Newspapers / Firestone News (Gastonia, N.C.) / Aug. 1, 1963, edition 1 / Page 2
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George Washington Once saw the shuttles fly Beverly by the Sea Had America’s First Cotton Mill Settled before 1630, Beverly, Mass. is distinguished as the birthplace of the American Navy. This coastal town also lays claim to the country’s first Sun day school—in 1810. Beverly has still another distinction: Location of America’s first successful cotton-weaving mill. In business by 1789, records show the mill to be the pioneer textile manufactory in Ameri ca. “Among the many ‘firsts’ credited to Essex County (Mass.) is an accomplish ment that is little known today because there is no visible trace of its reality save the written words of historians who have recorded it for posterity,” said a 1856 story in the TOWN CRIER of Marblehead, Mass. "THIS DISTINCTION was not al ways credited to the community where the first cotton mill in America origi nated,” continued the newspaper item, with further review of the historic-mill story: It was not until Robert S. Rantoul completed his research on the subject and presented his report in an address before the Beverly Historical Society on the 225th anniversary of that town’s founding, that the location of Ameri ca’s first cotton mill was conclusively established. In August of 1768 Josiah Balch and his wife Hannah conveyed to merchant John Cabot and physician Joshua Fish er, both of Beverly, certain premises comprising five or six acres of land. This became the site of a three-story brick building in which machinery to manufacture cotton fabric was install ed. Before the purchase, the business promoters had petitioned the state legislature for an act of incorporation. Their application cited the need for industrial development in that area, and suggested cotton as the most prac tical and useful commodity to be pro duced. THE DEVELOPERS promised that in addition to providing work for resi dents of the county, the machines—al so capable of producing fabric of silk, hemp, flax and wool—would manufac ture cotton material which could be sold as cheap as, or cheaper than, that marketed from England at the time. In February of 1789 the general court granted the charter and extended cer tain immunities and favors to help de fray the initial loss expected to be in curred by the investors. By the time George Washington had arrived in Beverly on October 30, 1789 —shortly after his inauguration—the mill was really rolling. After breakfast with George Cabot in his Beverly home, the first president visited the mill and later recorded in his diary: “After passing Beverly two miles we came to the cotton manufactory which seems to be carrying on with spirit by the Cabots (principally).” Washington then set down some descriptive details of the machinery he saw. Contender for the same honor of first cotton mill in America was Pawtucket, A ’ * ^ f ft! 5^ • CCC ■ • fVt STV*. •V/o.»^n4ion*6.Vi»it to- •Ttje-nrCT- Cotton-f^' s, 'Octotfcr-y • The First American President toured the Beverly factory shortly his inauguration in 1789. In his diary he recorded his experience and some details of the mill's machinery and other equipment. —Drawing from Beverly Chamber of Commerce* R. I., until 1862 a part of Massachusetts. Samuel Slater came to Pawtucket from New York City in October of 1790, hav ing arrived from Europe to establish the Pawtucket mills. The encyclopedias say that Slater built the first successful water-driven cotton mill in the United States in 1790. His mill of 1793 vintage is now the famed Slater museum. HISTORIAN Robert Rantoul con tends that before Slater first came to Pawtucket, shopkeepers of Essex Coun ty (Mass.) were retailing the finished product turned out in the old Beverly mill. Why is there no tangible evidence of the original Beverly factory? After the War of 1812, business waned and the mill was converted a schoolhouse. According to the Ess^^ REGISTER, in 1823 a “fire first start' ed from the chimney of the tavern before dark during a violent gale consumed the building nearby, formsr' ly used as a cotton factory.” The original building was 60 ^ ^ feet, with pitched shingle roof deep basement, in one end of moved a heavy pair of horses to vide rotary power for the machines- Why the mill went out of busin®®^’ historian Rantoul does not mention his report. The Marblehead newspaP®"^ article speculated that because of dining profits, operators and financi backers of the mill abandoned the terprise to its niche in history. Latest Race Thriller ‘Winning Ride’ Is Available • Firestone officials visited the John Deere Tractor Works at Waterloo, Iowa and posed for photo with the world's largest farm tractor equipped with the world's largest regular-production trac tor tires. From left: E. B. Hathaway, executive vice president; Raymond C. Firestone, president and chief executive officer; H. A. Waldon, general manager of the John Deere Tractor Works of Waterloo, and H. A. Hewitt, president of Deere & Co. at Moline, 111. COMPANY MAKES THEM World’s Largest Tractor Tires Firestone-manufactured tires weighing 540 pounds are in use on the world’s largest farm trac tor, the John Deere 5010. The 10-ply tires measure 24.5x32 and are 71 inches high. Each tire contains more than 73 miles of cord. Tread, 74 inches wide, is al most four inches wider than the largest available on standard tractors up to now. The extra width puts more rubber into contact with the ground for bet ter traction and flotation. The amount of liquid ballast that can be carried in the tires also has been increased proportion ately. “The Winning Ride,” latest motion picture to be released by the Firestone company, depicts the thrills and excitement of the 1963 Daytona 500-mile stock-car race. The 20-minute sound film cap tures the color of race day at the Daytona (Fla.) Speedway Gailigan GCTA Committeeman Production manager F. B. Gal- ligan is one of five members-at- large of the 11-member execu tive committee of the Gaston- Cleveland Tuberculosis Associa tion. Scott Venable, executive di rector of the NC Tuberculosis Association, said that the merger in July would result in a “more and the tense drama of “Tiny” Lund and His fello^w drivers as they cover 500 miles on the high-banked tri-oval course. “The Winning Ride’’ is avail able as a public service without charge to schools, churches and all civic and community organi zations. Prints may be borrowed through Associate Films, Inc., with offices at Ridgefield, N. J.; Oakmont, Pa.; La Grange, 111.; Dallas, Texas, and Jay ward, Calif. effective and more economical program for eradication of tu berculosis and controlling other respiratory diseases in the two- county area.” Fifty persons were elected to the first board of directors, and 11 to the executive committee. HUGHES TO ATTENP AIR FORCE SCHOOL Larry Hughes, a 1963 gradua of Ashley High School, recent^ enlisted in the Air Force was assigned for prelimir*^^ training at Lackland AFB ^ Texas. He chose the field of ministration for the duratiof* . his service enlistment, and ^ be assigned to school after basic instruction in Texas. The son of Horace shop, and Mrs. Hughes, worked a while here in weaVi (synthetics) between his tion from high school and ^ Force enlistment. The tractor was designed to permit a farmer to step up his daily output not only by using bigger equipment on many jobs, but also by handling this equip ment at faster speeds. The 117- horsepower tractor h^s almost one-third more power in work ing gear than the largest stand ard farm tractor previously on the market. This vehicle is another step in the trend which has seen the average horsepower rating of farm tractors in the United States and Canada jump 70 per cent in the past 10 years, as farmers have turned to bigger and more productive machinery. She Saved Herself Some Steps I Market I Your Ideas A housewife using a vacuum cleaner on the second floor blew a fuse in the electrical circuit. She went to the fusebox in the cellar, to be re minded that there were six fuses and she wasn’t sure which one had blown out. It could have taken as many as six trips up and down the stairs to check all the fuses. She put her thinking to work, went upstairs and plugged in the vacuum cleaner. Listening at the cellar stairway, she replaced one fuse ^ fter another. When the hum of the vacuum was h© ob- the ,ult she knew she had put in the right one for the 3 She saved herself some trips up and down stairs. It goes to show that thinking will often in easier, safer and more efficient ways of important jobs done. Not all the better ways have been found doing the jobs in this or any other manufacture plant. Your ideas can help. Suggest your way award and help to do yours or someone job better. August, 1963 Volume XII Page 2 Number 9 ☆ ☆ ☆ Published by The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Firestone Textiles Division, Gastonia, North Carolina. Claude C. Callaway, Editor O South Atlantic Council of Indus trial Editors PLANT REPORTERS Carding—Payton Lewis Cloth Room—Margie Waldrep Industrial Relations—Flora Pence Main Office—Bea McCarter Mechanical Department—Rosie Fran- cum Quality Control — Sallie Cra^ Louella Queen, Leila Rape ^ Twisting (cotton)—Elmina Twisting (synthetics)—Vera Caf^gjje Elease Cole, Annie Cosey# Elkins, Catherine Fletcher -id Warehouse—Nancy Cloninger, Robinson, Israel Good, Rainey Weaving (cotton)—Ruth Veitcb Weaving (synthetics)—Mary E- son, Irene O'Dell, Mayzelle ^ Ophelia Wallace Winding—Nell Bolick, Ruth CloO
Firestone News (Gastonia, N.C.)
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Aug. 1, 1963, edition 1
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