Erwin and Cooleemee Land
To Be Sold in Farms & Lois
Company Employees Get
First Opportunity To Buy;
Marketable Timber Sold
Separately At Cooleemee
Approximately 7,800 acres of
Erwin Mills property in Erwin and
Cooleemee will be put on sale soon
by the J. W. Ferrell Company of
Winston-Salem. The property in
cludes about 3,800 acres of land at
Cooleemee and about 4,000 acres at
Erwin.
Most of the land to be sold ad
joins the towns of Erwin and Coo
leemee. The Ferrell Company
values the property in excess of
$BOO,OOO.
Land Subdivided
The property to be sold has been
subdivided into residence lots and
* small farms, for it is believed that
many employees will wish to pur
chase them. This will enable em-
A, ployees to build their own homes or
do some farming within a short
distance of their work at the mill.
Letters will be sent to all employees
in Cooleemee and Erwin explaining
how the land will be sold. Compa
ny employees at these plants will
have the first opportunity to buy
and all property not purchased by
employees will be sold at both pri
vate and auction sales.
Timber Rights
Marketable timber from the Coo
leemee land is being sold in four
tracts; two in Davie County and
two in Rowan County.
There is little marketable timber
on the land at Erwin. Most of the
property there is farm land, in
cluding about 75 acres in tobacco
allotments.
• Surveyor Marks Lots
For the past few weeks, the land
to be sold has been surveyed and
4 —————————
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Mrs. Goss, in foreground, prepares sb
cardboard between two tabled sheets,
oa feeder leading into the machine. .
ramp above machine, Vallie Lashbun
picture are Fred Langford, left, Asst
and a representative of the factory wt
THE ERWIN CHATTER
Vol. IX, No. 10
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
Christmas Gift Announced
Erwin Mills will say "Merry
Christinas" to each of us this year
with a package of our own colored
sheets. Each package will contain
two percale sheets and two pillow
cases. Erwin colored sheets are
made in blue, maize, rose, green,
pink and lilac.
DURHAM EMPLOYEES
ASKED TO DONATE
United Fund Drive To Be
Only Solicitation For
Year In Durham Plants
Twenty-nine community services
are represented by the United Fund
in Durham this year. The drive for
money to support these services is
being held this week throughout the
Durham Erwin Mills. It is con
ducted the same way the Commu
nity Chest drive was made, last year.
Goal Is 25c A Week
The goal set up for Erwin em
ployees is 25c a week for 52 weeks,
or $13.00 from each person, to be
given during the year. The Payroll
Department has arranged to de
duct United Fund contributions
from your paycheck if you request
it.
Give ONCE For All
Company officials state that the
United Fund Drive will be the only
solicitation of employees for con
tributions to charity to be held in
the Durham plants for the year.
Employees are asked to give as
generously as possible to the United
Fund. Contributions will be dis
tributed among twenty-nine com
munity services in the City of Dur
ham.
marked into lots which will be
priced according to location.
In Cooleemee, the sale is expected
to begin the latter part of October.
Sale of Erwin property will begin
about the middle of November.
NEW MACHINE USED
TO WRAP SHEETS
This new machine in the Sewing
Room is a sheet wrapper. It op
erates on the same principle as a
cake-wrapping machine in a bakery.

22 PER MINUTE Each
sheets. The
A^l^^nechanieal
OCTOBER, 1953
Returned Prisoners of War Bring
Much Happiness t
Parents and Friends In
Erwin and Durham
Welcome Home Three
Return PW's
The long months of worry and
waiting are over for three families
in our Erwin Mills community.
Their sons have returned from Com
munist prison camps in North Ko
rea. Sgt. William Dezern and Pfc.
Fred Lane, Jr. of Durham, and
Cpl. William Stogsdill of Erwin
were released by Operation "Big
Switch" in August.
Tried To Escape
Fred Lane, Jr., son of Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Lane of No. 4 Spinning
Room, made three attempts to es
cape from his Communist captors.
Once, Koreans took him back and
the second time, he was tracked
down by the Chinese. After two es
capes, the Reds placed him in Pris
on Camp No. 1 which was the
"roughest" camp. Three days be
fore the Korean truce was signed,
Fred tried to escape again but was
caught. Later at Freedom Village
when reporters asked him why he
tried the last escape, he said, "We
hadn't any news for three days. I
wasn't taking any chances."
Fred joined the Army in 1949
and was captured in the winter of
1950 by the North Koreans. He
said the Reds fed them rice, steamed
bread and soybeans. "Of course, I
missed American chow."
Awarded Bronze Star
Billy Stogsdill of Erwin was a
private first class when he was
captured May 18, 1951, in the vi
cinity of Kang-Yi, Korea. During
the 27 months he was a prisoner,
he was promoted to Corporal and
was awarded the Bronze Star for
bravery. Billy volunteered to stay
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[L William V. Stogsdill, son of MT. and Mrs. Fayette Stogsdill of Erwin,
Beets his happiness at being home again. "Billy" was a prisoner for 27
>nths and was released on August 17. He is a former employee of No. 5
•inning Room. His father is a Loom Fixer in No. 2 Weave Room.
IEMPI OYfE CLASSES
START FALL TERMS
Women Attending Weaving
' Classes For First Time;
Loom Fixing Popular
Employees who are interested in
improving their skill or learning a
iCw job, have enrolled in classes
lis month at Cooleemee and Dur
un. Approximately 125 employees
re studying Loom Fixing, Weaving
nd Warper Fixing.
women In Durham Classes
This year, for the first time,
romen are enrolled in the Weaving
ilasses at Durham. Classes are
icheduled for the first and third
ihifts. Weaving instructors at Dur
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We're All Together Again
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Lane embrace their son, Pfc. Fred, Jr., as he stepped
from a plane at Raleigh-Durham Airport. Fred Jr. was released on August
21 after being a prisoner of war of the Chinese Reds for 38 months. He
made three escape attempts while a prisoner, the last being only three days
before the Korean armistice was signed. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lane are em
ployees of No. 4 Spinning, 3rd shift.
behind when riflemen withdrew, in
order to help rescue his wounded
buddies. He was surrounded by
the enemy and forced to surrender.
When last seen, he was inarching
northward with the enemy.
Mr. and Mrs. Stogsdill heard on
December 18, 1951, that Billy was
a prisoner, and they received their
first letter from him on January 11,
1952. They were allowed to write
him one brief letter a month and
send no packages. They were
cautioned not to write anything in
their letters which might get Billy
in trouble with his Red captors.
His letters did not give much news
ham are Charles Turner and Mar
vin Jackson. Loom Fixing in
structors at Durham are Ralph Car
rington, Malcolm Blackman and
Milton Anderson. It is not too late
for any interested employee to sign
up for these classes.
Four Cooleemee Classes
There are two classes in Loom
Fixing at No. 3 Mill under the in
struction of Ed Clawson and Barney
Foster. There is also a class in
Weaving and one in High Speed
Warper Fixing under the super
vision of John Barber. Instructors
are Henry Cook, Lawrence Smith,
Eugene Richardson and Everett
Land.
Circulation 6,000
except to say that he was well and
not to worry about him. In all, they
received 15 letters from him before
the happy telegram he sent from
Freedom Village saying he would
be home soon.
Trapped By Red Road Block
Sgt. William Dezern was captur
ed on November 5, 1950, at Unson,
North Korea, about 60 miles south of
the Manchurian border. The Chi
nese set up a road block behind his
task force so they couldn't get out.
He reports that the Red treatment
of prisoners was "pretty bad." At
first, about two out of three prison
ers died and there are only three
of his platoon now living. They
ate corn and turnips and sometimes,
rice. At one time, he weighed only
about 100 pounds. The Reds told
him when the Korean truce was
signed, and a few days later he and
his fellow prisoners began their
trip to Freedom Village by truck.
While in Korea, Sgt. Dezern re
ceived the Purple Heart, Korean
Campaign Ribbon, United Nations
Medal and the National Defense
Ribbon. He plans to stay in the
Army and expects to be sent to
Germany.
"Bill" is a former employee of
No. 1 Spinning Room. He is the
son of Mrs. Blanche Dezern and the
late Mr. George Dezern of the Elec
tric Shop.
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Sgt. William M. Detent is mm of
three men BOW living who were ia Mil
platoon ia Koiia. He waa captnied
on November 5, 1950, and waa a
prisoner for 33 monthi. Thk picture
waa taken by the American K*4 Crwi
in Inchon, Korea, before he Imliil
a ship to come ho aw.
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