IDEAS WIN—Edward Tart Jr., Weaving (cot
ton), led the plant in the rate of approved sug
gestions in 1959. He submitted a number of
ideas—four of them paid off. "It doesn't pay to
feel defeated if you don't have a suggestion ap
proved. That new try may be the very one that
comes through," he advises.
Helen Heffner of Beaming and Quilling had
three approved suggestions last year, which plac
ed her second in the number of ideas adopted.
The company paid a total of $595 for em
ployees' suggestions at Gastonia in 1959. This was
an increase of $110 over the amount paid in 1958.
☆ ☆ ☆
$49,389 Was Payoff
For Ideas Last Year
Firestone employees received a total of
$49,389.55 for 2,423 suggestions adopted by
the worldwide organization during 1959. The
cash awards were made to employees in
plants and offices throughout the United
States, Canada, and in five other countries.
☆ ☆ ☆
Of the 1959 record, Firestone
in Gastonia and Firestone Tex
tiles at Bennettsville, S. C. were
among plants in the United
States and abroad which showed
sizeable increases in the amount
of cash awards.
Others showing increases were
the Synthetics plant of the home
factories in Akron, Ohio; and
plants at Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada; Wyandotte, Mich.; Lake
Charles, La.; and Bombay, India.
Employees at Gastonia sub
mitted 146 suggestions last year,
compared to 131 the year before
that. Approved suggestions for
last year numbered 54, compar
ed to 40 adopted in 1958.
Top Awards at Akron
And Des Moines
In his review of the com
pany’s suggestion program for
1959, Mr. Alger noted that high
est awards of the year were two
of $900 each. They went to E. C.
Scarbrough of Akron Plant 2
quality control, whose idea
covered a change in calendering
specifications for square-woven
fabric; and to M. C. Cox and
W. H. Roberts of the Des Moines,
Iowa plant, who shared the sec
ond $900 award for a new
method of repairing airbags.
☆ ☆ ☆
Other facts which Mr. Alger
noted;
• Participation amounted to
324 suggestions received per
1,000 employees. Total number
of suggestions submitted was
10,171—of which almost 25 per
cent were adopted,
• The Des Moines and Bom
bay plants had the highest rate
of participation. Des Moines had
934 suggestions per 1,000 em
ployees and Bombay had 902.
Other plants exceeding the aver
age rate of 324 were Bennetts-
Company suggestion system manager L. J. Al
ger said that more than $1,200,000 has been paid
out to employees since the system was put into
operation in 1918,
☆ ☆ ☆
ville, S. C.; Akron Synthetics;
and Los Angeles, Calif.
• Highest rate of adoption for
ideas was at Los Angeles, where
187 suggestions were approved
per 1,000 employees.
• Office and sales personnel
received a total of $3,260. High
est award of $300 went to B. J.
Smetana of Lima, Ohio, retread
shop, who developed a new de
vice for venting retreaded tires.
Average award to office and
sales personnel was $40.
Small Cars Spark
Snow Tires Sales
Widespread demand for the
new American-built compact
cars is sparking an unprecedent
ed market for snow tires this
winter, the company's sales de
partment has noted. The an
nouncement occasioned a re
minder that Firestone produces
its Town & Country tire for
winter driving in 6.00-13 and
6.50-13 sizes for compact cars.
Other sizes for European cars
are available, too.
Firestone's snow tires are
guaranteed to take the motorist
through ice, mud or snow. If
they don't—the company will
pay towing charges.
All Town & Country tires are
of tubeless design, and you can
have them in either black or
whitewall. They run quiet on
dry pavements, no matter the
speed. Traction bars are design
ed so they automatically free'
themselves of snow or mud, al
lowing firm traction on any road
surface. Added to this is the
deep-biting traction bars which
give top pulling power in soft
mud or snow.
E. B. Hathaway, vice president
in charge of sales, said of the
Town & Country tread design:
“It is the most-copied on the
market today.”
FOR THE SECOND YEAR
‘Two Rs’ Class Going At Recreation Center
For the second year. Firestone
at Gastonia is participating in
a literacy program which is now
operating in four states of the
Southeast.
Ten students are enrolled for
the TV reading-writing course
at the Firestone Recreation Cen
ter. The class, with Miss Myrtle
Bradley of Main Office as local
instructor, meets 6:15-7:15 five
mornings a week. Four of the
weekly sessions include televi
sion instruction, then practice
and review. One session is a
straight practice exercise.
The Firestone class is one of
two in Gastonia, which meets
in the mornings. There are two
evening classes—one at Ashley
High School, the other at High
land High School.
The 1960 two “Rs” program
U. S. TEXTILES
began early this year and will
last for six months. Basic feature
of the morning classes in the
Gastonia area is the television
instruction on WBTV, Charlotte,
from 6:30-7 o’clock.
THE LITERACY program in
this part of the South began in
1958 when John C. Campbell
Folk School at Brasstown, N. C.
arranged with WBTV to televise
a series of filmed reading les
sons based on methods in use by
the Dr, Frank C. Laubach “each-
one-teach-one” world literacy
movement.
The I. D. Blumenthal Founda
tion pxirchased $6,000 worth of
the teaching films. The Char
lotte Observer and other news
papers joined WBTV in the
project. Civic and service clubs,
home demonstration agents, and
representatives of business and
industry also pledged support.
With volunteer teachers staff
ing classes across the Carolinas,
the 1959 program enrolled al
most 1,000 students, ranging
from young adults to grand
parents. Some 65 per cent of
these completed the six-months
course, and a multitude of
others studied along by televi
sion at home.
In 1959, seven enrolled for the
course at Firestone. Miss Brad
ley was local instructor for this
class.
ENCOURAGED by the suc
cess of the program pioneered
by WBTV, John C. Campbell
Folk School extended the lit
eracy campaign this year to
service four Southeastern states.
Lessons are being televised on
free time over WBTV and five
other stations in North Carolina,
three in South Carolina, two in
Tennessee and three education
al channels in Alabama. News
papers in cities where lessons
are televised are helping to pro
mote the project.
In the Charlotte-Gastonia area
the North Carolina Junior
Chamber of Commerce is active
ly co-sponsoring the instruction.
S3ISWS FEBRUARY, 1960 PAGE 3
Wildlife Emphasis In March
The National Wildlife Federa
tion with its State affiliates is
this year sponsoring National
Wildlife Week, March 20-26,
The March emphasis is a be
ginning point of a year-round
effort to provide “more and bet
ter teaching on natural resourc
es conservation, in America’s
public schools, its colleges and
universities and among citizens
in general.”
Moviemaker Walt Disney, cre
ator of the “True Life Adven
tures” series, is honorary na
tional chairman of the NWF—
the nation’s largest conservation
organization.
Each year since 1938 the Fed
eration with its state affiliates
has sponsored National Wildlite
Week as an educational ap
proach to stimulate interest in
good management of natural re
sources.
This year's program stresses
the vital need for a better un
derstanding of the crucial water
problems we face in this coun
try.
“Protection and proper man
agement of our lands and waters
is of national concern,” notes
Stewart M. Brandborg, assistant
conservation director of NWF.
“We depend on these resources
for everything we require to
live, so everyone has a stake in
their future.”
RECREATION NOTES
Winter Olympics
Skiing in the United States
began on the high Sierra slopes
around Squaw Valley, Calif.,
when more than a century ago
a man named “S n o w s h o e”
Thompson carried mail across
the peaks, maintaining a winter
time link between California
and Nevada. For those history-
making trips he used homemade
skis fashioned after those of his
native Norway.
Appropriately, this year, these
same slopes around Squaw
Valley will be the scene of the
1960 Olympic Winter Games.
Here the world’s largest skating
facility using artificial ice has
been built, for use during this
important sports event, Febru
ary 18-28. It has five rinks for
hockej^, speed skating and figure
skating.
Use of the 400-meter speed
skating rink during the VIII
Olympic Winter Games will
mark the first time in Olympic
history that the event has been
held on artificial ice.
Two new features of the
Olympic Winter Games will be
women’s speed skating and the
biathlon — a combination of
cross-country skiing and target
shooting.
The “City in the Wilderness”,
built especially for the Olympic
Winter Games, will become a
state park after the Games. It
will be one of America’s best-
equipped public sports facilities
open all seasons of the year.
SERVICE MILESTONES—Nettie B. Corn receives her 20-year
service pin and watch from general manager Harold Mercer (cen
ter), along with (from left): Carrie Helms, Frontus Lyles and
Claude Bolding.
Four Here Since 1940; Others
Reach Employment Marks
In January, four people turned back the pages of mem
ory 20 years, to reminisce about their first day of work at
the Gastonia plant in early 1940. They were Carrie D. Helms,
Spinning; Nettie B, Corn, Weaving (synthetics); Claud
Bolding and Frontus M, Lyles, Carding.
These names added to the list Colvard, Twisting (synthetics).
of those who have marked 20
years’ employment here brought
the total to 344. Each person re
ceived a lapel pin and gold
watch in token of the company’s
recognition and appreciation for
years of loyal service.
Also in January, the roster of
15-year employees advanced to
651. Receiving service pins:
Fifteen Years
Newton J. Lynch, Spinning;
Sarah M. Scruggs and Cora D.
Sanders, Spooling; Newton
Ten Years
Trella M. Beaver, Twisting
(Cotton); William C. Shull,
Weaving (cotton); Eva H. Hen
son, cloth room; E. P. McArver,
(Winding).
Five Years
Rosevelt Jamison, Carding;
Clarence Donaldson Jr,, and
William L. Green, Twisting
(synthetics); Larry Zane Thom
as, Twisting (cotton); Henry G,
Hinson, Weaving (synthetics).