Four
THE MILL WHISTLE
March 1, 1943
MILL WHISTLE
Issued Every Two Weeks By and For the Employees of
MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY
MANUFACTURING DIVISION
SPRAY, North Carolina. J. U. NEWMAN, JR., Editor.
Scrambling Around: To our mind, untrained in the mysteries of
politics, it seems that someone in Washington pulled a big boner the
other day. Next day newspaper headlines came out with some sort
of '‘work or fight” announcement and it was so worded that thousands
of men and boys read in those headlines that they either had to go
to work in some munitions plant or shipyard, or be drafted. Later, it
was explained exactly what was meant by war work, but by that time
those thousands, of men and boys had giyen up their jobs back home
and were waiting in line for jobs in munitions and ship building plants.
So, for no reason whatever, many plants engaged in essential war
work were left without enough help to carry on. While we have no
figures available, any of us can see that our company, like many
others, is rather hard hit. But what we can’t get through our head
is this: If, in manufacturing blankets, sheeting, towels, parachute
cloth, parachute flare cloth, cartridge bag cloth, sand bagging,
hosiery for WAACs and nurses,, and several other like things, we are
not engaged in essential war work, what are we engaged in?
Too many of us seem to have the idea firmly fixed in mind that
the term war work is limited only to munitions and ships. ^ Thirty
seconds of clear thinking should convince anyone that this isn t the
case. Another thirty seconds should convince anyone who is workmg
here that our job is as important, and in some respects more essential,
than the making of guns, planes and ships. And the order from
Washington said “engaged in essential war work”, which means you
are m a no more draftable position right here than you’d be in any of
the so-called “war plants”. And you’re doing just as much to help
produce the things we must have. • •
Long ago a great military leader remarked that an army travels
on its stomach”. He meant that literally, we think. To get to its ob
jective an army must travel, and as swiftly as possible. Morale is a
word with a great deal of meaning. If you attend a party dressed in
shabby old clothes, while others are well groomed, you feel somewhat
eiTibarrassed. You can^t be yourself. Your morale is impaired.
You’ve gotten nowhere. You feel out of place. That, in a way, is
what the great general was speaking of. A well fed, well clothed
army possesses a much higher morale than a poorly fed, ill clothed
one. That’s common sense, and by the same token it is common sense
that the army with the highest morale is by far the superior one in
both body and mind.
Our job here is to help provide that morale—without which an
army or navy is licked before they start to fight. We help clothe
them, provide them with whatever comforts we can. From all over
the world we get letters from our boys telling us how wonderful it is
to sleep between our sheets, under our blankets; to find our towels
on their racks. That, brother, is essential. Just suppose our
men had to do without all the things we are making for them.
Do vou think he would be the first class fighting man he is? Would
you^ yourself, be in shape to do your daily work if you slept in a cold
room, without enough blankets? If your clothes were too thin to keep
you warm? If you had to wonder if anybody cared how you feel?
You are furnished with the tools for your work—^just as the soldier is
furnished with his rifle, etc.—but you’re not capable of turning out
good work because you’re too uncomfortable, too uneasy in your mind.
No, brother, you belong where you are. Your job may not be as
spectacular as making bombs and building ships, planes, etc., but_ it
is just as necessary, just as important. You’re engaged in essential
war work and as long as you are doing that Uncle Sam will want you
to stay where you are until he needs you in his army. If he needs you
he’ll take you, no matter where you are working.
Nantucket Building
By Nellie Kirby
Dr. Johnson, now a lieutenant in the
Army, spent a few days here last week
visiting friends.
We are glad to see Mr. Humbert
back at his desk after a visit to the
hospital.
Otis Marlowe, of the Wage Bureau,
is the proud father of a baby girl.
The members of the Wage Bureau
received a long letter from Bill Sher
wood. Bill says that after spending
several days in the barracks, the Quar
termaster’s Department finally located
a uniform and shoes small enough for
him.. He said they gave him an over
all jacket to wear until they could out
fit him and it was a perfect fit for an
ankle length topcoat. Bill, formerly a
checker for the Wage Bureau, is sta
tioned at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.
Pvt. Gordon A. Pittendreigh, former
ly with the Credit Union, arrived Sun
day for a 15-day furlough. Gordon has
recently been transferred from Hard
ing Field, La., to Columbus, Ind.
Received a card from Ernest Balser.
He is at Ft. Bragg Reception Center
waiting to be shipped out or stationed
there. Ernest was a checker in the
Wage Bureau before induction.
The girls in the Personnel Office re
ceived a letter from Mrs. Archibald
Gwynne this week. “Kitten” says she
is liking Mississippi fine, but misses all
her friends here.
Mrs. King Barker and Miss Mary
Hundley, Engineering Departm'ent, are
planning to spend this weekend in
Washington, D. C.
First Signs of Spring . . . John Sum-
‘ merour and Pete Holmes discussing
their gardens . . Sam Ray Thomas
talking about the acre of buttercups
at his home . . . The girls discussing
new hats and brown and white shoes.
V . . . —
Can This Mean Us?
And if our lines should sag and break
Because of things you fail to make;
That extra tank, that ship, that plane
For which we waited all in vain.
Will you then come to take the blame?
For we, not you, must pay the cost
Of battles you, not we, have lost.
—From an Unknown Soldier in Bataan.
Buy, Sell, Swap
WANTED—Good used bicycle. Boy’s
or girl’s model, Ernest Yates, Phone
277-J.
FOR SALE—18-acre farm with one to
bacco barn. Good pasture land, plenty
^of wood. Easy terms. See Dorsey
Meeks, Finishing Dept., Woolen Mill.
FOR SALE—Five-room house, lot size
60x200 feet. Located on Pine Hill
street. North Spray. See Clarence
Roberts, Finishing Dept., Woolen
Mill.