The Caromount News
—EACH MONTH BY AND FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF THE WILSON AND CAROMOUNT DIVISIONS
VOL. V, NO. 3
SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL AND CO. INC.
MARCH, 1947
March Winds Bring
Disaster To Employee
Although hastening the arrival
of spring, the March winds
brought disaster for Mrs. Mavis
Parker, first shift Finishing De
partment employee. Her home
Was completely destroyed by fire
on Thursday, March 6.
While Mrs. Parker was at work
her home burst into flames re
sulting in a complete loss of the
house and household furnishings
except a few chairs and a few
clothing articles. A defect de
veloped in the oil stove in use
that morning and the blaze from
Ihis stove engulfed the house im-
Hiediately. The house was located
Hear Langley’s Cross Roads, Route
No. 2, Rocky Mount. No fire
fighting equipment was available
9nd the fire reached proportions
far beyond control. There was
! Uo fire insurance coverage on this
house, which was owned by Mrs.
! Parker’s mother-in-law, Mrs. C.
; J. Parker.
h There were no injuries suffer
ed by the family. Mr. and Mrs.
Parker found temporary accomo-
• dations for their children with
' Various relatives and friends
y throughout the community. They
‘ are now sharing housing accom
odations with M. G. Parker, Route
: No. 2.
j Realizing the plight of the Park-
! cr family the Caromount em-
I ployees immediately began con
tributing to a fund to help their
fellow employee. The total con
tributions from employees amount
ed to approximately $500.00. In
addition to the money employees
(Continued on Page Three)
Notice To Veterans
The Veterans Administration is
sponsoring a nationwide informa
tion program on the great value
j af National Service Life Insurance.
; Reinstatement of policies which
have lapsed may be effected until
Vugust 1, 1947.
If you have been separated
from military service under hon
orable conditions for less than
One year you may now apply for
^ complete dental check-up and
dental treatment—free of cost.
Full information may be ob
tained. at the V. A. office in the
Municipal Building, Rocky Mount,
N. C., or in the Wilson County
Courthouse, Wilson, N. C.
Mrs. Mavis Parker (center) is pictured at the scene of the
chained ruins of her home recently destroyed by fire. Shown
with her are three of her eight children. (Left to right)
Barbara, Richard, and Christine. Cliildren not shown here
include Aileen, Elsworth, Myrtle Ray, Jean and Edith.
Savings Plan Begins
Arrangements have been com
pleted for the instigation of a
savings plan for the Caromount
and Wilson employees. The Plant
ers National Bank of Rocky Mount
and the National Bank of Wilson
have agreed to accept this club on
an interest bearing plan.
Each employee who makes a
deposit in this savings plan will
receive a standard bank book. De
posits may be made in any amount
starting at $2.00 per week and all
deposits above $50.00 will draw
interest at the rate of one per cent.
At the written request of em
ployees weekly savings will be
deducted from their paychecks.
Applications for joining this sav-
(Continued on Page Three)
Four Accidents Occur
In the Caromount Division
there have been three lost time
accidents and one lost time ac
cident at the Wilson Division dur
ing January, February, and March.
These accidents probably could
have been prevented if more em
ployees had been thinking of the
safe way to do their jobs.
Accidents are not mere hap
penings, nor are they all due to
machinery failures. The chief
cause of accidents is a brief mental
lapse when the individual forgets
safety for a second or two and
the accident happens.
To prevent accidents each in
dividual must at all times be safety
minded. He must think not only
(Continued on Page Three) •
Travels To Holy Land Decided Easter Date
Very few people seem to know
the correct means of determining
the Sunday on which to wear
your Easter bonnet. How about
you? Do you know? It seems
that one year the ground will
be covered with snow on Easter,
and the next, the trees and flow
ers will be blooming and robins
daneing and chirping in the warm
sunshine.
The changeable seasons may
be accounted for by the fact that
way back in 325 A. D. (1622
years ago) the Council of Chris
tian Churches in the known world
at that time drew up a creed and
set the date of Easter so that
Pilgrims traveling to the Holy
Land for Easter festivities would
have moonlight to travel by. They
decided, therefore, that Easter
would always be the first Sunday
after the Paschal Full Moon
which happens on or after March
21st. Thus, the date of Easter
may vary between Mareh 22nd
and April 25th, over a period of
35 days.
Bear in mind when you select
your Easter outfit in the future,
so your white orchid won’t be
competing with the little jonquils
covered with snow.
Irish Textile Expert At
Caromount and Wilson
The Caromount and Wilson Di
visions had a distinguished visitor
recently iln the person of Patrick
J. Lenihan, director of General
Textiles, Ltd., Athlone, County
Westmeath, Ireland, who has been
in this country in the interest of
supplies for his company, and inci
dentally studying Ameriean pro
duction methods.
“This is America’s century,”
Mr. Lenihan told us, “both polit
ically and economically.” He
said he thought the country had
a sense of its war responsibility
—much more so than in 1919—
which he felt was a good sign.
Mr. Lenihan is a great admirer
of this country. He says there
is real demoeracy here, where
every man has a chance to make
something of himself. Our ideas
are not so crystallized as Eu
rope’s and our thinking less ster
eotyped.
We asked him to tell us about
his own plant and he described
it as a new cotton mill, establish
ed in 1937, patterned along Am
erican lines with modern auto
matic machinery and mass pro
duction of utility cloth. It is op
erated on the vertical plan with
spinning, yarn preparation, weav-
dyeing, printing, and finish
ing carried on successively at one
location.
It was Mr. Lenihan’s first visit
to America and he was most fav
orably impressed. Aside from
the material comforts—hot and
cold running water, central heat
ing and good food, which he in
no way depreciated—he thought
the spirit of the country was good
and the people alive to their prob
lems and solutions.
We asked him about the train
ing of craftsmen, and we were
interested to learn that aside from
textile experts in the managerial
(Continued on Page Two)
SOFTBALL
Many employees are beginning
plans for their softball teams for
the coming season. It is hoped
that there will be eight teams in
the men’s league and two or more
teams for the women. Notice the
bulletin boards for announcements
concerning the formation of these
teams. Some of the players are
planning to begin practice sessions
during the first week of April.