Bennettsville
FAMILIAR SCENES
• • Southern magnolia and
some leafless trees of winter
frame the Confederate Sol
dier statue atop granite shaft
on lawn of Marlboro County
Court House, Bennettsville,
S. C.
At base of monument is a memorial marker to those
who have served in all wars.
Right: Impressive cupola and center section of Marl
boro Court House. The S. C. historical marker on the lawn
says; “Four court houses for Marlboro District or County
have stood on this square since April 4, 1820.
“The first Court House was completed before 1824, was
replaced by a new building in 1852. This was occupied by
Union troops in 1865. A third building was finished in 1885.
The present Court House was constructed 1951-1952.”
f
Bowling
Green
Fiber B Facility
Under Construction
A major expansion program underway at Fire
stone Textiles Company’s Bowling Green, Ky., plant
will provide the first large-capacity facility in the tire-
cord industry for treating Fiber B fabric material.
GASTONIA
NORTH CAROLINA
BENNEHSVILLE
SOUTH CAROLINA
BOWLING GREEN
KENTUCKY
JANUARY • 1973
1973 Scholarship Materials In Supply
Information booklets and other application materials
have been in distribution since mid-December for the 1973
Firestone College Scholarship competition. Each year the
materials are available at personnel or industrial relations
offices of all three units of Firestone Textiles Company—
Gastonia, Bennettsville and Bowling Green.
James B. Call, Firestone
Textiles Company president,
announcing beginning con
struction of the new unit in
December, pointed out:
“The new facility, sched
uled for completion in Sep
tember, 1973, will house a
new unit which will more
than double the Bowling
Green plant’s fabric-treating
capacity.”
The new treating unit will
be capable of processing up
to 40 million poimds of ny
lon, polyester and DuPont’s
new Fiber B per year. Fiber
B is a new material stronger
than steelcord. It is being
used by Firestone on a limi
ted scale in its Radial V-1
tires.
Through dipping, heating
and stretching processes, fab
ric-treating units “temper”
tire fabrics to minimize the
amount of stretching in use.
Firestone Textiles Com
pany, a division of The Fire
stone Tire & Rubber Com-
• • Looming wire fabric at
Gastonia. This production photo,
with E. D. Huss, loom mechanic,
pany, is headquartered at
Gastonia, N. C. Besides Gas
tonia and Bowling Green, the
division operates a plant at
Bennettsville, S. C.
The newest Bowling Green
fabric-treating facility will
be the fifth unit operating
within the Firestone Textiles
Company division.
The original — and one of
the first of its kind in the
world—went into operation
at Firestone, Gastonia, in
early 1955. Two more units
were later added at Gastonia,
one of them the huge No. 8
on the site of the open water
reservoir. No. 9 unit, now in
operation, is the original one
at Bowling Green. The new
est unit, to be in operation
by September, will be desig
nated No. 1.
The Firestone company
operates other fabric-treat
ing plants in conjunction
with its tire-building facili
ties.
is a part of the diversified pro
ducts section of the Firestone
1972 Annual Report.
Alvin V. Riley, division per
sonnel manager, reminds that
the applications are open to sons
and daughters of The Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company em
ployees, and who meet further
requirements as outlined in the
current information booklets.
High-school seniors who are
interested in applying will do
well to make application as soon
as they can, so as to get all re-
The Firestone Tire & Rubber
Company’s 1972 Annual Report,
distributed in mid-December,
notes that further gains in Fire
stone Textiles Company sales to
outside customers were record
ed last year.
Gaslonia, Bennellsville S. C..
and Bowling Green, Ky., plants
operated at capacity.
In the Diversified Products
section of the Annual Report the
Firestone wire-weaving opera
tion is represented by a photo
graph of a wire-weaving loom,
with E. D. Huss, a loom me
chanic.
The first wire-weaving loom
to operate at Gastonia was dis
mantled in late 1972 and shipped
to the Firestone plant at Lens,
France.
quirements completed, Mr. Riley
says.
The latest booklet fully ex
plains the Scholarship Progretm
and includes any changes from
requirements and provisions of
previous years.
Students apply from all states
where the company has major
production and service facilities
and retail systems.
Closeout of applications re-
Dennis Johnson, a Product &
Process Development engineer,
will go to Lens in February to
help put the loom in operation.
AT THE Lens wire and cable
division a major expansion pro
gram is now in progress. Com
pleted, it will increase produc
tion capacity of steel wire by
300 percent.
This facility, which began
operating in 1971, is being en
larged to meet increasing de
mand of the company’s foreign
tire plants for steel cord ma
terial.
ceived in the company’s Akron,
Ohio, headquarters is March 1,
so winners can be announced by
late April or early May.
Each full college scholarship
is worth up to $1,750 per year
and is renewable up to four
years at any approved college
or university of the student's
choosing.
Besides scholarships, the com
pany each year awards Certifi
cates of Merit and U. S. Savings
• More on page 2
These Four
Retired
Vernon Lovingood had 37
years service with Firestone
when he retired at the Bowling
Green plant last month. Lovin
good, department manager in
twisting, had spent most of his
service time at Gastonia. He
went to Bowling Green when
the plant began operations in
early 1968.
Upon retirement, Lovingood
moved back to Gastonia.
Other Firestone Textiles Com
pany people (these at Gastonia)
to retire in late December and
early January are:
• Ernest Keenum, Supply
manager, who had 33 years and
4 months service.
• William Gilmore, TO Twist
ing; 29 years and 6 months.
• Robert Froneberger, In
dustrial Relations (plant pro
tection); 17 years.
A story on changes in Social Security tax rale and benefits,
in Dec. Firestone News, was in error on the maximum amount
of annual earnings against which the SS tax is paid. This figure
was reported as increasing to $10,000 as of Jan. 1, 1973. The actual
figure: $10,800.
CORD Prodtiction Increased
The Gastonia plant of Firestone Textiles Company
tripled its capacity for weaving steel cord last year, to meet
increased demana of the tire industry for this strong cord
material.