Document 1QJ4mxzLg6zDVdR8jmN2OgDKm

r Chptr XXI!!: Uniftd Stjttj Rubber Company (now Unireyol, Inc.) It was on March 30. 1S92, that a snail group of NVv England footwear companies decided to poo! their knowi<.:'.-e * and equipment for greater efficiency and greater profit. an initial investment of $100,000. this endeavor marked the start of the United States Rubber Company. Then the c*- cept of industrial research was yet unknown, hut tn l1.1'. . U.S. Rubber became one of the first companies to have a ** research laboratory. Over the years the company expann.d its international Ojjcrntiuns and diversified its product lines and i> today a leading manufacturer of fibers, textiles, chem icals and plastics. n well as rubber products. 1 Iv the early 1900's it was generally recognised that the name U.S. Rubber no longer adequately described the company's operation^. After almost five years of study and research brought on by the need to find a truly representative name for the firm, as of February 27, 1067, tlte now billiun-do.'lar corporation be came officially known as Unirovnl. Inc. George R. Vila i Chairman of ihc Hoard and Rresubnt. Untroyar* interest in aslcstos textiles stems from tee inventive genius of otic man, Houtwcll K. Foster, and frea: his lifelong association with Herbert E. Sunbury. The ea- lalroration of these two gentlemen is an interesting story ir. itself and is germane to the asbestos textile history of LV.i- roynl. .. Ih-th Hout Foster and ITcrb Sunbury were born in Tewkdmry. Massachusetts, were sens of neighboring truck farmers, and were graduates of Lowell. Massachusetts. Hig' School, liach earned his P.acbe'or of Textile Engmeeriej degree at 1 owcll Textile School (now the Lowell TecTuv> logical Institute)--Ilcmt Foster in 1917 aed Herb Sutthurv 'in 191S. They were fraternity brothers in Delta Kappa I';.: I.**,nn graduation from Lev.-:!! Texr'.'c Fcbo'd, , Fos:< - '.Tame empioved at UoTavai's Ger..ral L:.!<.:r:;tr:-,c; He r- .rained there fur a prrie-1 cf rp7-*v".v..*.r<-\- -T r? until his retirement on December 3i. The (lencr.-. Laboratories, now calied the Research Center, were estr.L- ASBESTOS--April I?:: i i lie:.. r r t /i i / i '/ \ \ I ' 'I '. * Jishcd in 1911 at New Brunswick, New Jersey; moved to * New York City in 1913; to Passaic, N.J., in 1923: and tc Wayne. N.T.. in 195/.* Over the years Bout Foster contrib uted importantly to the development oi tire cord, Lnstcx yarns and numerous other textile products. Approximately 70 patents wcie issued in his name. While the laboratories were located at Fannie, Bout Foster began his experiments UV spinning fin*- n-hestos yarns by a new process*--ultimately resulting in lit-* being awarded a basic patent. As is known by those in the industry, most asbestos textile manufacturers card on the woolen system and spin on the cotton system, but with one important exception. Tlurrc is no doubling and limning in the spinning of most asbestos yarns. In the early 1930's Bout Foster conceived the idea that asbestos fine yarns could 5>e spun without the use of relatively high-priced. long-staple asbestos fiber if a prac- ' tieablc menus could lie found to incorporate the usual cotton drafting process into the manufacture ot asbestos yams. As Uniroval was nit then a manufacturer of asbestos textiles. Bout Foster iutmd to his good friend. Herb Sunbury, tor the asbestos roving r'fjuired for use in bis spinning experiments. At the time, Herb Snnbury was General Superintendent for the Allbcstn* Corporation. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (The history of AMbr-'ti< u*a* covered in Chapter XVIII.) William i G. Kitchen, pTv>idrnt oi AUbesios, encouraged Bom Foster i to persevere in his spinning experiments, despite early set backs, and authorized Superintendent Sunbury to furnish the extremely uniform roving needed for the purpose. P-'wrr-s warranted the M;t.-ilhilon of nr'.ot faculties at Ury-ovi/a k General l.a`or-' -in*-. rata:i.. r.nn <;:u*'Huii.;ii .it ir.c emu . pane's M:u7 catiavi.ic. t-screta. " in 1939. olhiwmg the c.fatn"ot Mr. Kitchen. t!ie All* bestos Corporation was liquidated. Kerb Sunbury then be came associated with the Asbestos Textile Company, X'or:!- J3rookfirtd. M.;-*.''!u:sc::s. and continued to supply Bear Foster with rrvirg from that mill. Although the f;r: v-.-ns produced fcv the patented process were less uniform in c:"5-$crricu than were itndr ' ;d yarns, the new process did preside a means of producing ashestes fine varus at lower co:< and with greatly improved wenviag strength. Yarns ranging up to 5000 yards per pound wer: 4 -. t * ' f: W . : V . ____ . -- 110,\ r r / K 3 ( \ \I \ produced, xvith the average in excess of 2000 yards per pound. The trade name of "Asbeston" was adopted to dc ' scribe the yams produced by the new process and the fabrics woven from thc*c yarns. On December 13. 1941. the A- beston tr.de mark was filed "witn the U.b. intent Umcc, under >cri:d AT). i/l. i tc new trade mark for asbestos yarns was passed for publication, and was published Febru- ary 1", 1942. Early in 19 H Uniroyal decided to begin the commercial production of asbestos textiles and space was provided at the Stark Mill*, a major producer of cotton yarns and cotton duck. On the. ref-mmrmhtion of Bout Foster. Herb Sunbury was employed, dfcrtivc April 1. 1041, to purchase and super vise the sett in up of the necessary equipment, which in cluded picking, curding, spinning and weaving machines. The mill was in ojvrmion by mid-July of that year and Herb Sunbury then took over responsibility for Asbeston sales. Uc served in that capacity until lOrS when he was appointed Manager. A>bc>i'*n Product Development. The first commercial production of asbestos textiles sold under the Ashc-ton trade name consisted of woven asbestos tapes having nominal gauges of .010". .015" and .020". The next step wn to develop a line of asbestos fabrics weighing eight to twenty ounces per square yard. At that time, any fabric weighing less than sixteen ounces per square yard was considered "light we ight" by the asbestos textile industry. In 1942 the demand for Asbeston yams and fabrics justified the building of a new mill, adjacent to the Stark Mills. The capacity of the orginai mil! was more than dou bled. A. C. I.iok. Manager of the Stark Mills, and !I. J. Daniel, SuporfirrmdrMt, continued to be responsible for As beston, as" they heal been from ita pilot*p!ant infancy. It soon became apparent .that full-time supervision was needed and in 1943 Manager ?dike I .ink promoted D. *r. Austin. Jr., to the new pn>i,;'Mi of Snperi:ntnd.nt of the A-bcStOt Depart- meat. Tex An*: in. as his nickname itv.pli cs is a n-.ti.c of Texa<; and a ere. d-tc.tc of Texas Tcchnolng :zz.1 Cc:: r c, I.til'bock. His rare c C ubirv :tinn, of managemen : and c: :giucc: ii:g skills proved to he of ma;ior impcrtancc in funh:erirtg the perfection of !<:<'-Ic processing techniques and in the rapid growth of the .Vhrslon Department. Since the latter part or 1906, after 23 years as Superintendent, Tex Austin new . : ASBESTOS--ApfH 197: "TV" lib. - A demote* full time to Asbcston product development in Uni royal's Research and Development Department and Harold .,M*. Willingh.-.m became responsible for production of Uni royal's textiles. At present. B. E. Carden is Superintendent. * Tex Ajwhj combines to be active in the affairs of the As* bestos Textile Institute, as He has been for many years, serving originally as a member of the Air Hygiene & Manu facturing Committee and. currently, of the Technical Com* - * mittee. ** * The willingness of Uniroyal to spend a sizeable amour.: of money over a period of approximately ten years in rc* search and development effort resulted in the c>tnhlUhrrc::t of the Asbc>tm Department, making products not previously obtainable at attractive prices and giving employment to many people in nti area where jobs were scarce. This is in marked contrast to the present trend to mergers and conglomerates where large companies acquire, by purchase, the skills and experience f smaller companies. Uniroyal deserves credit for carving its ntrite in the asbestos textile industry. H. Cor don Smith, now retired as Vice President and General Manager of Unirovnl's Textile Division, was a staunch sup porter of the Ashton project from its beginning and de rived much satisfaction from the success of the endeavor. Dr. George C. Holroyd has been in charge of A-beaten development work for the 1a*t twenty years. Scheduled to retire from t`niroynl this month (April 1972), Doc Ho.'rmd is responsible for the development of most of the special finishes for Unirovnl's asbestos yarns anti fabrics. One of the factors in Uniroyal's decision in 19-11 to begin commercial manufacture of asbestos textiles was the probability o no enlarged demand for the materials in rite event the United States were to become directly invoherf in World War f{. The war record of the Asbestcm Department proved tin- to have been a wi&e decision. .The !lognr.-uii'e. Georgia, plant wove many thousands of sards of lightweight atliz-v`OS ri'jb ned in firefi"! ters suits. Large fir.:'.mi: tubular woven a sliestos cin;l i were used as co'la <i >- ' duets to preheat aircraft ett": :tcs. Another ar:d qui tc : eentr inn c c c uc war effort cor.:sijtcd of air duct s t: from rvil'J.rrircd asbestos clOlh. More than 2?>Z:0 shape* ami sires were furnished to aircraft ur.mtiactur; Following World War II, Uniroyal developed a ca-.ted 10 assestos-a;-" it:: Aabestftn cloth for we as** burnproof household ironing board cover. The hem was a great success and resulted in one of the largest tn.irl:cts ever developed for lightweight asbestos cloth. Despite the inroads made by synthetics and other competitive materials in the last 25 years, asbestos ironing.bourd covers still represent a substantial market for lightweight asbestos cloth. Another consumer product introduced by Unirova! con sisted of di.h t'mrls composed 20of asbestos fiber and 80% of cotton tilxtr. The towels were dyed in a variety of attractive colors and they gained for the company much desirable publicity. However, the costs involved to create 3 volume market were much too high, and production was dis continued. In 1958 Unh oval's Textile Sales Department was re organized. The Asbeston Department became a part of the Industrial Textiles Sales Division, headed by Fred T. Hop kins. A modil-ration of the sales organization took place in 1959 and the rc-.pomibility for industrial textile sales, includ ing Asbestou. wn* n>**if:cd to Staton J. Tecle. Jr. Under Mr. Peele's supervision tin- Asbeston line was expanded to in clude standard-wapiti adtestos textiles in addition to the line of lightweight a>ihc>t'K fabrics and yarns already identified by the Asbeston trade mark. Mr. Pcclc has been a staunch sup porter of the Asbestos Textile Institute and served as President in 1905 pud 1904. When total sales of products in five.commodity lim-s of industrial textiles became so volu minous as to he impractical for one person to handle. Mr. Peele, in 1967, turned over the Asbestnn sales responsibility to Richard T\ Clark. Dick Clark continued for several years as Sales Manager of the Asbeston tVnr.rtmcnt. He wr> suc ceeded by F.tluard A. Morris, now Marketing Manager tor Asbeston. Umvnyn! T ;bcr and Textile Divi-ion. Ed Mv,rr:< is also active in the A?>>, stns Textile; Institute, currently serving on the Hoard of (Governors and as Chairman of the Asbestos Advisory Committee. In the latter part of 1970, Staton Pceie was appointed M;m:rcr of Industrial Textiles Marketing, a key position in the 1 iher and Textile Division. The current Vice President and General Manager of the Division is Clarence II. Sigler, Jr. .* . Upon reaching mandatory retirement age on March 31, j: . . ASSUTOS--April 1972 fc / ) ;* I it ' .i i r i X f I I f I i i ii i n; i i J962;,-Herb Sunlmry left*, the Asbeston Department with 21 years of service. This impressive period of employment was but a chapter in a IcntMhy. productive career. He started in the asbestos textile hn-iness in March 1919 as a laboratory tedwicinn with (iemrai A .-best os and Rubber Company. As of hiS;Tvtirc`tnem from L'niroyal. Herb Sur.Lury had been an active member of the industry for 43 years. On July 1. 1963. he accepted part-time employment as Kxeeutive Secretary of the Asbestos Texjile Institute. He has done and continues to accomplish much to stimulate attendance at -ATI meeting*. Uniroval continues as an active and constructive member of the nshc-ms textile industry. The laboratory experiments initiated by Uomwcll I!. Foster have grown into a mill which is an important factor in the trade. The scores of executives, and others, too numerous to mention in this brief history, who contribute*! to the sin mss of Asl*ston are to be commended for their untiring, productive efforts. Next blue .... Chapter XXIV: Tal!men-McClujey Fabrics Co. THE COVER The largest Trausite transmission pipe project in Colo rado was iiwaffrd recently in a new housing area and mobile home park under development in Thornton, about three miles north of Denver. More than two miles of 24-inch and 1200 feet of 30-inch pipe was laid in five feet of cover. According to a spokesman for Colorado Pipe Lines. Inc., contractor for th** $20" S00 job, the T-pipe ``goes together easily" and "works wed." Its mixture ct asbestos i'_.r3. *:krn and cement makes the ppe highly cotrcfior.-resivar.i to and water*. A /k.,-.- fOi.'.'ricrr c: C=!e9 ninirv^rs intern*.! friction with tuit'Muvrn heat! loss. Steel tnnrtar-bned and coated fittings $ alter! by J. Fomi were U'rd i> nreept the T-pipe coup!..:*. Pipe was specified by .Robert V. Cnrslinc, city engineer with Tknrtuon. Trr.nsito ashotns-cement pipe is manufactured by the Johns-Mar.ville Corporation. ., . .. . j . pj9 14 ^ ASsiiTCS--April 1912 :J V '. ,