MANAGEMENT SPEAKS
March 3,1952
To the Employees of Erwin Mills:
Last month in his letter to you,
Mr. H&rris asked for better quality
and production, pointing out the
depressed condition of the Textile
Industry. The depressed condition
ia even more severe now, the price
of Sheets and a great many other
items ia far under cost, and there
ia little demand for textiles of any
kind. We at Erwin Mills are work
ing hard to develop more popular
fabrics and patterns, some of which
may be of interest to you.
In Durham, No. 6 Mill has been
converted to Combed Percale Sheets
and Pillow Cases. We are pack
aging Sheets and Pillow Cases in
transparent wrappers, such as cello
phane, pliofilm or polyethylene to
make our put-up more attractive.
At Erwin, we are dressing up
the old "stand-by" Indigo Blue Den
ims. Some are being printed in
attractive plaid patterns and lightly
napped. This "dresses" up the
fabric and makes it warmer. Some
are being woven with bright colors
of filling, making an "irredescent"
appearance to the face of the fabric,
and can be napped or not, depend
ing on the desire of the garment
manufacturers.
At Cooleemee, we are adding new
patterns and new fabrics in Sports
wear and Suitings. These goods are
being used more and more for dec
orative purposes in the home, such
as slip covers and draperies, because
they are very serviceable, attractive
and inexpensive.
Crease resistant finishes on cotton
fabrics are beeomi'ig more popular
and at Cooleemee, we have installed
equipment for doing this work. This
finish gives the cloth a "sheen" and
makes the finished garment "drape'!
better without so many small
wrinkles that are common in cotton
fabrics. We have also installed
embossing equipment with which we
can impreep permanent designs ii)
the cloth, a type of finish which i$
also meeting with much success.
By adding new products and im
proving the ones we know are de
sirable, we fed that we are in a
better position to increase sales.
Yoar cooperation in helping to keep
Erwin quality at the top level in
all of our products is more im
portant now than ever before.
Sincerely yours,
L. C. Thomas
, Ant Secretary &
I Sales for Durham, Cooleemee
ft Neuse
if iWg
OH-
Mr. and Mrs. James E. Sparks,
Cooleemee, proud parents of a
daughter, Jane Eddice Sparks, born
January 18th.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen Wilson, Er
win, proud parents of a son, Larry,
born in Good Hope Hospital on
January 13th.
Mr. and Mrs. David Bennett, Er
win, whose baby son, Thomas Ben
nett, was horn on December 29th.
Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Weaver who
unnounee the birth of a son, Ken
neth Franklin, on January 14th at
Watts Hoapital. Mrs. Weaver is an
THE ERWIN CHATTER
Vol. 111, No. 3
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NEW MANAGER AT NEUSE PLANT—MR. L. E. GATLIN, JR., has
recently taken over the job as manager of Plant No. 7 in Neuse, North Caro
lina. He has had practical experience in manufacturing on various types of
cotton, both plain and fancy, and filament rayon goods for the underwear
and outwear trade. He has also hid experience in spun rayon, nylon and
various synethetic blends for dress fabrics, men's and women's suiting.
Mr. Gatlin is a graduate of Clemion College, is married and has two sons.
For the past 15 months he has bceii employed by the Dan River Mills and
has been located for the most of tHat time at the Riverside Division. Be
sides working for Dan River Millsjhe has been associated with the Pacific
Mills, M. Lowenstein & Sons, and Seaunit Mills.
Born in Newberry, South Caroliilp, Mr. Gatlin spent his first years in the
industry in and around Greenville. He is now in the process of lotating a
house for his wife and children and hopes to find one in Wake Forest.
employee of the Cloth Room, No. fe
Mill. I
Mr. and Mrs. Don Yeager, proitt
parents of a daughter, Donna Gaw
is the former Durham editor of
the CHATTER. Their address is 5631
Stafford Avenue, Huntington Park,
California.
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Carl Greg
ory of 1737 Murray Street, Durham,
announce the birth of a son, Ernest
Carl, Jr., on February 24th at Duke
Hospital. Mrs. Gregory is the
former Joyce Rasberry.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Page of
1823 Eva Street, Durham, announce
the birth of a son, Winfred Earl,
born on January 23rd at Duke Hos
pital. Mrs. Page is the former Faye
Rasberrv.
January Payroll Saving
Report
For Cooleemee, Durham,
Erwin and Neuse
No. employees saving 1,102
Total savings for
month $17,045.61
Congress has passed a law which
makes it possible, now, for your
Defense Bonds to earn interest ten
years longer than originally planned.
For example: a Series E Bond
which cost $18.75 in 1942 will pay
$25.00 in 1952. But if you hold it
ten extra years, it will pay you
$33.33, an average of 2.9%.
And there is nothing for you to
do. You simply keep your Bonds
as you have been keeping them.
You may still redeem any Series
E Bond at any time after you have
owned it sixty days. But holding
your Bonds is the smart thing.
So if vou have Bonds wfyich are
MARCH, 1952
coming due this month, remember
the new money-making chance your
Government is giving you. Just
hold onto your Bonds and they'll go
on earning for you. In the mean
time, keep up your regular saving
with wore U. S. Defense Bonds—
through our Payroll Savings.
Erwin Mills, in Durham, Erwin
and Cooleemee are listed by the
Treasury Department as having con
ducted outstanding Payroll Savings
Drives during the year 1951. If you
are not already buying them, sign
up for Bonds today.
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LEARNING TO FIX LOOMS —Practical work in loom fixing is one of the main advafttues to the TOW Loom
Fixing Classes now in session at'Erwin Auditorium. In one of the early sessions, George ijiyftls and Earl Hocka
lay dismantle a spring type Pittman arm under the watchful eyes of the instructor, W. C: Dodson, Jr. These
members of the first shift class are, left to right with backs to camera; Clarence Harward, Jesse Bumpaaa, A. 1L
Barefoot, Osborne Ashley, Marion Bumpass, Dodson and Rubert Byrd. Those identified facing camera M|
Vernon Porter, Clyde McKellar and Lewis Smith.
Letter From Japan
February 6, 1952
An Air Base in Japan
Erwin Mills, Inc.
Erwin, North Carolina
Dear Sirs:
I've just had a brainstorm and
also I have a bit of news to pass
along to you, so here goes.
The news: Two Erwin boys were
brought together at an Air Base in
Japan. The boys are S/Sgt. Bill
Wilkerson and S/Sgt. Elbert Jack
son. Sgt. Wilkerson is the son of
Bob Wilkerson of No. 5 Spinning
Room, and Sgt. Jackson is the son
of Puny Jackson of No. 5 Weave
Room.
Now for the brainstorm: Maybe
this has been thought of before but
has been found to be impractical.
I, and I think I speak for all boys
in the service, would like to keep
up with the happenings of dear old
Erwin. Would it be possible for
the sons of Erwin Mills employees
who are in the service to get a sub
scription to the Erwin CHATTER?
Guess that's about it for now but
if I get some more news that's
Erwin, I'll pass it along. So until
then,
Sincerely,
S/Sgt. E. G. Jackson
An Open Letter to S/Sgt. Jackson
from the Editors of the Erwin
Chatter
Dear Sgt. Jackson:
We all thank you for sending in
the news of Erwin boys in the serv
ice and hope that you will continue
writing us.
Your brainstorm is a good one
and something that everyone of our
readers should know about. We
would like the names and addresses
of all relatives of Erwin Mills em
ployees who are in the service so
that copies of the Erwin CHATTER
can be sent to them each month. We
are currently sending out several
hundred copies of the CHATTER to
men in the service, but we want to
be sure that everyone who wants a
copy, gets one. It's up to us, now
that you have had your brainstorm,
and I hope we won't let you down.
Employees in Erwin should turn in
the names and addresses to Miss
Olive McKown at the Employment
Office; in Cooleemee, to Dick Pierce
at the Recreation Center; and in
Durham, to Mrs. Jane Corbitt «t
the CHATTER office.
Thanks again for your grand
letter and the best of luck to you.
Sincerely,
The Editors of the
Erwin CHATTER
Circulation 6,000
School Days For
Erwin Employees
School days never come to an end
for the person who is eager to learn.
It's a healthy sign when adults en
roll in classes designed to help them
get ahead in their jobs, and that's
exactly what is happening now at
the Erwin Auditorium in Durham.
The Vocational Education Depart
ment of the Durham City Schools
is conducting a Loom Fixers' School
here with the cooperation of Erwin
Mills. In the basement *f the Audi
torium, bowling alleys were ripped
out, a new floor laid, and classes
are being held in this well-lighted,
clean, comfortable classrocin. The
desks, blackboard, instructors and
lights are furnished by the Durham
City School's Vocational Education
Division, and Erwin Mills furnishes
the text books, the classroom, three
looms and most important of all,
the students.
After the word got around that
classes in Loom Fixing would be
available, it didn't take long for the
roll books to be completed. Em
ployees on the first shift attend
classes from 3:30 to 5:30 P.M. on
Monday and Thursday of each week
under the instruction of William C.
Dodson, Jr., Assistant Overseer in
No. 4 Weave Room. Second shift
students have classes with Malcolm
Blackmon, Assistant Overseer in
No. 1 Weave Room, from 1:00 to
3:00 P.M. on Mondays and Wednes
days. The third shift employees
attend classes from 6:30 to 8:30
A.M. Mondays and Thursdays.
Their instructor is William H. Kel
ler, Assistant Overseer in No. 1
Weave Room. All in all, there are >
53 employees who attend these
classes regularly and will finish their
instruction in loom fixing about the
last week in May after completing
60 hours as prescribed by the State
of North Carolina Vocational Edu
cation Department.
Each of the three classes has its
own loom to work on in the class
room and the lessons are carefully
planned by the instructors to ex
plain all motions and parts of the
loom and enable the students to
meet any problems they might face
on the job in repairing a loom otit
of fix.
It is hoped that the Loom Fixers'
classes at the Auditorium will be
the beginning of an expanded train
ing program for Erwin Mills em
ployees available through the Voca
tional Education Department of the
State of North Carolina in Durham,
Cooleemee and Erwin.