DECEMBER, 1958
PAGE 3
TRAFFIC SAFETY
Will You Be One
Of 10,m Killers ?
. Ten thousand killers on the loose, deceptively
law-abiding in appearance, will take the lives of
more than 32,000 Americans of all ages during
the coming 12 months.
Police and FBI are powerless to cope with
these slayers. The armed forces couldn’t help,
even if called into action. Indeed, the assassins
themselves don’t know what they’ll do to snuff
out someone’s life. They don’t know whom they’ll
kill ... or when ... or where.
Who are these killers? They’re all motorists and
all pretty good drivers, too. Someone you know
may be one of them.
Whom will they slay? Strangers. Friends. Even
members of their own families. Why? Because
right now, even if they're reading this article,
they don’t know that tomorrow’s burst of extra
speed ... or next week’s decision to teach that
“wise guy” on the road a good lesson ... or
last month’s failure to have the car properly serv
iced
. . . Will result in death.
The National Safety Council says that the
majority of the 32,000 fatalities and 348,000 in
juries on the road in this country every year are
avoidable.
WHAT CAN YOU DO that you will not be
the one driver in 382 who will be involved in
an accident this year? For an approach to some
answers, comments and suggestions from the
National Safety Council, the American Auto
mobile Association, and safety experts of several
of America’s leading industries, led to this eight-
point program. Read it, and let it help you stay
out of the killer category:
1. Be reasonably sure you are physically fit to
drive. Feeling under-par? Stay from under the
steering wheel. For example, a simple headache
can upset your judgment, interfere with “road
attention.” If you ought to wear glasses, wear
them, and keep them up-to-date with your eye
needs. If you don’t wear glasses, a visit to an
optometrist once a year will help you play
safe. So simple an ailment as an upset stomach
can make you take chances on the road you
would ordinarily avoid. If you suddenly take sick
on the go, pull off the road until you feel better.
A cup of coffee and a little relaxation may help
you recover.
2. Be mentally fit to drive. Shrug off worries
before you release the brake; consciously avoid
“taking out your spite” on the road. The machine
you command is a would-be death weapon. Be
especially alert for children crossing the street,
unexpected side-road traffic, speedsters.
3. Know your car. Automobiles—like people—
have their peculiarities. As a car grows older its
individual traits are exaggerated. Whether it’s
your own, a friend’s or a rented vehicle, be cer
tain you know such facts as; The size of its
turning circle, where its “blind spots” are, just
how quickly it can accelerate—and decelerate—
in an emergency, how much pressure on the
brake it takes to halt it. Some preliminary tests
before a long trip could save your life.
4. Keep your vehicle in good mechanical condi
tion. Check brakes, battery, fan belt, windshield
wipers, wheel alignment, lights, horn and rear-
vision mirror. Run well-mated tires with good
tread, and keep air pressure up to standard. Stick
to one reliable mechanic. He will know your car
as a physician gets to know his patients.
5. Know fundamentals of turnpike or freeway
driving. Don’t be lulled by the broad, smooth
road—you can still smash into the rear of a slow
er-moving truck or be side-swiped by some dri
ver out to pass you. “Highway hypnosis” can
sneak up on you through monotony of straight,
uninterrupted roads. Take frequent breaks—every
50 or 100 miles.
6. Master principles of night driving. Have a
good pair of special night-driving glasses, to re
duce glare of oncoming headlights. Avoid sun
glasses after dark—they’ll fool your good judg
ment. If you have no night glasses, the best
way to face lights is to look straight ahead. Most
experts recommend “glow tape” on rear bumpers
so other drivers can see your parked car at night.
7. Learn to handle your car in bad weather.
Ride out a skid by steering in the direction of the
skid and keep off the brake. Use chains on snow.
Carry along a couple of bags of sand and an ice
scraper.
8. Don’t speed. Don’t speed. Don’t speed. Don’t
speed.
FROM THE BELGIAN CONGO
Traveling South: ‘Monganga’ Saw Firestone
In the Belgian Congo, methods
of textile manufacturing — sur
prisingly enough—are almost as
up-to-date as they are in the
United States. On the other
hand, there is much evidence of
a remaining primitive culture in
the vast reaches of Belgium’s
Colony in Africa.
That was part of the story
which the famed missionary-
physician of the TV film “Mon-
ganga” told when he visited the
plant in late November.
Dr. John E. Ross, in the Char-
lotte-Gastonia area on a five-day
speaking tour and radio-TV cir
cuit, took time out to make his
first visit inside a tire fabrics
plant.
“Operations here are much
like those in the textile plants
i' ' 4 It tm
A
Mrs. J. B. Reeves, second-shift nurse, visils with Dr. John
Ross (left), and Lewis Filewood Jr., in the First Aid department.
While in Gastonia the missionary-physician toured the NC Ortho
pedic Hospital and spoke at First Christian Church, where Mr. File-
wood is minister. Before returning to his hospital in Africa, Dr.
Ross will go to Carrville, La., to study advanced techniques in the
treatment of leprosy.
of such centers as Leopoldville
and Elizabethville. There, cotton
is the principal fiber processed,”
he noted.
A missionary-evangelist as
well as physician. Dr. Ross went
to the Congo in 1948 and took
up work at Lotumbe, a settle
ment some 8,000 miles east of
the mouth of the Congo River.
For most of the time since, he
has been the only medical doctor
in an area of several thousand
square miles. Today, he and
three other doctors serve among
almost a half-million natives,
HE SUPERVISES a hospital,
two rural dispensaries and a
leprosarium. Dr. Ross preaches,
does construction work, and
among his teaching duties, is an
instructor in French.
Most of Lotumbe is inacces
sible except by water—and bi
cycle.
“There you bargain with your
bicycle,” he said. “You ride a
while and then you carry your
bike, for the trails often end in
swamps.”
Dr. and Mrs. Ross and their
11-year-old son live and work
alongside 90 other missionaries
of their denomination, the
Christian Churches (Disciples),
and some 1,275 native teachers
and preachers in a north-central
area of the Congo, comparable
in size with the state of Kansas.
Mrs. Ross is a dietitian at the
hospital.
After 11 years in pastoral
work in this country. Dr. and
Mrs. Ross decided to study medi
cine, following the deaths of
I T U I 0 I
FOR COT
AWARDED TD
THE EMPLOrEES OF FIRESTONE TEXTILES
1959 CAMPrtlCM
a8.Ij8 per employee
In Recognition of Outstanding Achievement In Serving The
Human Needs of Our Community.
GREATER GASTONIA UNITED FUND
AND CaUNCIL, Inc.
Plant Gets Honor Citation
For Contribution To UF
For the second consecutive time Firestone Textiles has
been cited for “Outstanding achievement in serving the
human needs of our community.”
The citation came in late November, when Nelson
Kessell, general superintendent, presented $18,220.70 to O. J.
Stenstrom, executive secretary of the Greater Gastonia
United Fund, The employee-company gift to the UF drive
this year was—for the second consecutive year—the largest
single contribution to the campaign.
The Firestone contribution, medical research, counselling
amounting to $8.48 per employee,
represented approximately 15
per cent of the total goal of
$119,000 for the Greater Gaistonia
campaign, conducted under the
slogan “One Goal, One Gift, One
Time.”
The annual United Fund ap
peal is the only plant-wide
solicitation of funds at Firestone
during the year.
Firestone received its first Ci
tation '■ for Community Service
last year, when the employee-
company gift for the support of
community health, welfare and
recreation services was $16,830.-
00.
THE UF drive here each fall
is conducted along with the
Greater Gastonia appeal. It coin
cides with the nationwide solici
tation of Community Chests and
United Funds each year from
early September through
Thanksgiving Day.
“It is gratifying to recall that
our people have set records of
giving to the Fund each year,”
said Cotton Division superin
tendent F. B. Galligan, who as
sisted Mr. Kessell in the cam
paign chairmanship.
“The United Way of giving is
one of America’s settled tradi
tions,” Mr. Kessell added.
“We are proud of the contribu
tion our people have made in
helping to meet the needs which
the 21 UF agencies here seek to
satisfy,” he continued.
“Because of your concern for
others, these agencies can better
provide for the needy and the
homeless, the blind and the crip
pled, the poor in health and the
poor in spirit; provide for such
good causes as recreation, safe
ty, character-building programs,
their three children from a
disease for which medical
science has not yet found a cure.
The story which Dr. Ross told
on his visit to Firestone had
been told before in the color
documentary “Monganga”
(white doctor). The film was
produced for the March of
Medicine and shown three times
over American television net
works, and in thousands of
churches and schools in the
United States and other lands.
and a multitude of other things
designed to help people toward a
better life and to make the com
munity a better place for all who
live in it.”
☆ ☆ ☆
These Will Share
Your UF Gift
Agencies which will benefit
from your United Fund gift;
American Red Cross, Carolin-
as United Community Service,
Children’s Home Society, Flor
ence Crittenton Home, Gaston
Big Brothers, Gaston Life Sav
ing Crew.
National Agencies: American
Social Hygiene Association, Na
tional Travelers Aid Society, In
ternational Social Service, Na
tional Social Welfare Assembly,
National Recreation Association.
North Carolina Mental Health
Association, Pioneer Girl Scout
Council, Red Shield Boys Club,
Regional Mental Health Center,
Salvation Army, United Medical
Research Foundation of North
Carolina, United Cerebral Palsy
Association, United Service Or
ganization, United Fund and
Council.
At Firestone's Gastonia
plant, employees, especial
ly on the tire-fabric pro
duction line, can well take
pride in their workman
ship of building highest
quality into the product
they make. The following
letter, addressed to Ray
mond C. Firestone, com
pany president, is typical
of many customers' testi
monials in behalf of Fire
stone products:
"I put a set of Firestone
tubeless tires on my new
car more than two years
ago. I now have 42,000
miles on the car and am
still driving on those tires.
The spare is still brand
new. As you can plainly
see, I am a Firestone cus
tomer from this day forth."
The letter was written by
Lloyd Deen of Johnson
City, Tenn.