THE TRANSYLVANIA TIMES
A State And National Prize - Winning A.B.C. Newspaper
Vol. 75—No. 3
SECOND CLASS POSTAGE
PAID AT BREVARD. N. C.
BREVARD, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 1964 PRICE 10c * 24 PAGES TODAY * PUBLISHED WEEKLY
New Industry For Transylvania
Proposed Site For New Plant Of American Thread Company At Calvert
“Blackout” Monday Night
Duke Men Battle Elements Of
Winter To Restore Power Here
The Brevard area was
“blacked out’’ for two hours
and 53 minutes Monday bight
because cf a break in the
transmission line between the
Davidson River sub ■ station
near Pisgah Forest and the
town of Brevard.
The electricity went off at
^approximately 9:12 Monday eve
ning.
According to John Clark,
m. manager of the local branch
w of Duke Power, the company
was fortunate in being able
to restore power as quickly as
it did.
He was high in his praise for
the fine performance of the em
ployees of the company.
‘^hcse men reported for
duty in the absence of tele
phone communication and they
immediately began a pre-ar
ranged operating procedure
for an emergency."
Additional help was immedi
ately summoned from Hender
sonville via radio to assist in the
work already underway by the
Brevard personnel.
The cause of the break in the
line has not been determined,
but the investigation is still un
derway, Mr. Clark continued.
This particular transmission
line, which is inspected month
ly, carried 44,000 volts.
The “break” was discovered
after Bobby Hunter reported to
Arnold Monteith’»ht-thl''CasIner.s
Valley road operating center that
lie had just seen brilliant flashes
along the power lines behind his
sheet metal shop and near the
Brevard Drive-In theatre.
The Hendersonville line
maintenance crew arrived
shortly after the Brevard crew
had located the trouble and
was clearing the line for re
pair.
The difficult work was ham
pered by the weather conditions
and “knee-deep” mud.
A11 during the time the men
were wcrking, a wind whipped
up a penerating snow, while
the mercury hovered around
—Turn to Page Four
LOOKING OVER A PLAT
which depicts the site for the Amer
ican Thread company’s new plant at
Calvert are three of the local men
who have been handling the land
negotiations. Left to right, are; At*
torney Ralph H. Ramsey, Jr., Su'pt.
of Schools Wayne Bradburn and
Brevard Realtor Gil Coan. The. 50
acre tract is located in the beautiful
flat lands across from the old prison
camp. (Times Staff Photo)
Pm«mnm»imnmmnu<4Mnmnmmnmnnnmi(f|
i The Weather |
1 I
Almost two and a half inches
of precipitation in the form of
rain, snow and sleet fell on Bre
yard during the Dast week. This
included the sleet and snow, one
and a half inches deep on the
ground, Monday.
Monday's precipitation equated
as rainfall was only three-tenths
of-an-inch.
High and low readings for the
week were 52 and 10 degrees
respectively.
Readings for the week were
as follows:
High Low Prec.
Wednesday- 43 33 .12
Thursday- 52 34 1.38
Friday_ 46 20 .01
Saturday _44 10 .00
Sunday- 35 25 .58
Monday_33 16 .30
"uesday-32 10 .00
The forecast calls for tempera
ures 8 to 10 degrees lower than
,ng term averages through Mon
ay of next week. Precipitation
■taling one-half to three-quar
ers of an inch is expected Fri
ay and Saturday.
Coming To Transylvania
History Of American Thread
Company Dates Back To 1898
(Editor’s note: The Amer
ican Thread company announc
es today that it has purchased
a plant site at Calvert, near
Rosman, and that construction
of a new cotton spinning mill
will begin in April. Along
with this announcement, we
feel that a brief history of this
outstanding company will be
of interest to readers of The
Times.)
American Thread, well
known throughout the apparel
and piece goods field, has long
been the nation’s leading pro
ducer of industrial stitching
thread. Its more than 40,000
different products find count
less end uses in everything
from dresses, work clothes,
shirts, suits and shoes to con
vertible auto tops, book bind
ings, parachutes, tea bags and
baseballs.
It also markets sales yarn to
the knitting and weaving trade
and a wide range of notions and
art needle work goods to con
sumers. Its STAR mercerized
An Editorial
Welcome American Thread
On behalf of the citizens of this fine county,
The Transylvania Times takes pleasure in welcom
ing the American Thread Company to this section
of Western North Carolina.
Like this outstanding company, Transylvania
is historically famous and is recognized as a center
for industry, education, agriculture and tourist
attractions.
We are also noted for our more than 16,000
friendly people.
We are delighted that the company has pur
chased this site at Calvert and that construction
will begin soon on a modern building.
For many years it has been the dream of our
citizens to get more and diversified industry in up
per Transylvania.
Two years ago, the Mitchell-Bissell Company
began operation of a plant above Rosman and to
day company officials are most pleased with their
decision to locate here.
We are confident that the American Thread
Company will enjoy the same excellent community
relations and we pledge to them our continued sup
port and cooperation.
Our largest industries, Olin and DuPont, are
also happy with their locations here in the land
of waterfalls.
Again we salute the American Thread Com
pany and bid them welcome!
sewing thread, DAWN kMtting
worsted, CONMAR zippers and
AUNT LYDIA'S rug yarn, for
example, enjoy a wide accept
ance through the land.
Termed in 1898 the company
employs 4400 people in 6 mills
and 13 distribution centers
spread across the nation. Other
spinning and finishing mills
are located in Sevier, (near
Marion), Clover, S. C., Dalton,
Ga., Tallapoosa, Ga., YVilliman
tic, Conn. It makes its own
wooden spools in still another
mill located in Milo, Maine.
Until now, the company’s new
est mill has been its quarter
mile long Sevier, unit, built in
1952. This plant employs 850
persons. Located there are com
plete, modern bleaching, dyeing,
mercerizing, and finishing facili
ties; extensive specialized pack
aging and cloth stamping equip
ment, 2 distribution centers, a
district sales office; regional
purchasing and data processing
—Turn to Page Four
American Thread To
Build Plant Calvert
American Thread President E. B. Shaw yes
terday told community leaders from Brevard and
Rosman his company will start construction of a
new cotton spinning mill on a site at Calvert, near
Rosman this year. He estimated the new mill would
be fully operating by late 1965.
Speaking at a special luncheon Wednesday at
Gaither’s restaurant, Mr. Shaw described the mill as
a one-story, fully air-conditioned structure, producing
a variety of thread yarn products and employing about
300 people.
It will be located on a 50 acre tract on U.S.
Highway 64 about 2 miles north of Rosman, he said.
Ground breaking ceremonies will take place in early
April.
The highlight of the proceedings was the 'pres
entation of a check bv Mr. Shaw to Mr. Thomas L.
Hooper, owner of part of the land involved.
Over 50 civic, industry and business leaders
were in attendance for the important pronounce- i
ment. Among those present were Mayors B. W. i
Thomason of Brevard and Austin Hogsed of Ros
man: R. M. Boyd- Chairman. Board of County Com
missioners; C. Wayne Bradburn and B. E. Keisler,
presidents respectively of the Brevard and Rosman
Chambers of Commerce; as well as other county
commissioners, members of both Chambers, and
industry and bank officials from bo*h communities.
Mr. Bradburn presided at the meeting.
Representing American Thread were members of
the company’s top management group. In addition
to Mr. Shaw these included H. Horroeks, vice presi
dent; H. E. Williams, vice president; D. E. Howe, *
director of operations; ,T. B. Love, director of general
executive services. B. V. La very, general manager, -|
industrial sales division.
Also present was A. K. Pposer, a former resi
dent of Brevard and the company’s general engi
neer for the past 11 years.
Like most of American Thread’s other spinning
mills, the new mill will ship the bulk of its output to
the company’s 500.000 sq. ft. Sevier, N. finishing
plant, about 90 miles away, Shaw pointed out, thus
achieving “fuller utilization” of that plant’s capacity.
“We are building this new facility because we
firmly believe in the future of the textile industry
in th*s country,” Mr. Shaw said. “Our nation’s
population is vrowinsr and the market for textiles
is growing with it. We intend to serve this market
in every way we can.
“The new mill will help the company meet the
challenge and harvest the opportunities of the fu
ture,” he added.
“With the aid of the latest and best cotton man
ufacturing design features and techniques available
to our industry, we plan in this unit to achieve max- j
imum efficiency, maximum cleanliness and comfort
.. . all at a minimum per unit of product cost,” he said. 1
“We want it to be the thread mill of the fu
ture,” he concluded, “a textile man’s showplace.”
SEVERAL TRANSYLVANIANS
were instrumental in influencing
the American Thread company to
buy a plant site at Calvert. Two of
them are pictured above. At the
left is Austin Hog ed, mayor of Ros
man, and at the r glit is Jack Mitch
ell, president of Mitchell * Bissell
company.
(Times Staff Photo)