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PAGE 2 3J3SW1 SEPTEMBER, 1959 tm BY HARVEY S. FIRESTONE JR. Chairman and Chief Execuiive Officer The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company YOUR GROWING COMPANY THIS COMPLEX ARRAY of equipment al the company's Orange, Texas plant is used to make butadiene, principal ingredient in synthetic rubber. The pipes, tanks and towers form part of the equipment used in the distilling and cooling process of butadiene production. 13-Inch Tires In Production A line of 13-inch tires for American-made lightweight cars is now in production at three Firestone plants. Manu facture of the small tires will go toward supplying demand for the new American ve hicles which are expected to be on the market late this year. Design and test work began on the new tire line several months ago, after major auto firms had gone into planning for the manufacture of small cars. The tire line for domestic small cars is in addition to Fire stone’s present line of tires for foreign-import cars. Company ufiicials say that the 13-inch tires are built to take the same rough treatment as Firestone’s line of “big car” tires. The tires are capable of sustained high speeds on turn pike travel. They have been tested on high-speed wheels in the com pany’s indoor development lab oratory at Akron, Ohio and at the seven-mile Firestone test track at Fort Stockton, Texas. Beyond this, thousands of test miles on highways and city streets are showing the tires’ outstanding performance. Sizes in production are 6.00x- 13 and 6.50x13. Almost 70 per cent of all the rubber used today is synthetic— made from crude oil or natural gas. ALIVE I ‘Tweetsie’ Will Take You For A Ride Into History Heading for the highlands this week end? A top attraction in the Blue Ridge Country is “Tweetsie”, pint-sized train with a proud past, operating over a narrow - gauge track around three miles of Roundhouse Mountain. Located off Highway 321-221 between Boone and Blowing Rock, the little train has a steam locomotive, tender and three cars to haul joy-rid ers daily in summer and on week ends in spring and autumn seasons. “Tweetsie” chugs along the mountain to a cool glade with picnic areas and hiking trails, crosses a three-decker trestle, and stretches up a four per cent grade. The station is a replica of an old-timer depot, a reminder of the bygone day when the train operated daily over 60 miles of track between Johnson City, Chintz is a term widely known in textiles. But do you know where the name of this cotton fabric came from? Chintz is a Hindu word meaning “small patterns printed on fine cotton.” Tenn., and Boone. Other fea tures of the 400-acre “Tweetsie- ville” site are a museum of an tique fire engines, a country store, and “saloon” of 75-years- ago flavor. Millions Spent For Expansion During the last four years, The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company has spent close to $225,000,000 for expansion. This is a practical demonstration of our belief in the future of our industry and company. It is a vote of confidence in our system of competitive free enterprise. Fire stone is expanding solidly and surely both in this country and abroad. We believe our industry is on the thresh- hold of a new era of development, a syn thetic age of rubber. The years since World War II—when the synthetic rubber industry was born—have been merely a preparation for the industrial maturity to come. Firestone Plays Leader Role In Synthetic Rubber Field Our company is playing a leading part in the development of the synthetic rubber in dustry in which the United States leads the world. Firestone research has developed a synthetic, called Coral, that is the man- made equivalent of natural rubber. We have also developed Diene, a partial replacement for natural rubber. These developments have gone beyond the experimental and pilot-plant stages. Tires and other products made from Coral and Diene have been rigorously tested and have shown their merit. We are now proceeding to build the world’s first full-scale plant to produce man- made “natural” rubber at our 1,000-acre pet- ro-chemical center in Orange, Texas, a plant that will have a capacity of 30,000 tons a year of either Coral or Diene rubber. This is assurance that we will never be without a steady and dependable supply of natural rubber regardless of any international crisis in the Far East. Automotive Transportation Brightens Company Outlook We also base our confidence in the future of our industry on the dynamics of auto motive transportation. Primarily because of population growth, the long-term trend for production and use of motor vehicles is steadily upward. We consider that there will be an increas ingly large number of automobiles in use that are more than two years old which will be in the market for tifes and other auto motive accessories. In 1959 we estimate that there will be some 43,000,000 such cars. Firestone scientists and engineers are con tinually making advances in research and technology that lead to more use of rubber. We have played a prominent part in de veloping the use of rubber in asphalt for roads and other paved surfaces, such as playgrounds. Although long-time results of this use are not yet available, indications are that rub berized asphalt wears longer, cracks and softens less, and is cheaper in the long run than asphalt alone. In the past four years the Firestone com pany has made large investments for expan sion. Mr. Firestone here looks to the future expansion of the company, and to what he calls "the age of synthetic rubber." This is the last of five articles prepared by the company chairman at the request of The Christian Science Monitor. Text reprinted by permission of The Christian Science Monitor. Scientific Research Translated Into Product Improvement We played a major role in introducing the rubber air spring for automobiles which originally was featured on 1958 model cars. Firestone built the industry’s first factory to produce air springs, a potential replace ment for the conventional steel spring in automobiles. Prior to their introduction on passenger cars. Firestone air springs proved themselves in hundreds of millions of miles on transcontinental trucks and buses. Our rubber air spring is also finding increased industrial use where machines and equipment need to be protected against any possibility of vibration. Our research laboratories offer product improvement not always recognizable. A different mixture of rubber for a tire tread increases mileage and gives a more comfort able ride, but the motorist cannot tell it by looking at the tire. Rubber-X, now used in all our tires, is an example of how scien tific research is translated into product im provement. Growth Demonstrates Confidence In America, Free Enterprise Another improvement not visible is the special treatment given tire cord in order to increase strength and safety. Every day at each laboratory operated by Firestone in the United States and overseas there is a constant seeking for product and material improvements. Our philosophy on industrial research is that it must ultirnate- ly have a direct connection with needs of our customers as must every other part of our business. What happens today in the laboratories or on the drawing boards bears a relation to products and services we will offer our customers two, three,—five years from now. Confidence we have in the future well being of the rubber industry is a reflection of our belief in growth of America and in creasing strength of our free enterprise sys tem. Confidence we have in The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, across the nation and around the world, is the result of the loyal ty, integrity, and devotion to duty that have been demonstrated by the members of our organization ever since it was founded. As we approach our 60th anniversary, it is most satisfying to realize that the name of Firestone, wherever it appears, continues to stand for “Best today—still better tomor row.” m, I HOME TO STAY—Fame, re tirement, a trip to Virginia, and a Hollywood offer came before Tweeisie's relurn to North Caro- OLD MAGIC_The famous all ils old magic. And folks are lina m 1956, as a lounsl atlrac- whistle which gave ihe Irain ils climbing aboard for a journey unofficial name years ago. has Jo Yesterday. lion.
