Vol. XV
Spray, N. C., Monday, October 22, 1956
NUMBKR 8
Pledges Asked In Community Fund Drive
Fieldcrest Employees
Given Wage Increase
Fieldcrest people will share in the Tri-City Community Fund cam
paign which opens Monday, October 22, and continues through October
31. The community-wide goal is $31,505.04 representing the approved
budget needs of the several worthy health and welfare agencies serving
local people.
Fieldcrest pay checks last week re
flected a general wage increase averag-
10 cents per hour for hourly paid
snd piece rate employees in the Tri
nities and Fieldale, Virginia. The raise
put into effect Monday, October 8.
Individual increases were calculated
On a percentage basis and the minimum
raise in any rate was eight cents per
hour. Fieldcrest’s minimum rate follow
ing the wage hike is $1.16 per hour, ex
cept for learners. Detailed rates for each
Job are being issued.
In commenting on the wage increase,
A. Harris, vice president in charge
mamifacturing, said: “The raise at
■fieldcrest was a part of a general move-
^ent in the textile industry to increase
^ages, although we understand some of
competitors did not grant as large
increase as we did. This means that
‘here is now a wider gap between our
^ages and those of some of the mills
^ith whom we must compete.
“The increase wiU add over one mil-
hon dollars to our annual payroll and
costs wil be increased by that am-
®unt. It will be up to each of us at
'leldcrest to maintain our efforts to in-
'^^ease productivity to offset these high-
costs. I am sure that employees will
^ontinue to cooperate with us in keep
ing costs down so that we may obtain an
increasing share of the market in which
\Ve
operate.”
Student Tours Set At
Towel Mill Oct. 29-30
High school seniors from Martinsville
high school and the John D. Bassett
high school at Bassett wiU visit the
Towel MiU in Fieldale Monday and
Tuesday, October 29-30 as part of a
program of industry tours and essay
contest sponsored by Martinsville and
Henry county members of the Virginia
Manufacturers Association.
The Martinsville seniors will be at the
Towel Mill on Monday. They will hear
a welcome by D. A. Purcell, miU mana
ger, and will see a display of Towel Mill
products. They will then be divided into
small groups for guided tours through
the mill. At the completion of the tour
the entire group wiU gather for a dis
cussion period during which mill offi
cials will answer the students’ questions.
Bassett Group To Visit
The John D. Bassett group wiU fol
low a similar schedule on Tuesday.
The seniors will return to their schools
and write essays based on their visits to
the local industries. The subject wiU be:
“Our American Free Enterprise System
at Work in Our Local Industries and
What It Means to Our Community.”
^uke Power Official Speaks On Council Program
C. s. Reed, Duke Power Co. vice
president and rate engineer, described
'he economic advantages of the Pied-
Carolinas in an address before
he members of the Carolina Coopera-
Council Thursday evening, Octo-
18, at Consolidated Central
^•M.C.A.
M. Norman, president, presided
°''er the meeting which opened the
Council’s 36th program year. He ex
pressed appreciation to the officers and
^'^mmitteemen who served last year
and presented the incoming Council
officials.
Rev. Frank Phibbs, pastor of the
First Methodist church, Draper, gave
the invocation. F. W. Klein, of the
program committee, introduced Mr.
Reed. Attendance prizes were awarded
to H. L. Robertson, Finishing Mill, and
Cecil R. Barker, Towel Mill.
Special guests at the meeting were
Douglas Booth and J. D. Knight, local
Duke Power Co. officials; Harry Davis,
president of the Tri-City Chamber of
Commerce; and A. E. Fair, president
of the Tri-City Merchants association.
William B. Lucas, attorney for Field
crest Mills, is chairman of the industrial
division, embracing Fieldcrest and other
textile firms in the Tri-Cities. Richard
Robertson, editor of The Leaksville
News, is chairman of the over-all cam
paign and has appointed chairmen to
handle the solicitations in various sec
tions of Leaksville-Spray-Draper.
At Fieldcrest, the superintendents
will have charge of the drive in their
mills. A canvas wiU be made in each de
partment, offering every employee an
opportunity to share in the campaign.
The mill managers will direct the solici
tations among clerical and other salaried
employees.
The suggested schedule of giving at
Fieldcrest and elsewhere is one day’s
wages and contributions on this basis
throughout the community will assure
the success of the campaign. At Field
crest the donation may be in the form
of a pledge for an amount to be with
held from wages over a period of time.
Installments may be as little as one dol
lar each week for 10 weeks.
“If we all pledge the equivalent of
one day’s pay, we wiU reach our quota
at Fieldcrest Mills and this will be a
fair share for our people,” Mr. Lucas
said. “Also, such donations at Fieldcrest
will go a long way toward reaching the
over-all goal of $31,505.04.”
In announcing the goal for the Tri-
Cities, budget chairman Hugh Bundy
said that in the opinion of the directors
this sum represents a fair share of this
community’s responsibility for the sup
port of all the worthwhile health, wel
fare and recreational services to Ise in
cluded in this year’s United campaign.
Falls Aren’t Fun
-If you suffer a disabling: injury this
year, the chances are about one in five
that it will be due to a fail of some
kind. And there is a chance (too much
of a chance) the injury may be serious.
See pages four and five for picture-
story on falls—how falls can happen in
the mill and how you can avoid injury
from this cause.