NOVEMBER, 1958
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PAGE 7
SERVICE MILESTONES
Nine Join 20-Year Ranks;
Other October Records
There were several people who came to work here for
the first time in October of 1938. Of that number, today
there are nine whose names have been entered on the roll
of 20 years’ service. Each of the following were honored with
a lapel service pin and a gold watch, presented in the gen
eral manager’s office last month:
I
Each person who marked 20 years of employ- ing, from lefl: Cotlon division superintendent
ment here in October received a watch and serv- F. B. Galligan (on hand to add cnna-^Pt'ii-='+ion«;^;
ice pin. Seated, from left: Verdie M. Smith, Walser R. Polston, James Crawford, Gentry V.
Annie Chastain; general manager Harold Mercer Tindall, Luell E. Thomas, Arthur H. Robinson
(presenting pin); and Ella M. Whitaker. Stand- and Fred B. Walker.
H. T. Aldridge Stars In ‘The Sunfish’s Cook’
Luell E. Thomas and Fred B.
Walker, Carding; Arthur H. Rob
inson, Spinning; Ella M. Whita
ker and Verdie M. Smith, Spool
ing; Walser R. Polston, Twisting
(rayon); Annie B. Chastain,
Weaving (cotton); Gentry V.
Tindall and James N. Crawford,
Shop.
At the time these congratula
tions were being made, 26 others
were also receiving honors for
completion of 15, 10 and 5-year
periods of loyal service to the
company at its Gastonia plant.
The October list:
Fifteen Years
James V. Lewis, Carding;
Vama O. Deal, Twisting (rayon);
Jessie M. Hardwick, Weaving
(cotton); Rudolph Calhoun,
Shop; Nellie M. Stowe, Industrial
Relations.
Ten Years
Cleveland Mason, Carding;
Robert C. Jones, Spooling; Lillie
B. Rollins, Weaving (rayon);
Sarah W. Ward, Weaving (cot
ton).
Five Years
Mamie L. Bell, Beaming-Quill-
Company Building
Portugal Plant
Another Firestone plant—this
one in Europe—is scheduled to
go into production of tires and
tubes in late 1959. The plant,
under construction since Sep
tember, is located in Alcochete,
Portugal. It is on a 93-acre tract
of land, about 10 miles east of
Lisbon, capital and chief city of
the west European republic. The
new company factory is across
the River Tejo and within a short
distance of Portugal’s chief sea
port and center of commerce.
Annual production at the Por
tugal factory is planned at 120,-
000 truck and passenger tires, in
cluding tubes, company chair
ing; Noah P. Watts, Willard H.
Ammons and Claude A. Turner,
Carding; Fred J. Davis and
Jimmy G. Owens, Quality Con
trol; Howard Dellinger, Nylon
Treating; Lee R. Sims and
Jerry J. Railey, Twisting (rayon).
Broadus Jackson, Joseph C.
Hice, Grady G. Wylie and Irene
J. Barton, Weaving (cotton);
Betty Crisp, John T. Brown, Jr.,
and Christy A. Huffstetler,
Weaving (rayon); Mary Prince,
Winding.
Each of these employees has
received the lapel pin commem
orative of their long-time serv
ice to the company.
man Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.,
said.
Under her first “six-year plan”
—to be completed this year—
Portugal has undergone a sub
stantial industrial expansion,
adding several new industries to
the country’s roster of busi
nesses, Mr. Firestone pointed
out.
As an indication of her ad
vance, Portugal and Portuguese
possessions have more than
doubled their registration of
cars, trucks and buses from
about 112,500 in 1951 to around
227,000 in 1958.
A recent newspaper story from
Hollywood, Calif., told of a na
tionwide search for the son of
a Firestone employee, to appear
on the TV show “The Silent
Service.”
Teddy Eugene Aldridge, son of
William H. Aldridge of Twisting,
<
T. E. Aldridge; Hard - to - find
submarine hero almost disrupted
the show. . .
was located to appear on the TV
show based on a film titled “The
Sunfish’s Cook.” The news fea
ture related the story this way;
Locating the only cook in the
submarine service ever decorat
ed for bravery looked like a
routine matter to producer of
“The Silent Service” television
show.
But it turned out to be a six-
week nationwide manhunt be
fore Teddy Eugene Aldridge,
winner of the Bronze Star as a
cook aboard the Sunfish in
World War II, was found.
HIS STORY was chosen for
an episode in the film series,
based on true experiences of the
Navy’s submariners. And he had
to be found, since the program’s
format called for the subject to
appear in person at the close of
the show.
But the producers had had
tough ones before. So they start
ed filming “The Sunfish’s Cook.”
It was the tale of how Ald
ridge, then 23 in 1944, was prac
tically a one-man gang aboard
the sub when she attacked 14
Japanese trawlers. Aldridge was
assigned a Browning Automatic
Rifle for use in surface engage
ments.
During the two-hour battle he
roamed the deck, blasting away
with his BAR. And he saved his
ship when he poured lead into
an enemy’s wheelhouse to pre
vent him from ramming Ald
ridge’s craft.
The filming sailed along, but
Mountain Railroad
—From page 6
points borders the Jefferson Na
tional Forest.
Conductor Wohlford and
others of the crew wouldn’t ad
mit it, but you somehow get the
feeling that what they really
like best about the Virginia
Creeper is this:
When they pull out of Abing
don they leave the main line be
hind them, and they’re on their
own to take you on an unforget
table, sentimental journey into
time.
the search was another matter.
The Navy had no record of the
former cook, who had left the
Navy in 1945. Bakers unions,
Social Security and Veterans Ad
ministration all were checked
without result.
The American Legion was able
to find Aldridge’s VA claim
number. From this, the ex
sailor’s grandmother, Mrs. C. D.
Pangle of Englewood, Tenn., was
found. She gave them the name
of Aldridge’s father in Gastonia.
From him the producers traced
the heroic cook to Seattle, where
he was ashore for a few days
from cruises to the Orient as
cook on a Merchant Marine ves
sel.
He was then flown to Holly
wood to appear on the program,
which finally went off on sched
ule.
RECKONING WITH COMPETITION
The Consumer
Has Many Choices
Before Him
Even in the best of times, when consumers
are in a buying mood, competition is a force
to be reckoned with, because in America the
consumer always has many choices before
him. But he can’t buy everything.
In a period of business recession, the
customer thinks long and hard before mak
ing a choice. The search for value becomes
longer and more thorough. Value is a com
bination of quality and price—and is created
not by the salesmen and the advertising de
partment, but in the production depart-
irents.
^ ^
Good workmanship, the proper use of
tools and machines, and the avoidance of the
“little mistakes” that can be so serious, all
contribute to the quality of our products.
The prices of our products are determined
by the costs of production. Waste of ma
terials, an excessive amount of scrap or
faulty items that must be rejected, the
waste of time, and the misuse of tools, all
enter into the price of the finished prod
ucts. They may force the price to be higher
than the customer wants to pay.
Every employee, whether he knows it or
not, is in competition every working day of
his life. If his work is done carelessly a sale
may be lost, or a customer may be turned
away. If he wastes time or materials, the
added cost will ultimately become a part
of the price of the company’s product.
It is a human tendency to put the blame
for conditions on the other fellow, and to
think that it is up to others to produce the
remedv. But in a free economy it is best not
to wait for “the other fellow” to do some
thing. A free economy works well, or works
badly, according to the actions of all of us—
as employees, managers, investors, con
sumers. Our day-to-day decisions on buying,
saving, investing and producing have far
more to do with our prosperity than any
actions that possibly could be taken by the
government.
None of us, single-handed, can solve the
nation’s problems. But that does not mean
that we need to wait for a miracle. Each of
us, working to the best of his ability, can
help to weigh the scales on the side of a
better cost-price balance, better sales and a
better future.
October 20-26 was Nation
al Bible Week, sponsored by
the Laymen’s National Com
mittee, Inc. It was the 18th
annual reminder to re-read
the enduring truths of “The
Bible—The Word of Life.”
From Thanksgiving Day
to Christmas again this year,
millions of people in some
50 countries will unite in
daily reading from the Bible.
Why not join them?
For a bookmark with a list
of readings, write to:
The American Bible Society
450 Park Avenue
New York 22, New York
Christmas Seals Fight Tuberculosis
The 1958 sale of Christmas Seals will begin in Gaston
County November 14. In making the announcement, Gaston
County Tuberculosis Association secretary Mrs. Blanche
Gray Hamner pointed out that this will be the 52nd year
that Christmas Seals have been mailed to the homes of
American citizens, waging fight against a deadly enemy—
tuberculosis.
“Much has been accomplished in these 51 years, and
fewer deaths are occurring from tuberculosis today because
of the wonderful discoveries through research,” Mrs. Hamner
said. She added;
“We are still working on a vaccine to prevent tubercu
losis. This is one of the examples of research for which
money is needed. Please buy as many Seals as you can.”
Firestone’s Cotton Division superintendent F. B. Galli
gan is treasurer of the Gaston County Tuberculosis Associa
tion.