Document 1gwomw3MZp164n46bvagevOJq

PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT, HUMBLE OIL & REFINING COMPANY Vol. 9, No. 5 March 2, 1967 Thrift Fund Questions and Answers The annual Thrift Fund statements, mailed to participants in January, raised several questions from different sources about the meaning of some of the figures. The questions (and answers) are: Q. What is "Cash; Unallocated?" A. This is the amount of money in your account that is not set aside for the purchase of stock on a regular schedule. If you do not have a regular schedule stock purchase order in effect, all your cash is unallocated. Q. Please explain "Tax-Paid Credit Balance as of Dec. 31, 1966." A. It is the portion of your account on which Federal income taxes have been paid up to that date. Currently, this balance is increased by your own contributions and decreased by any with drawals in cash or stock, with stock valued at your cost or the market price at time of withdrawal, whichever is lower. Q. What is "Withdrawal Balance as of Dec. 31, 1966?" A. This is the value of stock and cash subject to withdrawal as calculated by the withdrawal formula of the Thrift Trust, which is as follows: 1. The amount withdrawable from your ac count on Dec. 31, 1965, plus 2. Any of the following items credited to your account after Dec. 31, 1965, less any amounts withdrawn after Dec. 31, 1965: a. All of your regular contributions b. All of your special contributions c. All dividends and gains on sales of stock d. Fund earnings credited to your account, and e. The amount withdrawable from your ac count in another fund immediately before such account became a part of the Thrift Fund. (This might only apply to an em ployee transferring from one Company affiliate to another.) This formula takes into consideration the nu merous plan changes prior to Jan. 1, 1966. So much for definitions; now for some practical applications. Calculating a Maximum Withdrawal In thinking about a maximum cash withdrawal you have to look at unallocated cash, tax-paid balance and withdrawal balance. The lower of the three is the maximum amount of cash with drawable. Of course, if you were low on cash, you could have the Trustee sell some of your stock to increase your unallocated cash. However, you cannot withdraw an amount that would reduce the value of your account below the collateral re quired for an outstanding loan. For example, suppose you had $3,000 tax-paid credit balance, $4,000 wdthdraw'al balance, $1,000 in unallocated cash with the remainder of your account in stock. You could withdraw only $1,000 in cash because that's all the free (unallocated) cash you have. By selling stock you could perhaps increase the cash so as to withdraw the maximum of $3,000. Another option would be to withdraw $1,000 in cash and the balance in stock. A wnrd of caution about maximum withdrawals to unlicensed men (except Stewards) who have been having the Special Supplement money (the yearly $200. $400, $600 for qualified ratings and $160. $320 and $480 for entry ratings) go to the Thrift Fund -- this money is withdrawable. If you have been letting the Special Supplement grow' as a retirement nest egg. it wall be wiped out by a maximum wdthdraw'al. To avoid this, keep a record of your Special Supplement money ("Spcl to Thrift" on pay vouchers) and wrhen you make a wdthdraw'al, state a fixed amount exclusive of your Supplement total. Using Non-Withdrawable Cash Suppose you want to buy stock with all your non-wdthdrawable cash. Let's assume that your tax-paid credit balance, as in the example above. FLASH - Esso Miami has been chartered for a cargo of grain to Bombay or Xandla, India, loading in the U. S. Gulf the second half of this month. T3 UJ E Ml !2 EXX-MOR-007123 is lower than your withdrawal balance. Then, all you have to do is compare the tax-paid figure with the unallocated cash figure. If the cash is more than the tax-paid balance, the difference is nonwithdrawable cash. If the tax-paid balance is higher than the cash, you have no non-withdrawable cash. Thrift Fund is a Trust Perhaps you wonder why some money is with drawable and some is not. It may help you under stand this if you remember that the Thrift Fund is an exempt employees' trust under the Internal Revenue laws and is registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Like all trust funds, there are limits on what you can do with it. One of the advantages of our trust fund is that it gives employees a legal tax break. The law permits all Company contributions, Fund earnings, stock dividends from stock in the Trustee's name and gains from the sale of stock to go into your account without any Federal income tax being paid. The "break" here is that you can buy more stock or get Fund earnings with money that otherwise would have been with held as income tax. The Government catches up with you in the end, when your account is turned over to you at termination of employment but then you are only subject to a long-term capital gains tax. Under present law7s, this would likely be lower than the ordinary income tax rates. What you can't do as an employee is take out money on which no income tax has been withheld. (We hope this has shed some light on the Thrift Fund but doubtless there are many points on which we haven't touched. Feel free to ask any questions you have and we'll do our best to an swer them. -- Ed.) Y'know, some fellows with a little gumption have been eating higher off the hog lately. Frank Cross, for in stance, shown here at the control station in the Esso Houston's engineroom, was a Wiper for 11 xh years prior to 1963. Then he was Fireman-Watertender from 1963 to '65, FWT and Oiler in '65 and '66 and now, for the past 2 months. Automation Oiler. Along with the higher ratings, naturally, has come higher pay--an almost 50% increase in the past 4 years. Frank J. Gross WHEN Chief Engineer Gregor O. W. Collins (Esso Newark) retires, this will be home for him and Mrs. Collins. It's a 5-room cottage, on 5 acres, 5 miles NW of Willisfon, in north central Florida, on Route 27A. By a fitting coincidence, it is also 21 miles SE of Chiefland. Also in the photo is "Mr. Esso," a registered (and pampered) French poodle with a high I.Q., and one of the Chief's Kaiser Darrin sport cars, also pam pered. We've been wondering, in view of recent events, if Mr. Collins should change the poodle's name to "Mr. ENCO." Radio Officers and Company Amend Contract Terms of Amendment No. 3 to the Agreement between the Esso Radio Officers' Association and the Company were agreed upon at a meeting in New York, Feb. 15. Tire Amendment provides the same Special Sea Service Retirement Annuity Supplement that was negotiated with the JSTOA. Additional agreements call for increased Com pany contributions toward the cost of hospitalsurgical-medical insurance to $10.50 per month, or the total premium cost, whichever is less, and establishment of a Radio Officer training program. The training plan will involve 6 month periods of shipboard service for prospective Radio Officer employees. The Amendment will become effective upon ratification by EROA members on or before March 31. Original Licenses and Raises in Grade Alfred P. Wade. 3rd Asst.. (S & M) 2/23/67* Clement J. DeGrood. to 2nd Asst., 2/22/67 `Dates reported to Company ESSO FLEET NEWS is published for the seagoing em ployees of the Marine Department. Humble Oil & Refining Co.: Joseph Andreae. General Manager: Sydney Wire. Assistant General Manager. W. E. Gardner. Editor. Contributions and suggestions are invited and should be addressed to The Editor. Esso Fleet News. Humble Oil & Refining Co.. P. 0. Box 1512. Houston. Texas 77001. * ......... TAFFRASL TALK Every man gets a charge out of some part of his job, even if it is only hearing a bell strike eight, signaling the end of a watch. Personally, we get a kick out of some of the letters we receive from readers. One such was a nice letter from Mrs. Manuel J. Lopez, wife of the Chief Stew ard. enclosing a couple photos her husband took while in the Esso Miami. What tickled us most was the way Mrs. Lopez closed her letter, "Happy editing!" she said. Boy, the old blue pencil just went crazy after that. GUESS WHO (or more grammatically, guess whom). The Sheik of Arabie? No. The son of a sultan? No. The sand man? No. Give up? The (not in the nautical sense) stemvisaged half-refugee from a razor with the Bedouin head gear is our own Cap tain Harry Bansen, Master of the j Esso Seattle. / We don't know' what motivated Cap tain Bansen to go for this rig unless it was a desire to gain "face" with Middle Eastern society. But with kuffiyah (cloth) and agal (rope) or without, Captain Bansen runs a good ship, everybody says. HERE'S ANOTHER "Guess Whom" from the Esso Seattle. It's AB Carl C. Vella with a 3-month facial camouflage. Carl looks pretty good with a beard, doesn't he? Sort of philosopical. Maybe that's what prompted him to send the following choice contributions (from his vast store) for "Words of the Wise:" Winner never quits, quitter never wins. You reap the rich rewards of tomorrow' from what you do today. He who does no w'rong has no fear. mmmm RECENT RETIREMENTS Oiler Herman L. White. "It has been a pleasure sailing in the Esso Fleet for the past 16 years," Mr. White said. "The men who operate the ships are the finest shipmates I have ever had. I say bon voyage to all and smooth sailing. Esso is the finest company I have ever worked for." One look at this picture and you can tell this is a happy huntsman--and as fate (and the Ships' Personnel Section) would have it, he's in the Esso Huntington. It's Third Asst. Linwood E. Davenport with an 1 1point buck he shot last Decem ber on his wife's farm (and on her birthday) in Edenton, N. C. "I have been deer hunting for 20 years, more or less," Lin said, "and this was the first deer I ever killed without an assist from other hunters. I also got a spike horn buck the next week." linwood E. Davenport And Mr. White has worked for quite a few. He sailed with Waterman, Lykes and Gulf Oil between 1924 and '29 and worked in Bethlehem and Federal shipyards from 1930 to '45. After 2 business ventures on his own, Mr. White joined the Company as OS in the Esso Raleigh on April 19, 1951. He soon changed to the Engine Dept, and wras Oiler and FWT for most of his Company service. Prior to retiring March 1, he wras in the Esso Gloucester. Mr. White and his wife Helen live in Lakew'ood. N. J. and are planning a 2-month trip to the West Coast this summer. They have 2 daugh ters and 2 sons, aged 20 to 33. SERVICE EMBLEM AWARDS Frederick J. Farrell First Asst. Engineer January 24, 1967 Edwin B. Chapman Second Asst. Engineer January 26, 1967 Robert T. Spetz Second Asst. Engineer February 19, 1966 Juan R. Castillo Ordinary Seaman January 25, 1967 John Hrisko Oiler September 17, 1966 Adolfo Arce Utilityman September 3, 1966 if*' -i: -- Countryside and grass huts outside of Bombay. Bombay, Calcutta and Way Stops By GEORGE A. MATHEWSON One of the reservoirs that supply water to Bombay. The windmill is just a fancy weather vane. Chil drens' Wizard of Oz buildings in center are made from discarded pipe, except hats. (This installment of Mr. Mathewson's story of his voyage to India as OS in the Esso Scranton, Sept. 21 - Dec. 13, deals mainly with an excursion he made into the nearby hinterland of Bombay. -- Ed.) The Tata electric system, started in 1915, has 3 large lakes in Lonavla plus a hydro-electric plant in Khopli, close to Bombay. It became the principal source of power, not only for Bombay but an area of more than 1,000 sq. mi. -- the lar gest power system in SE Asia. My taxi driver asked if I wished to see the tank. I was thinking of oil tanks and said: "I've seen plenty of tanks. Let's look at something of interest." He insisted. I was surprised to see large beautiful lakes and thought of the small dug-pits back in Texas that for some reason are now called tanks.. About 75 yards off shore was a regular Texas-type windmill but just for looks, no pump rod. I asked why. The startling answer: "To tell which way the wind blows." Kanheri Caves, near Bombay (ap prox. 100 of them) were built by Buddhist monks between 100 B.C. and 50 A.D. No doubt they once were natural caves but now I would say they are ancient cut rock archi tecture. One cave's whole rear wall is carved in bas-relief -- gods, god desses, demigods and maybe some Close-up of stone carving, Kanheri Caves. demons, too. Had I known I was going there when I left the ship, I would have brought my flash gun, lunch and a flashlight. I was afraid to enter one dark place. Something might have gotten me or caused me to hurt myself trying to get away. I just can't believe those In dian tigers are the friendly Humble kind. Steps cut into the rock lead to the top. I stopped often and fooled with the camera as if I were taking a picture. That was a cover-up for a short rest. Several groups of teen agers and one adult (whom I sup posed to be students and a teacher) were up and down all over the place. My light-weight cab driver sat under a tree playing with his little son down on the flats. But -- if I hadn't climbed the thing I would never have lived it down in my own mind. Oh yes, my driver in India asked if he could take his son along on our tour. I worried the devil out of that Sikh by offering to cut the boy's hair. In cow-horse talk, a horse will sometimes become frightened over something he sees or thinks he sees. We call it a ground scare or ground shy. He will get out from under any but a pretty good rider. Any way -- there are some women of India who cover up so completely you can't even see their feet. One day I'm walking down the sidewalk and when I saw a bundle of rags SsilallIKiSllflitiil My taxi driver and his son, Kanheri Caves. Photos by George A. Mathewson Buffalo sheds, dairy in background. Buffalo milk is reported to be very nourishing but has a peculiar flavor. get up and walk away, I'm taken with ground scare! I thought what it would do to a horse and just stopped and roared with laughter. You are well-read in India. The ship's tailor has a briefcase with many Fleet News in it. I've no ticed the workers picking them up also. We will leave the city by saying Bombay Duck is a much esteemed small fish, which adds more to the interesting, confused, conflicting contrasts of sights, sounds and smells. , , ", . .. V * r V , ... Part of the Kanheri Cave area, an unusual national park. Maybe the rubble in the fore ground was an altar ages ago. tuD xW ... ~' : - 'V \V. W" ''wmm - Jy.-- ---- -r) X* v>. EXX-MOR-007126