Chatham
Blanketeer
Vol. 1
MAY 21, 1934
No. 18
mountains are
SWEPT BY FIRE
Angry Forest Blaze Swiftly Des
troys the Beauty That Once
Abounded
On Thursday morning, May 3rd,
the skies overhangin'T Elkin be
came clouded, not with the kind
of clouds that give forth rain;
nor was it the kind that darkens
the skies in certain sections of
the country, where dust storms
are common; but with smoke and
an abundance of it. Presently
burned leaves, particles of bark
and ashes began falling in the
f^treets, soon the word came that
the mountain was on fire and
that it was headed in the direc
tion of Roaring Gap, at a lively
rate of speed. Mr. Neaves at
pnce had an organization headed
in that direction to help fight
what at that time looked to be
almost a helpless battle and it
niight have been to us had it not
been for Mr. Neaves’ personal
leadership on the scene with an
organization of men who knew
nothing but fight when he gave
the word. It was not until the
following Sunday afternoon that
it was finally surrounded and
considered under control.
Let’s take a trip and see what
the fire looked like at night.
Thursday night the writer went
out by Mountain Park and up
Mitchell’s River as far as it was
considered safe. The main fire
line had then passed over the top
of the mountains on the west side
of the river, leaving the entire
fountain side almost a solid sheet
of fire. Logs, and trees both green
^nd dead, were burning as though
they Were saturated in oil. It was
^ Perfect picture to look at, but
when one paused to think of the
heauty, the real beauty that was
being destroyed, there was no
beauty in it, for it was sweeping
almost everything to the ground.
(Continued On Page Four)
Mrs. J. L. Powers
Is Improving'
Mr. j. L Powers and family
^Pent the past week-end at Sana-
orium, N. c„ visiting his wife who
. ^ Patient there. The many
of Mrs. Powers will be
imnr ■ she is rapidly
to will soon be able
'^tum home.
(By Carl Poindexter)
From the point of view of the
men who are associated with the
dyeing departments these divi
sions are by far the most im
portant of any in the plants. In
the dye-house at the Elkin plant
only raw stock and cotton warp
are handled, while at the Wins
ton-Salem plant piece goods only,
that is blankets and cloth after
being woven, are dyed in approx
imately the same range of colors
as are made in the duotone and
plaid blankets, and in addition a
wide range of colors for dress
goods.
After the wool has been
thoroughly washed, carbonized
and is free of practically all the
natural wool grease, dirt and
trash it is packed carefully into
the large circulating or vacuum
dyeing machines, 800 to 1000
pounds in a machine, the heavy
perforated tops are clamped down
securel.y and the machines are
filled with warm water. The pow
erful pumps are started and the
water is forced from the solution
tanks up through the firmly
packed wool, through the perfor
ations in the top, and flows back
into the solution tanks, continu
ing this circulating action. Mean
time the “boss dyer” (at the Elk
in Mill, McKinley Garris and Ra-
von Garris) has carefully weighed
up the various dyestuffs and
chemicals, and after thoroughly
dissolving the dyestuffs he pours
all into the machine and turns on
steam. The temperature is slow
ly raised to the boiling point and
kept at the boil for three-quarters
to one hour or more according to
the nature of the dyestuff used.
At the end of the boiling period
the d.ye liquor has become prac
tically exhaused of color and is
allowed to run out of the machine.
Fresh warm water is pumped
through the wool to rinse it free
of any loose dyestuff or excess
dye liquor. The top is lifted from
the machine by an electric hoist
and placed to one side. The en
tire batch of wool is then lifted
with same hoist by means of
strong chains attached to a false
bottom and an overhead trolley
transfers the wool to a position
immediately in front of an auto
matic feeder that delivers the
(Continued On Page Four)
WARPINGMADE UP
OF 2 OPERATIONS
One Deals With Cotton Yarns
While the Other Deals
With Woolens
The warping denartment of the
Elkin mill consists of two sepa
rate and distinct operations. One
operation deals with cotton yarns,
in sizing and putting cotton warps
on loom beams for blankets of a
cotton warp construction, while
the other consists of spooling and
creeling and beaming woolen
yarns for all-wool blankets, robes,
suitings, etc. We will consider in
this article each of these two
operations separately, as they are
in no way related, and the only
process common to each is the
drawing into the harness imme
diately preceeding the putting of
the beams into the loom.
Our cotton yarns come to us
from various mills in chains of
sufficient length to build a loom
beam level with the flanges on
each end. In case these chains
(Continued On Page Pour)
THE GIRL AND
HER RECREATION
Swimming, Dancing and Bowling
Are the Three Graces of
Physicial Training
WOMEN INVITED
TO CONFERENCE
Miss Bates, Nurse For Elkin Mill,
Attends Safety Conference At
Asheville May 17th and 18th
The Industrial leaders of North
Carolina, representing all types
of industry, held their fifth an
nual state-wide safety conference
in Asheville May 17 and 18.
This was the first state-wide
safety conference to which wom
en were invited. A large number
of nurses and welfare workers
were represented. Among them
was Miss Ohna Bates, R. N., of
the First Aid department of the
Elkin mill. No credentials or fees
were required as the canference
was held under the auspices of
the North Carolina Industrial
Commission.
The convention is held an
nually for the purpose of stressing
the importance of safety and oth
er phases of work supervised by
this body.
In previous years the conference
has met at High Point, Charoltte,
Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
Each year the attendance has
grown larger. Last year there
were approximately eight hundred
present. This year, there were
around a thousand.
The two days were spent in con
ference listening to lectures on
various subjects. The conference
closed in ample time to allow the
delegates to visit the places of in
terest around Asheville.
Recreation, as we all know,
means to re-create. Every cell of
our bodies is constantly going
through a process of recreation as
long as we live. Biology tells us
that in all nature there is an ever
moveing process of re-creation go
ing on all the time.
Any sort of change from our
habitual activities—if we like it
—is a recreation. We cannot re
create without joy. To force our
self to go through some form of
mental or physical activity be
cause someone says it is the thing
to do—or because other people
are doing it when within our own
hearts we do not like it—is not
recreation. However, sometimes
when some activity is new and
strange to us we think we don’t
like it when the truth of the mat
ter is, we are afraid of it and
(Continued On Page Four)
Chatham Shuts Out
Brown-W illiamson
The Winston Chatham baseball
team, behind four-hit hurling of
Steelman, defeated Brown and
Williamson in a City League con
test at Southside Park on Tues
day afternoon, 6 to 0.
Steelman held the tobacco nine
to four widely scattered hits and
gained the lead in pitching
against Neal, of Brown and Wil
liamson.
A four run uprising in the third
inning gave Chatham an early
lead to win the victory. Two
more runs in the sixth clinched
the game.
Plaster and Sappenfield had
two hits in the attack for the win-
nei's while Tise claimed two of the
four hits for Brown and William
son.