T^TTTT
OCT 19 1959
Lend A Helping Hand This Year—The United Wayi
Tir«$lon«
Dallas Employees' Homelown
—Page 3
'Whale of a Romance'
Sales, Income High
-Page G
-Page 5
GASTONIA
October 18 is Alaska Day,
commemoraling transfer of what
is now America's 49th State,
from Russia in 1867. Ninety-two
years ago on October 18, Russia
lowered her flag over the gov
ernor's residence, and fired a
cannon saluting the Stars and
Stripes.
VOLUME VIII
GASTONIA, N. C., OCTOBER, 1959
Number II
/©
FAIR-SHARE GIVING
UF Employees Campaign
In Eighth Annual Appeal
Bigger Buy—That Savings Bond
Savings Bonds are a bigger bargain than ever. Here to
remind you is Barbara Craig of Main Office, displaying good
news on the latest Series E Bonds, which now earn you
3% per cent interest. They mature in seven years, eight
months. Bonds bought on or after June 1 of this year will
draw the new interest. The old rate of 3V4 per cent interest
still applies to all bonds purchased through May 31, 1959.
The helping hand you ex
tend this year through your
contribution to the Employ
ees’ United Fund will go to
ward the support of 20 com
munity, health, welfare and
recreation services.
In this the eighth annual
United Way of Giving program
—being conducted during Oc
tober to coincide with the
seventh United Fund Drive in
Greater Gastonia — employees
are privileged to share in col
lecting at least $142,912 needed
for operation of participating
agencies during 1960.
Last Year's Record
Last year, employees here
reached an all-time record of.
giving, when contributions
amounted to $15,920.40—largest
single gift from an industry in
the county.
As in past years, volunteer
solicitors have distributed
pledge cards in the fund-gather
ing effort, headed again this
time by Nelson Kessell, general
superintendent; and F. B. Galli-
gan, superintendent of the Cot
ton Division.
BEGINNING NEXT YEAR
Gastonia Plant Will Process HopeweU Nylon
Beginning late next sum
mer, the Gastonia plant will
further process the initial
volume of nylon filament
yarn produced at Firestone’s
synthetics plant at Hopewell,
Va.
The facility there, purchas
ed in September from Cel-
anese Corporation of Ameri
ca, is scheduled to begin op
eration in the late summer
of 1960.
It will be devoted to produc
tion of synthetic fibres, first of
which will be nylon; and to
resins, the first to be polypropy
lene. This resin process was de
veloped by Firestone scientists
as an outgrowth of its research in
Coral rubber. Coral, a Firestone
discovery, was the first man-
made rubber with a molecular
structure identical to that of na
tural rubber. Polypropylene is
Used to make a plastic film simi
lar to the polyethylene present
ly used for packaging materials.
Venture into Synthetics
Announcement by Chairman
Harvey S. Firestone Jr., regard
ing this further diversification
of the company, said that facili
ties on the 250-acre Hopewell
site would be modernized to
make available approximately
450,000 square feet of manufac
turing space.
This plant represents the com
pany’s first venture of any rub
ber company into full-scale
manufacture of synthetic fibres.
On this, Mr. Firestone said;
“During the past four years
we have spent hundreds of mil
lions of dollars for expansion in
the fields of rubber, metals,
plastics, synthetics, textiles and
chemicals. When the Hopewell
plant is finished, we will be en
tering another field — that of
synthetic fibres. . . . Our re
search program will make full
use of the Hopewell facility. . .”
Executive vice president
James E. Trainer said that the
Virginia unit’s initial produc
tion of about 1,000,000 pounds of
nylon yarn per month will be
processed at Gastonia. He point
ed out that this production will
be devoted mainly to the manu-
In keeping with the Greater
Gastonia Drive, “fair-share giv
ing” at the plant is the motto
of the United Fund this year.
Members of the overall cam
paign team hope that every per
son who can, will give his fair
share. This would distribute con
tributions among as many citi
zens as possible.
What is Fair Share?
Generally speaking, a fair
share gift for hourly workers is
one hour’s pay per month for
the year. For salaried workers, it
is one per cent of income for one
year.
“If everyone will take serious
ly the UF needs for next year
and give his fair share, the cam
paign could exceed the goal—
even before the closing date of
the drive,” pointed out Mr. Kes-
sell. The campaign is tentatively
set to end around November 6,
one month after the “kickoff”
date.
Participating Agencies
Newcomers to this year’s group
—More on Page 2
Eight Win Slogan Contest
facture of tire cord and will
satisfy about 15 per cent of Fire
stone’s requirements.
Fibres from Suppliers
In past years, all synthetic
fibres processed here have been
bought from suppliers. At the
Gastonia plant, processing of
synthetic fibres begins by tak
ing the material from large
beams for twisting and spooling.
It is then woven into tire fabric,
most of which is gum-dipped in
the giant electronically-controll
ed heat-tensioning unit here, or
in Akron, Ohio. This prepares it
as fabric for the company’s tire
plants.
With purchase of the Hope-
well property, the chairman an
nounced that the Firestone Plas
tics Company at Pottstown, Pa.
will become the Plastics and
Synthetic Fibres Division of The
Firestone Tire & Rubber Com
pany, and will assume manage
ment of the Virginia operation.
Roger S. Firestone is president
of the expanded operation, and
Ernest T. Handley, executive
vice president.
Eight persons last month
traded the company some
top-rate safety promotion for
a total of $75 in prizes. Win
ners in the late-summer safe
ty slogan contest were chosen
out of 504 entries, from
among all employees—ex
cepting members of the plant
supervisory staff.
First prize of $25 went to De-
lores Fritton of Main Office; sec
ond prize of $15, to Julia Buch
anan of Winding. Third place
of $10 was awarded to Phoebe
Pearson, Shop.
Five additional prizes of $5
each went to:
John C. Owensby, Twisting
(synthetics); Earl M. Redding.
Shop; Rosie Francum, Shop;
J. W. Hartgrove Jr., Quality
Control Laboratory; Gettie M. H.
Davis, Spooling.
Each entry was limited to 12
words, but there was no limit to
the number of slogans an em
ployee could submit. Slogans
were evaluated on content and
originality, by judges Robert
Smith of Wix Corporation; Wil
liam G. Hardin, Rex Mills, and
Fred Ratchford of the Gastonia
Chamber of Commerce.
Winning Slogans
: : Don’t Be A Statistic—Be
Realistic—Use Safety First.—
Delores Fritton
: : Always Keep Safety With
You—It’s Good Company.—Julia
Buchanan
—More on Page 6
TOP SLOGAN WRITERS—standing in front of plant safety
board and holding their pay for slogans well-written are (front
row, from left): Rosie Francum, Phoebe Pearson, Delores Fritton,
Gettie M. H. Davis and Julia Buchanan. Second row: J. W. Hart
grove Jr., John C. Owensby and Earl M. Redding.