PAGE 8
MlWl
NOVEMBER, 1958
Mercers Saw Sights Of Seven European Lands
ind the strengtli
for your life...
Religion In American Life Program
WORSHIP TOGETHER TH/S WEEK
Company Cited For Its Safety-Check Program
A month-long tour in Europe
took Mr. and Mrs. Harold Mercer
to many famous landmarks in
Scotland, England, Holland, Bel
gium, Germany, France and
Switzerland this fall.
The plant’s general manager
and his wife traveled by air non
stop from New York to Glasgow
on September 13, and returned
by plane to Gastonia October 13.
They motored through Scotland,
stopping at Edinburgh and sev
eral other places in the country,
then proceeded to London. In the
British capital they were join
ed by Mr. Mercer’s daughter,
Miss Sara Mercer, who came up
from Paris where she is study
ing at the Sorbonne.
From London, Mr. and Mrs.
Mercer went by air to Amster
dam, Holland, then to Brussels,
Belgium, for a visit at the
World’s Fair, then took a plane
again for Dusseldorf, a leading
manufacturing and commercial
center in Western Germany.
FROM BONN they traveled
partly by steamer on the Rhine
to Heidelberg. By motorcar they
went through the Black Forest,
making a chief point of interest
an overnight stop at Triburg,
center of the Forest’s renowned
woodcarving industry. Here are
produced world-famous cuckoo
clocks, music boxes and toys.
The Mercers’ itinerary took
them by car to Zurich in the Al
pine foothills of Switzerland.
This was starting point for a tour
of the Alps, with their unsur
passed beauty of landscape—
towering peaks, and lakes.
A plane took the Gastonia
tourists to Paris for a week’s
stay. Here Miss Mercer rejoined
them for a look at many of the
landmarks in the French capital.
“We were especially impressed
with the progressive economy of
Western Germany, and the
American influence in most of
Rubber Output
Record Set
Liberian rubber plantations of
the Firestone Company are well
into their two-billionth pound of
production. In early July of this
year the West African planta
tions turned out their one-bil-
lionth pound of rubber.
Firestone began clearing Li
berian jungle in 1926 to set the
trees that established the planta
tions. Today, the Company has
90,000 acres of high-producing
rubber trees there. The planta
tions make possible employment
for some 30,000 Liberians.
the countries we visited,” they
reported.
Highlights of their tour of
Scotland and England were stops
at the homes of several famous
authors, including Robert Louis
Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, Wil
liam Wordsworth and Sir Conan
Doyle.
At Stratford - on - Avon near
Warwickshire, England, they
visited shrines reminiscent of
William Shakespeare. The stay
there included a performance of
Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”
at the theatre named for the
famous English bard; and an
overnight lodging at the Shakes
peare Inn.
“While we were in Germany
and Switzerland, we did not have
to miss the World Series back
home,” they said. “We were able
to hear the games on our tran
sistor radio. There was good re
ception from the powerful sta
tion in Frankfurt.”
Firestone Textiles shared in a
recent commendation from the
National Community Vehicle
Safety Check program of the
Inter-Industry Highway Safety
Committee. Judges in the “Circle
of Safety” awards competition
praised the Firestone company
for conducting its nationwide in
dustry safety-check for em
ployees and other motorists in
Firestone plant cities last May.
The company was the first cor
poration to sponsor the program
on a nationwide basis.
This year the National Com
munity Vehicle Safety - Check
processed a new high of more
than three million cars and
trucks for safe driving condi
tion in more than 2,000 com
munities. There were some 10,-
000 vehicles checked in Firestone
lanes across the country—619 of
them at the Gastonia plant.
A “Special Judges Award”
went to the Firestone Steel
Products Company at Wyan
dotte, Mich., for conducting a
co-operative area-wide safety-
check program in four outlying
communities where a large num
ber of the Wyandotte plant em
ployees live.
For the fourlh consecutive
year, one out of every five ve
hicles safely-checked during the
Inter-Industry program was
found in need of maintenance at
tention.
FIRESTONE TEXTILES
P. O. BOX 551
GASTONIA, N. C.
“Again in 1958, rear lights
were most often found in need
of immediate attention among
the 10 safety-check items,” re
ported H. D. Tompkins, chair
man of the committee and vice
president of the Firestone com
pany. “Brakes, front lights, ex
haust systems, and tires were
next in order of items most fre
quently found in unsafe condi
tion.”
OTHER ITEMS inspected dur
ing the safety-checks were steer
ing, windshield wipers, glass,
hom and rear view mii-rox-.
Mr. Tompkins congratulated
the motorists who had their ve
hicles checked and added a spe
cial commendation for owners
who had unsafe items repaired
and returned for a re-check.
“By making sure their vehicles
are in safe operating condition,
these drivers have demonstrated
a feeling of personal responsi
bility for traffic safety that is
necessary for the safe use of our
roads and streets,” Mr. Tompkins
emphasized.
“We are approaching an age
of expressway-driving that will
add to the importance of safe ve
hicle condition. Many miles of
new and improved roads are be
ing added to our highway sys
tems each year as the national
highway expansion program
takes hold. Experience on the
nation’s turnpikes has shown
that safe condition of tires,
brakes, steering and other safe
ty-check items is vital on mod
ern highway facilities carrying
large volumes of fast-moving
traffic.”
People and Places —From page 5
Section hand J. C. Westbrook and Mrs. Westbrook, spooler tend
er, along with others of the family visited Mr. and Mrs. C. E.
Tilley in Norfolk, Va., recently. Accompanying the Westbrooks were
Mr. and Mrs. Gene Huss and daughter Teresa. Mrs. Huss is a daugh
ter of the Westbrooks.
Mrs. Nora Brady of Knoxville, Tenn., spent a few days recent
ly with Della Short, spooler tender.
Louise James, Ruby Sellers, Annie Mae Southerland and
Georgia Henson have been welcomed as new employees in the
Spooling department.
Ruth Allison has returned to work after a sick leave. He was a
patient at the Gaston County Negro Hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Luther Thompson wish to thank their many
friends for the kindness shown during the illness and death of their
niece. Miss Rose Hine Thompson.
George Hine has returned to work after several days at the
Gaston County Negro Hospital.
Sympathy is extended to Charles Adams, third-shift fork truck
operator, whose mother died October 15.
Miss Nina Milton, retired from Weaving (cotton), was some
what improved in late October, after an extended illness. Miss
Milton first came to the plant here in 1918. When she retired two
years ago, she had worked almost 15 years for the Firestone com
pany.
Mrs. James Neal, Winder tender, and Mr. Neal visited recently
with Mr. and Mrs. Norman Neal and their family who live in the
Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia.
Airman 3C James Ledford has returned to his station at Lincoln
Air Force Base (Nebraska), after a two-week leave in October,
spent with his parents, Blanche Hollis of Winding, and Mr. Hollis.
The Hollis’ live in Bessemer City.
On a late October week end Helen Meeks had as guests Mr. and
Mrs. Robert Huffstetler of Raleigh.
Mable Mantooth had as recent dinner guests her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Zeb Little of Clover, S. C.
Charlie Ballard visited in Thomasville, N. C. recently.
Estelle Prince spent an October day visiting in the home of her
brother, F. E, Williams, of Columbia, S. C.
Carry A Record Of Your Blood Type
It is a matter of preparedness to carry a record of your blood
type with you at all times. This advice from the Carolina Motor
Club applies to pedestrians as well as motorists, since both are in
volved in the many thousands of traffic accidents every year. It
may be the difference between life and death if you are injured
and there is need for a transfusion.
North Carolina drivers licenses have a space for this informa
tion. Most identification cards also provide this space.
Diabetics also need to carry information regarding this illness.
The information ought to be written down and carried in an easy-
to-find place, such as alongside an identification card.
In cases of emergencies, minutes—even seconds—can mean
survival or death.
POSTAL MANUAL
SECTION 134.1
U. S. POSTAGE PAID
GASTONIA, N. C.
PERMIT NO. 29
THE LIBRARY OF UHC
CHAPEL HILL, N. C.
Form 3547 Requested