AUGUST, 1958
Tire^tone 3f3lWi
PAGE 5
LIVING STANDARD IMPROVING
Chairman Sees European Tire Sales Increase
Firestone Textiles President William A. Karl, down from Akron
for a plant visit in July, congratulated Mildred Redding for her
20 years of service. Here he presents her with a gold watch, the
company's compliment for two-decade record holders. Looking on
are General Manager Harold Mercer, left, and T. B. Ipock, director
of Industrial Relations.
280th Name Is Entered
On 20-Year Slate
When Mildred W. Redding of Spooling received her 20-
year lapel pin and gold wrist watch in July, she became the
280th employee to reach this service milestone at the Gas
tonia plant. On hand to help her mark the occasion was W. A.
Karl, president of Firestone Textiles.
At the same time Mrs. Red
ding completed two decades of
service, there were several others
who marked up 15, 10 and 5-
year records. The roll call:
Fifteen Years
Rayon Twisting: William O.
Allen, Orbie A. Chastain, Bonnie
E. Marsh.
Rayon Weaving: Anthony
Holden, William C. Smith.
Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars
have selected Firestone tires 100
per cent on exports for all coun
tries, exclusive of France, the
Firestone International Company
announced in mid-summer.
Industrial Relations: Thomas
B. Ipock, Jr.
Ten Years
Spooling: Wilma M. Cline,
Rayon Twisting: Jessie J. Gib-
bie, Corrie H. Johnson, Pansy L.
Ledford. Cotton Weaving: Emi-
lie T. Goble.
Five Years
Rayon Twisting: Leonard M.
Hodge, Roy Marr, James L. Don
aldson, Edith P. Colvard. Ware
house: Clarence Alexander.
Rayon Weaving: James M.
Marlowe, Joe G. Adams, James
E. Allmon, James R. Nix.
Each of these persons has re
ceived a service pin.
Hiring A Baby Sitter? Check Rules
Of Children’s Fire Safety
An estimated 11,000 persons
die as a result of fire each year
in the United States. Of that
number, children up to five
years of age account for at least
20 per cent of the total, accord
ing to information from the Na
tional Board of Fire Underwrit
ers.
Against these grim facts, the
NBFU provides timely remind
ers on fire safety for parents
who leave children in the care
of baby sitters. Children’s help
lessness, their inquisitiveness
and lack of fear of fire account
for many of the fire tragedies.
Because preparedness can
mean the difference between
safety and tragedy as a result of
fire, you, as a parent or other
responsible adult, ought to take
every precaution to protect
youngsters from fire. If you leave
children with a baby sitter, it
is best to know the person you
employ. Inquire into her training
and family background. Be rea
sonably sure she can meet
emergencies, such as fire. Only
those who have a sense of re
sponsibility and like children
should be trusted with young
sters in the five-and-under age
group.
OTHER suggestions from the
Fire Underwriters are:
1. Try to have a regular baby
sitter. A girl in your neighbor
hood is usually best.
2. Brief the sitter. Acquaint
her with children and pets, es
pecially the watch-dog. Instruct
her orally, then write down your
important reminders. Make an
emergency list, including the
telephone number of the fire de
partment, family doctor, and
place to which you, the parent
(or other adult responsible for
the children) are going. Maybe
include the name and telephone
number of a trusted neighbor as
an extra precaution.
3. Caution the sitter against
allowing child to play with
matches, electric cords, or other
electric appliances. Also tell her
to keep the child out of the
kitchen, if possible.
4. If sitter is to bathe young
ster, make sure she has had
some experience.
5. Provide a first aid kit and
explain its use, including how to
take care of simple burns, cuts
and bruises. Have flashlight
handy in case the electric power
goes out.
6. Be sure the sitter under
stands that in a fire emergency
she should get the child out of
the house, call the fire depart
ment, then notify her employer.
7. Return home at the hour
agreed upon. Telephone, if de
layed.
8. Make suitable and safe ar
rangements for accompanying
the sitter home.
Standards of living throughout
the free countries of Europe are
constantly improving, according
to observations made by Harvey
S. Firestone, Jr., who, with Mrs.
Firestone, returned to the United
States in early July. The Com
pany chairman attended the
meeting of the International
Rubber Study Group in Ham
burg, addressed a conference of
his company’s technical person
nel in London, and inspected the
company’s European factories.
“While there is still spotty un
employment in some parts of
Europe, the general economic
health of all the countries I visit
ed was good,” reported Mr. Fire
stone.
He said that the phenomenal
growth of the automobile indus
try in Western Europe reflects
the increase in living standards
of European peoples, as compar
ed to the years before World
War II, when few families could
afford to own motor vehicles.
“Between 1950 and 1957,'’ said
Mr. Firestone, “the number of
vehicles on the road in Great
Britain, France, Western Ger
many, Italy and Spain increased
107 per cent, compared with an
increase of 37 per cent in the
United States. As a result, the
demand for tires and other rub
ber automotive products has
shown a marked increase.
"LAST YEAR, the total con
sumption of rubber—both syn
thetic and natural—in Western
Europe and Great Britain was
more than 857,000 long tons,
compared with about 555,000
long tons in 1950, an increase of
54 per cent. In the United States,
during the same period, the in
crease was only 16 per cent,
from 1,258,557 long tons to 1,-
464,640.
“This increase in car owner
ship,” he said, “has had a direct
effect on the economies of
many nations through the es
tablishment of thousands of
small businesses to service motor
vehicles and to serve motorists.
Throughout Europe, motels and
service stations are springing up
at a rapid pace.”
Mr. Firestone pointed out that
the estimated production of na
tural rubber will equal consump
tion, and that the productive
capacity for synthetic rubber is
estimated to be more than suf
ficient to meet world require
ments. He said that European
nations were becoming more
aware of the fact that the stable
price and high production of
synthetic rubber in the United
States have been important fac
tors in stabilizing the price of
natural rubber. He also said that
the increasing use of synthetic
rubber in Europe is having a
very favorable effect on the
economies of many countries of
Europe.
IN THE past seven years, the
consumption of synthetic rubber
in the free countries of Europe
has increased eleven times; from
18,800 long tons in 1950 to 211,-
000 long tons last year, said Mr.
Firestone. Furthermore, it is es
timated that in these same coun
tries synthetic rubber consump
tion will be nearly 255,000 long
tons in 1958, an increase of 21
per cent over 1957 and about 28
per cent of all the rubber used
in this area this year.
The Wrays Live
In New York
Mr. and Mrs. Peter G. Wray
are at home in New York City,
where he is attending Columbia
University as a graduate stu
dent. Mrs. Wray is the former
Gay Idabelle Firestone, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger S.
Firestone of Pottstown, Pa.
The Wrays were married in
St. Christophers Church, Glad-
wyn. Pa., June 14. Her father-in-
law is president of Firestone
Plastics Company of Pottstown,
and a director of the Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company.
Late Summer Is Time To Hit Nature Trails
TRAVEL
NOTES
Variety for out-of-doors enjoyment is almost
unlimited year-round in North Carolina, but
especially so in August, when summer has turned
mellow and the travel season is reaching its
height.
To call attention to the opportunities for en
joying what the North State has to offer the
traveler. Governor Hodges has proclaimed this
August as “See North Carolina Month.”
From east to west across the State’s 500-mile
length there are the grandeur of mountains and
the romantic charm of lighthouses, shipwrecks
and historic fortifications to
explore. Golf, riding, hiking,
water skiing, boating, swim
ming and fishing — these are
but a few on the long list of
attractions.
Enjoyment of the outdoors, including wilder
ness areas little changed from the days when
they were first explored by the white man, need
not mean discomfort or isolation in North Caro
lina. You can see rugged countryside from good
roads and from hiking trails within a few
minutes drive of good inns and motor courts.
THIS REMINDER, along with the other travel
suggestions here, comes from the travel informa
tion service of Plant Recreation. Advice from
that department is: “When off the job, get out
and go somewhere. You’ll appreciate life more
and come back ready to do your work a little
better. And since August is ‘See North Carolina
Month,’ there’s excitement in store for you in
your own home state.”
Of open-air attractions there are picnic and
camping areas in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, along the Blue Ridge Parkway,
and in National Forests and State Parks from
coast to mountains. The Cape Hatteras National
Seashore Recreational Area on the Outer Banks
Islands has new day-use areas for swimming
and picnicking. Statewide along main highways,
there are over 400 roadside picnic tables and 15
roadside parks.
Swimming areas and refreshment stands are
open in State Parks through September 4.
THE SEASON of fairs and fall festivals is
underway with the Drexel Community Fair, at
Drexel, August 26-30; and the 12th annual North
Carolina Apple Festival at Hendersonville, Aug
ust 27-September 1. If you’re in town on the 27th
—oldtimers’ day—a straw hat on the head will
avert a “jail sentence.” No rustic garb needed to
attend the beauty pageant, folk dance jamboree,
coronation ball and fireworks display.
Also in the mountain country, there are other
special events, among which are the 5th annual
Horse Show at Waynesville, August 15-16; The
Antique Fair at Asheville, 10-15; the 19th annual
Flower Show, 17-19.
DOWN EAST, a highlight of the summer calen
dar is the Virginia Dare Birthday Celebration at
Manteo on August 18, in conjunction with a per
formance of The Lost Colony, famed drama of
the ill-fated Sir Walter Raleigh colony.
For a deeper appreciation of your home state,
Plant Recreation suggests that during “See North
Carolina Month” you visit some historic buildings
and shrines. Of the hundreds of them, ranging
from pre-Revolutionary mansions and Colonial
capitals to rustic cabins in the hill country, these
are but a sampling:
: : Smokemont, pioneer farmstead at entrance
to Great Smoky Mountains National Park on
US 441. Here original structures, reproduced,
form a typical frontier farm. Adjoining is the
Pioneer Museum, featuring a group of early
settlers’ buildings complete with farmhouse,
barns, smokehouse and tool shed. A collection of
household and farm tools is housed in the museum
proper. It is open through October.
: : Manteo and the Fort Raleigh National His
torical Site on Roanoke Island. Reconstructed
earthworks on foundations of fort which guarded
first English settlement in America, 1585-90, and
thatched huts of type which housed settlers.
: : Tryon Palace, New Bern, built 1767-70 by
Royal Governor William Tryon. Permanent his
torical shrine open to visitors all year.
: : State Capitol at Raleigh, built 1833-40. Also
Andrew Johnson birthplace.
: : Buildings of restored Moravian settlement
at Old Salem, Winston-Salem, dating back to
late 1700s.
An abbreviated list of historic houses and other
shrines in the State may be had by writing for
Information Bulletin 108, Advertising Division,
Department of Conservation and Development,
Raleigh.
Also available free in single copies: the latest
NC highway map from the State Travel Bureau,
Department of Conservation and Development.