Semaphore - January 1953

[drawings of train and ship] SHIPPERS' news

D. P. Stowe, 64, Belmont civic and church leader and textile industrialist, died in Belmont on January 2 after suffering a heart attack while at his office. Final rites were conducted at the First Baptist Church in Belmont and burial was in Greenwood cemetery. At the time of his death he was secretarytreasurer of Perfection Spinning Co. and of South Fork Manufacturing Co.; vice president of Acme Spinning Co.; vice president of Linford Mills; president of Belmont Building & Loan Assn.; director of the Bank of Belmont; director of the Belmont Converting Co.; and director of the Piedmont Processing Co.

A. M. Smyre Manufacturing Co. of Gastonia has announced the promotion of D. Hunter Cauble to the position of general superintendent and Lester H. Witener to superintendent. Announcement of these promotions was made by F. L. Smyre, Jr., president of the company.

Carl R. Harris has been elected executive vice president of Erwin Mills and Ralph T. Marshall has been named vice president and treasurer. Mr. Harris has been with Erwin Mills since 1928.

Pelzer Mills of Pelzer, S. C., a unit of Kendall Mills, has completed plans for selling the dwellings in its village to employees. Present occupants of the houses will have first opportunity to buy.

John P. Stevens, formerly president of J. P. Stevens & Co., has been elected to the chairmanship, succeeding his brother, Robert T. Stevens, who has been named Secretary of the Army under President Eisenhower. Joseph H. Sutherland was elected to the presidency of the company.

Abbot Worsted Co. of Graniteville, Mass., has announced plans to construct a $2,000,000 woolen plant near Seneca, S. .C. The mill will have 100,000 square feet of floor area and will employ approximately 300 persons.

John F. Wellington, senior vice president of the Wachovia Bank & Trust Co. in Charlotte has been elected president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. C. W. Gilchrist of the Charlotte Chemical Laboratories and P. M. Bealer, Jr., vice president of the A & P, were elected vice presidents and Fred W. Greene, vice president of the Union National Bank, was named treasurer.

Rail oddities

[drawing of native american with headdress in locomotive] ONE RAILROAD'S ROSTER OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS INCLUDES EIGHT INDIANS — MEMBERS OF THE SENECA TRIBE. ALL HAVE FAULTLESS RECORDS.

[drawing of builders standing behind aluminum lung] SOME MORE "GOOD INDIANS"; WHEN A PEORIA HOSPITAL NEEDED A RESPIRATOR FOR THE TREATMENT OF POLIO PATIENTS, LOCAL RAILROAD SHOP MEN PROMPTLY BUILT AN ALUMINUM "LUNG" FROM MATERIALS FURNISHED BY THEIR COMPANY . . . PRESENTED IT TO THE HOSPITAL AS A GIFT.

[drawing of red cap conducting prayers in train car] AND STILL ANOTHER: IN ONE OF THE NATION'S GREAT RAILROAD STATIONS A RED CAP OF WEST INDIAN PARENTAGE CONDUCTS PRAYER MEETING IN A RAILWAY COACH AT NOON EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.

JANUARY, 1953 11

[ photograph of 7 men standing and sitting at table] OFF-LINE TRAFFIC MEN got together for this informal photograph during the course of the conference. Seated, Gore of Memphis, Irwin of Atlanta, and Egbert of New York. Standing behind are Swaney of Cleveland, Peaseley of Augusta, Culbreath of New York, and Bridges of Chicago.

Staff Conference ..... it helps iron out problems

[ photograph of numerous men sitting around table.] DISCUSSION of traffic matters was held in the new general office conference room at Charlotte. Meetings lassted the better part of three days.

In late December the far-flung traffic representatives of the P&N and D&S once again gathered up their reams of facts and figures, buttoned up their overcoats, and headed for Charlotte and their three-day, end-of-the-year conference.

For most of the off-line men it was their first visit of the year to the general offices. Twice each year the traffic representatives get together to talk things over, see how they've been doing, and make plans for doing ever beter in the months ahear. But onlyone of these two staff meetings is held at the general offices. The mid-year meeting, by long-standing custom, is held in another city served by

12 Semaphore

the railroads. The 1952 mid-year meeting convened in Durham last July. Online traffic men, being closer to home base, get together once a month in Charlotte.

Although traffic department conferences are conducted in a relaxed, informal manner, they are by no stretch of the imagination "bull sessions," Vice President and Traffic Manager Lawson establishes a set agenda of discussion topics which is followed faithfully from beginning to end. Statistics to supplement various topics and comparisons of revenues during recent years are prepared in advance and distributed at the conferences. This gives the conferees a complete, documented picture of business conditions, traffic losses and gains.

To promote mutual understanding and cooperation the two all-inclusive staff conferences are also attended by supervisory operating officials, accounting officials, and Class A agents.

The advantages of these frequent conferences are readily apparent. They provide top traffic officials with a first-hand picture of conditons in many different parts of the country. By studying reports and through personal discussions they are able to analyze situations and make suggestions. In addition, the individual traffic representatives are able to discuss problems of mutual interest with other representatives and general office officials. In this way the two railroads are able to maintain close liaison and understanding with its scattered offices, to take early action to correct past mistakes, and to develop new sources of freight traffic.

This year's year-end conference, conducted for the first time in the new conference room of the general offices, was pronounced a great success. Most of those in attendance espressed the belief that 1953 would be a good year for the two railroads.

January, 1953

[Photograph of 3 men 1 is pointing to a picture of a train] D & S Men on hand for the meeting were: TFA Griffin, CA Kerr, and Superintendent McAllister.

[Photograph of six men ] N.C. Division conferees were: seated, DFA Vandiver, Agent Vaughan, AGFA Shippey; standing. TM Duncan, Agent McIntosh, DFA Asbury.

[ Photograph of 5 men ] S. C. Division traffic representatives were: seated, AGFA Crenshaw. DFA Watt; standing, DFA Armstrong, DFA Hawkins, and FTA Smith.

NEW POCKET SIZE

Semaphore Trims Its Measurements

WITH this, the January issue a new pocket-sized SEMAPHORE is born. Gone is the traditional letter-sized magazine and in its place is a trim, handy 5 3/4 x 8 inch edition which slips into a pocket or purse, fits the average bookshelf, and is easier to handle.

Although the new SEMAPHORE has shrunk in two of its lineal dimensions it has expanded in two others-- thickness and weight. As a general rule pictures in the new magazine will be a bit smaller except for the cover photo which is actually larger than previously used. Type size is and will continue to be as large and readable as possible consistent with good typography.

Reduction in the size of the magazine in no way indicates a de-emphasis on this form of employee communications and customer contact. The opposite is true, for the magazine will continue to grow as an important communications medium. Nor does the size reduction mean a reduction in overall content. The additional pages will compensate for the reduced page size.

One of the principal factors which influenced the decision to change the size of the magazine is the greatly increased flexibility of the pocket-sized publication. Pages in a magazine of this type must be added or eliminated in multiples of four. In the case of the larger magazine, which was usually 16 pages, the editor was forced to tailor his material to fit the book or face the necessity of dropping or adding four pages--usually a 25% change in page area. With the new size the four page rule still applies, but since the pages are smaller the change is not nearaly so drastic.

Pictures will continue to have an important place in the new SEMAPHORE. Magazine editors and advisors are convinced that the photographic treatment of a story or article greatly enhances reader interest. Color will continue to be used on the front, back and inside covers.

In recent years the trend toward pocket-sized magazines among the nation's railraods has been pronounced. The trend is also strongly evident in other industries. Among the better known "little" magazines in the railroad field are the C & O's "Tracks," the Texas & Pacific's "Topics," Southern Pacific's "Bulletin," Great Northern's "Goat," the Cotton Belt's "News," and the magazines of the Maine Central, the Boston & Maine, the Bangor & Aroostook and Western Pacific's "Mileposts."

SEMAPHORE is proud to join this distinguished group of railroad publications.

MUSICAL AMBASSADORS

At least two musical ambassadors of the P & N were in Washington for the inauguration of President Eisenhower on January 20.

Bronze H. Trull, Jr. of the purchasing department paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue with the Oasis Temple Shrine band from Charlotte and T. V. McIntosh, Jr. was on hand with the Drum & Bugle Corps of Gastonia Post No. 23, American Legion.

McIntosh appeared briefly on television with the drum & bugle corps during the evening preceding the inauguration.

14 SEMAPHORE

[image: man in train cap]

ED RHYNE RETIRES

Engineer E. L. Ryne, above, retired from active service on the North Carolina Division on January 27, his 65th birthday. Mr. Rhyne was the last engineer in active service who joined the P & N after service with the Charlotte Electric Railway Co., the firm which operated the street railway system in Charlotte. He entered service on December 15, 1915.

GENEROUS RESPONSE

Final reports from the United Appeal drive conducted in Charlotte last fall credit P & N employees with contributions totaling $1,555.50 -- a sum sufficiently large to place the P & N in first place among the railroads serving Charlotte.

Of a total of 171 employees, 145 made a contribution to the campaign. The average contribution for those participating was $10.03 and for the railroad as a whole it was $9.09. This was considered an outstanding record and far out-stripped the P & N's previous participation in the Community Chest, forerunne of the United Appeal.

A. C. Moore, Jr., assistant auditor of disbursements, was chairman of the drive

DEADLINE FOR BINDING

February 15 is the deadline for sending in the 1952 magazines to be bound. The bound volumes will be returned to their owners within a month after the deadline.

Employees who have saved all twelve issues of SEMAPHORE published last year may have them bound into a permanent volume at no charge to them. All costs are borne by the two railroads. Magazines should be placed in their proper sequence (January issue on top, December issue on the bottom) and forwarded to Editor, SEMAPHORE, P. O. Box 480, Charlotte, N. C.

The free binding service is available to employees only.

[image: cartoon of man tipping his hat to a locomotive]

EVERYBODY'S GOOD NEIGHBOR AMERICAN RAILROADS ESSENTIAL CARRIER EMPLOYER CUSTOMER TAXPAYER

JANUARY, 1953 15