with, and has had a financial and technical in terest in Phoenix Gummiwerke, a German tire and rubber firm in Hamburg. Firestone Liberia Story In Photo Exhibit rr PA YS TO PLA Y-EARL Y Quite early in life this member of a Firestone family has been introduced to the philosophy behind the plant Recreation slogan, "It Pays To Play." Kevin Dean Hanna, eight-month-old son of Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Hanna, here makes a fascinating exploration on one of the billiard tables at the Men's Club. His father, of the Twisting department, is a regular participant in the plant sports and recrea tion program. Prizes Await Fishing Club Members For the 21st year in a row, the plant’s Izaak Waltons may try for prizes for landing the biggest fish and for telling the most un believable “hard - luck” story about fishing. Competing in the contest from April through October will be members of the two fishing clubs representing the three shifts at the mill. Awards to winners will be fishing equipment. In addition to the prize for the biggest fish in any of 10 cate gories, a prize will go to the member in each of the two clubs who catches the heaviest large- niouth bass. Classification in which the prizes will be awarded are; Smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, calico bass, crappie, yellow perch, bream, trout, catfish, carp, pike. The angling competition is open to members of the plant fishing clubs only. June 4 is deadline for signing up for club membership, the Recreation De partment has announced. Filled-in contest blanks should be turned in at the Men’s Club where they will be retained for tabulation on October 31, clos ing date of the contest. Should entries come in after that date, they will be placed in the 1958 season’s competition. The plant’s top angler last year was George Honeycutt of SYC Weaving, who entered a largemouth bass weighing six pounds and two ounces. Claude Jonas, also of SYC Weaving, entered the second largest—a black bass of four pounds and seven ounces. Prizes for the next largest catches went to W. E. Deanhardt of the Cloth Room and Payton Lewis of Carding. Strangely enough, last year’s contest had no entries in the “tall-tale” class. The story of Firestone in Liberia was told through a photo-panel exhibit displayed at the plant main entrance for several days in March and early April. The presentation of the Com pany’s rubber-growing interests in the small West African republic attracted much interest among employees here. The exhibit, which was sent from Gastonia to the Company plant at Des Moines, Iowa, presents the amazing story of an underprivileged country which has benefited by investment of private capital, in an atmosphere of good will, confidence and fair dealings. In 1926 the Firestone Company began develop ment of its rubber plantations in Liberia, then one of the least developed countries in the world. From that beginning lasting and valuable bene fits have resulted to all concerned. Today there are more than 90,000 acres planted RIGHT: Firestone Worker Willie Bah gives Vice President Richard Nixon a lesson in tapping a rubber tree on one of the Company plantations in Liberia. Trees are tapped with a special knife, used to score the bark in a diagonal line so sap will run into the collection cup. The Vice Presi dent's recent visit to the Firestone plantations was part of a 21-day African good will tour. in high-producing rubber trees on the Firestone Plantations there. The yield, together with pro duction of the Company’s synthetic rubber facili ties, makes the Company the largest producer of rubber in the world. At the same time, Liberia has undergone change resulting in economic and social progress. ☆ ☆ ■ BELOW—Thomas Turner points to a photo panel showing the control room of the hydro electric plant on the Company's rubber planta tions in Liberia. He and Ralph Whitesides, both Shop carpenters, dis-assembled the exhibit for shipment to other Firestone plants. 1
Firestone News (Gastonia, N.C.)
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May 1, 1957, edition 1
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