SHEtTS • TOWELS • BEOSPRtAOS • BLANKETS • ELECTRIC IIANKETS . KARASTAN RUG’S •SYNTHETIC FABRICS
MILL WHISTLE
Publlslied by Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.
Plants locateil in Spray, Draper and Leaksville. K. C. and Fieldale, Va.
Spray, N. C., Monday, August 29, 1955
Number 4
Jap anese Imports
l ake Big Jump
The seriousness of the Japa-
J^.^se threat to the American tex-
’'•le market was shown in a trade
press report from Osaka August
22 which stated that sales in
■^J^ierica of 36 million yards in
'’uly top the 27 million yards of
Sales reported for June. This
news report said July sales to
^his country were the largest on
record.
Imports of pillowcases and dish towels
pontinue large and among the new items
Jwported are substantial quantities of
pedspreads, blankets and crib blankets
addition to a variety of apparel goods.
The most striking development was
stupendous increases in volume of
low-priced pillowcases from 1,332,000
all of 1954 to slightly less than one
pillion monthly in 1955. Kitchen and
towels, table napery and velev-
‘®ens, represents other brances of the
^®xtile industry which are being hit
'harder and harder by Japanese imports.
. The Bureau of Census report on
Imports coming into the Port of New
shows that the amount of cotton
towels coming in from Japan has been
''irtually doubled. With 4.338.936 square
^ards imported January-June, 1954, a
of 8,444,195 square yards was im-
^^tal vjjL j ai
Ported January-June, 1955.
The census bureau report showed a
^srnendous increase in Japanese cotton
sheets and pillowcases. Square yards
'ticreased from 1,332,018 for the entire
1954 to 5,464,519 for the first six
•Months of 1955.
-The big jump in imports presumably
stimulated by the tariff reductions
^hich become effective September 10
^nder concessions granted by the U.S.
Sovernment team in recent Geneva
^®gotiations. It confirmed the textile in-
3®try’s previously expressed fears over
impending flood of low-priced Jap-
®f>ese merchandise.
How We Employ
*^ay Evans is an attractive young
ornajj who was recently employed as a
®classifier-mender in the Bedspread
Lotting and Sewing Dept, at Central
'^arehouse. Fieldcrest accumulated
facts about her before she was
selected for this job.
otK a picture-story on testing and
steps in our employment proced-
see pages four and five.
Governor Hodges Will Be Speaker
For 35th Anniversary of Council
1
REV. H. D. McAlister
... To Speak at Picnic . .
Picnic Planned
For 25-Y©ar
Rev. H. Dwight McAlister, of Cheraw,
South Carolina, will speak at ^^e Pic
nic for long-service employees of the
Company at Morehead Stadium Satur
day afternoon, September
the 13th annual meeting of the Field
crest Mills 25-Year club.
The speaking part of the program
will open at 4 p.m. and will be follow
ed around 5 p.m. by a bountiful picnic
supper served by the ladies of the
Matrimony Grange under the direction
of Mrs. Fred Davis. This is the same
group which prepared the food for the
25-Year Club picnics in 1953 and in
1954.
The committee has arranged games,
prizes, music and other entertainment
for the enjoyment of the 25 Year
Club members. President Harold W.
Whitcomb and other Company officials
will speak briefly to the group,
Mr. McAlister, a gifted speaker, is
widely known for the humor and down-
to-earth wisdom he intersperses m his
addresses.
The Governor of North Caro
lina will speak in the Leaksville-
Spray Junior High School Audi
torium at 7:30 o’clock Thursday
evening, September 13, on a pro
gram commemorating the 35th
Anniversary of the founding of
the Carolina Cooperative Council.
Governor Luther H. Hodges has ac
cepted the invitation to speak, extend
ed through Harold W. Whitcomb, pres
ident of Fieldcrest. The Governor will
be driven here from Raleigh during the
day and will attend a dinner with
Company officials and council officers
preceding the meeting.
Several committees are at work on
arrangements for the anniversary pro
gram, to be highlighted by the address
by the Governor and to include special
ceremonies honoring the charter mem
bers of the council.
It will be a joint meeting of the
Carolina Cooperative Council and the
Junior Carolina Council. The wives
and husbands of members will attend
and various community groups will
be invited. Details will be announced
in the letters of invitation to be mailed
to council members in advance of the
meeting.
Governor Hodges, formerly vice-
president of Mashall Field & Company
and general manager of the mills, was
affiliated with the Company for over
30 years, 1919-1950. He and the late
L. W. Clark were co-founders of the
council. Governor Hodges was long the
guiding spirit behind the organization,
comprised of key men at the mills, and
served as secretary during the group’s
first ten years .
Wage Increase
Effective August 22
Pay checks this week will re
flect a general wage increase of
five cents per hour for hourly
paid and piece rate employees
which was put into effect Mon
day, August 22.
The minimum wage was in
creased from $1.03 to $1.08 per
hour, except to learners.
The increase applies to approxi
mately 4150 Fieldcrest employees
in the Tri-Cities and in Fieldale.