Document LzJ1kb8Rer0QdqdMDOnmQ7Xw

COPIED FROM THE COLLECTIONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN HISTOIC THE UNIVERSITY OF TRXAS a t a ik t iw Vol. 5, No. 4 PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE DIVISION, HUMBLE OIL & REFINING COMPANY February 21, 1963 p Progress of the Belt-Tightening Program It has been six months now since the announce ment was made that economic conditions -- in cluding the construction of the Colonial pipeline between Houston and New York -- would require operating economies in the Esso fleet if we were to remain competitive in the oil transportation business. What has happened during that time and how' do we stand now? First, a look at the Colonial pipeline, which is owned by nine competitors of Humble. Six con tractors are working on the 36" Houston - Greens boro, N. C. section of the line and apparently the work is on schedule. An article in the February issue of Fortune magazine states that this part of the line "is expected to go into operation dur ing the first half of this year". That's only three or four months away. "Contracts for the Greens boro-New York section probably will be let in the next few months." the magazine continued. It is evident that our new competition is moving right along. But we are moving, too. As announced six months ago, a plan is under way to cut manning costs (our biggest expense item) by reducing the crew complement by nine men on the six larger vessels and by seven men on the remaining vessels. This has been proceed ing gradually over the past few months and as of Feb. 11, nine vessels were operating with 35man crews. James W. Crossland, right, recently Oiler in the Esso Greenville, looks over an application for a service station dealer or agent's job with W. A. Scott, Place ment Coordinator. Mr. Crossland filed the application, passed an examination and, if he is among the top 12 in his group, will attend a training school for eight weeks. While training, he will receive an expense allowance of about $105 per week and will work at a service station on Saturdays and Sundays. After com pleting the course, he will get a station, if one is avail able, or go on the waiting list. Service station opportunities are reported to be especially good in southeastern states and in Texas. Just recently, Ralph Maupin, former Oiler in the Esso Boston and Henry Glenn, Machinist, have gotten sta- What about the surplus personnel? To date, 135 men have accepted the Special Voluntary Early Retirement offer and 12 others will retire during the first six months of this year because of disability or reaching the 65year age mark. There have been no regular employees laid off by the Company up to this writing. Requests for early lay-off have been received from 73 men who obviously had other plans and perhaps opportunities to use the substantial severance pay cash. It now appears that the number of mandatory lay-offs to be required will be considerably fewer than was originally expected. There are several reasons -- a greater number of early retirement acceptances than anticipated, the previously men tioned requests for early lay-off, and a normal number of "quits". Job Placement Service Some of the men who have retired and some w'ho have taken early lay-off have received help in finding new jobs. The assistance has been given by our Marine Agents and by W. A. Scott, of the Baytowm Marine Office, who is also serving as a Placement Coordinator. His office is in the Refinery's Placement Center in Community House No. 2, near the Baytown Post Office. Also work- tions in Asheville, N. C. and Raywood, Texas, respec tively. Anyone interested in a service station should see his base port Agent, who will be glad to get him started right with the Marketing Department. Ft rr--d1 i -a- EXX-MOR-007396 ing at the Employee Placement Center are M. L. Watts, H. J. Smith and C. N. McClelland who, though primarily concerned with the placement of surplus Refinery personnel, are also cooperat ing with Mr. Scott. As of Feb. 18 new employment has been found for 25 men. Of these jobs, 14 were seagoing, three were with the Inland Waterways Dept, and eight ashore. The shoreside jobs were; two service sta tion operators, two machinist with a construction contractor, one sheet metal helper with an air conditioning company, one rigger and one welder with mechanical maintenance companies and one man took a two-week training course and is now in business for himself. He installs Humble's Magic Grids on oil burners in the Boston area. There has not yet been too much of a demand for jobs although in all areas except Boston, plenty of jobs are available, ashore and afloat. Leo Whyte, in the Port of New York Office, has placed a number of men as has Joe Burkart, in the Nor folk Office. Captain S. V. Gardner, in Baton Rouge, has found several available opportunities. All Agents and several others concerned with seagoing personnel are taking a real interest in seeing that every possible assistance is given to men who need new jobs. However, they can't help unless they knew who w'ants help. So, if you are subject to lay-off, you might be doing yourself a favor if you stop in on Mr. Scott or your base port Agent and see what he can do for you. ,, TAFFRAIL TALK ' Captain M. Breece, Manager of the Port of New1 York Office, returned home Feb. 7 after hospitalization for an "ulcerectomy". He came through in fine shape and is expected back at the office on March 11. ** * Leonard H. Earle, Employee Relations Adviser, completed a six-week management course con Unique Tribute Presented to J. D. Rogers An inscribed silver tray, on which the signatures of active Masters and Chief Engineers in the fleet are engraved, is shown being presented to John D. Rogers, ducted by Emory University at Sea Island, Ga. on Feb 15. Chief Mate Robert F. Stap started work in the new Humble Bldg., Feb 4, on a project to revise and bring up to date the cargo piping diagrams for all ships in the fleet. The project will take several months. *** Paul H. Harwood, who retired June 1, 1938 as Assistant General Manager of the Standard Oil Co. (N. J.) Marine Dept., died Feb. 6 at the age of 86. He had 22 years of credited service and 24 years as an annuitant. ~Z. u< 5 U -.as u-, I|uO- -< 'cs: H < . uj < cj ^ a" S~ o>- C UJ 1 0 UJ EUJ H Movie Film, Anyone? Have you any good movie film showing Company vessels at sea, in port, docking and undocking, or rough weather views, shipboard operations and scenes taken on foreign voy ages? If so, the Company will pay up to $25 for the privilege of making a copy of it. The idea is that the Marine Division would like to develop a small library of movie film on the above subjects. We're mainly inter ested in 16mm color film but if you have something good on another size, or even a good sequence of 35mm slides, we might be able to use it. Please send your film to Esso Fleet News, Humble Oil & Refining Co., P. 0. Box 1512, Houston 1. Texas. Please include also, if you can, some description of what the pictures are about and when they were taken. While on the subject of pictures, let us remind one and all that the Fleet News pays $10 or more for photos we publish from men in the fleet. We like black & white prints (also color and transparencies but not movies) of shipboard scenes with some news value, paid leave "doings" and the like. Ic recently retired General Manager of the Marine Division. Making the presentation in New York, Feb. 6, are Chief Engineer Edward V. Branigan (left), acting for Albert T. Fellows, First Asst, in the Esso Boston, and Captain Victor G. Lee (second from left). Captain Lee, Mr. Fellows and John J. Collins (right), JSTOA Adviser, made up a committee to arrange for the testimonial. The inscription on the fray reads as follows: "JOHN D. ROGERS. A man who over these many years gave unsparingly of his energies and his wisdom to provide the Esso fleet with the finest -- in good ships, safe ships, and the very best of conditions -- as we who sailed these ships as Masters and Chief Engineers can truly testify. Thank you and good health." EXX-MOR-007397 COPIFIJ FIIOM THE COLLECTIONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN HiSTOk THE UNI VERS1TY OF TEXAS a t Austin Photos by AB Tom Kinney, Esso Lima Our .seagoing men have seen sights like these all too frequently during the past two months or so. Mr. Kinney took these pictures Jan. 3 while the Lima was running through heavy ground swells off the Florida coast on a voyage to Philadelphia. Note the positions of the bow in relation to the horizon in the two views. Again on Feb. 1 1, the Lima encountered such heavy weather that she could not bunker at Freeport and had to put in at Port Everglades. First time this has happened. An Arkansas Success Story There are some colorful riv ers up in northeastern Arkan sas -- at least the names are colorful. There's the White River, which joins the Missis sippi, the Little Red River, the Strawberry and the Black Riv er. A Government project is pending to build a power dam J. T. (Arkie) Wyatt and reservoir on the Black, similar to the Bull Shoals Dam and lake on the White River. Part of the land that would be flooded belongs to James T. Wyatt, now a crewman in the Esso Jamestown. This prospect does not in the least displease Mr. Wyatt. As Jim sees it, he'll have to sell some of his 210 acres -- the part that will be under water -- but he'll gain a mile or so of lake-shore frontage. And in a couple years there should be some good bass fishing. He might have to sell some more land for a road but then he'll gain some road-front property. And in the meantime, he has a good part of the land in the Government's soil bank, which pays a tidy bit of "interest". Arkie got started buying land with a 17-acre purchase in 1954, two years after he began sail ing with Esso as Deck Maintenanceman. The next year he acquired an adjoining 110 acres and the following year, 83 acres more. Meanwhile, he had switched to the Engine Dept. Born near Pocahontas, Ark., about five miles ESSO FLEET NEWS is published for the seagoing em ployees of the Marine Division, 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 1, Texas. from his present home, Arkie has packed a lot of experience into his 47 years. He was driving a truck when he was 14, has done some farming, worked in a packing house in Wichita, been a Goose Creek Oil Field roughneck and put in 20 months with the Navy in World War II. He made one trip with Tidewater before coming with Esso. Mr. Wyatt is inclined to credit a large part of his property-owning status to his present employ ment, which is no doubt true. However, he also mentioned that Agnes, his wife, is "a great one for stretching a dollar" and we'd calculate that no small share of their accomplishments is due to her. The accomplishments, incidentally, in clude raising three daughters and a son, all of whom have married and made Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt grandparents seven times over. There are few wild beasts more to be dreaded than a talking man having nothing to say. -- Johnathan Swift RECENT RETIREMENTS - Captain Walter F. Andrews. "Father Neptune sure blew his top on the Captain's last trip," the Esso Boston's Bugle comment ed Dec. 6, "sent his gales to give the Old Salt something to remem ber. One thing is sure, we who sailed under him will not forget him. He was a 100% man and shipmaster." Retiring Feb. 1 to his home in Jacksonville, Captain Andrews said, "I plan to keep very busy doing things I like and, of course, a few odd chores for the Mrs. and daughter." He also con templates some auto trips, fresh water boating and pleasant evenings with interesting people. Captain Andrews has been gainfully employed for 46 years, starting with a job in the Lyric Theatre in Mena, Ark. He went off to sea in 1920 as an ap- EXX-MOR-007398 COHIDJ FROM THE CCJtLEf 'TIONS IN THE CENTER TOR AMERICAN HISTOk THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT A U S T IN prentice seaman in the IT. S. Navy, was an AB in freighters a few years and joined Pan-Am's Mexoil as Third Mate in Nov. 1926. He sailed as Second and Chief Mate through the '30s, getting his first command, the E. T. Bedford, on Dec. 2, 1940. Captain Andrews had the E. G. Seubert and .Esso Providence during World War II, the latter vessel for 2V2 years. He was Master of the Esso Burlington for nearly seven years, the Gettysburg for three and the Boston for his last two. His credited service totals just short of 34 years. Radio Officer Dewey E. D. Barr's ....................... .. career in radio goes back to 1926 .' . when he was "Sparks" in the Clyde Line's City of Rome. He was an automotive machinist dur ing the '30s but returned to radio development with the U. S. Army Signal Corps laboratories in Eat- ontown, N. J. in 1942. His 18 Vz years in the fleet began in Feb. 1943, when he joined the Wallace E. Pratt. He sailed throughout the War in four more vessels and was most recently Radio Officer in the Esso Miami. Mr. Barr is married, lives in Freehold, N. J. and is interested in photography and amateur radio. He also plans to do some custom photographic color processing. His retirement date was Jan. 1. Bos'n Sanford L. Harris says he's going to take it easy for a while after his retirement, Feb. 1, but that might mean getting up before dawn to go hunting or fishing. He loves both sports and his home in Old Trap, N. C. adjoins a woods and is close by the Pasquotank River and Albemarle Sound. San dy and his wife also love dogs and have been raising and train ing beagles for six or seven years. Mr. Harris has been going to sea for most of his life except for two years in World War II when he was a machinist at the Norfolk Navy Yard. He spent 10 years on coastwise barges of the Southern Trans portation Co. and 15% years in the Esso fleet, almost all as Bos'n. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have five children and 11 grandchildren. Chief Steward Phillip A. Scott. Mining, logging and shipping are the three industries in which Mr. Scott has earned a livlihood for the past 46 years. Born in Cali fornia, he worked for gold and silver mining companies in Calif, and Nev. from 1917-22, then spent 12 years as a log pond foreman for two lumber concerns. ^ _ Shipping out as a messman with Lykes Bros, in 1935 started Mr. Scott on his seagoing career. He was Messman, Cook and Steward in the Esso fleet between 1937 and 1942 and returned in 1945 after sailing during the War with National Bulk Carriers and American South African Line. From May, 1947 until his retirement, Feb. 1, he was Chief Steward, serving in the Esso Bethlehem and Esso Dallas for the last five years. Mr. and Mrs. Scott live in Baytown and have twin boys, Terry and Phillip. Chief Steward Manuel P. Senna has had a 49-year career in stew ard's dept, positions and his only regret about his retirement Feb. 1 is that only 16 of those years have been with Esso. His career began in 1914 with a year's serv ice in the Coast Guard soon after he came to this country from Cape Verde Islands. Next came three years in merchant ships, a year in the Army as steward in a mine planter and seven more years in dry cargo vessels. For 12 years-- 1926-38 --Mr. Senna was port stew ard for McAllister Navigation Co. (excursion steam ers), then went to sea again aboard Gulf tankers and, from 1942-46, as chief steward aboard troopships. Join ing Esso on Jan. 3, 1947, he served as Chief Steward for all but his first month in the fleet. "So, now," Mr. Senna wrote from his home in New Bedford, "I am looking ahead to a long, healthy life with my lovely wife, Caroline, our two children and, so far, three grandchildren." Able Seaman Sonny Jeanal first joined the Company as AB in the Geo. G. Henry in April, 1941. He sailed in that vessel for 13 months, then shipped out as Bos'n with the Porto Rico Line, American Export and several others. Returning to the fleet in March 1948, his serv ice was continuous until his re tirement, Feb. 1. Born in the Philippine Islands, Mr. Jeanal is married and lives in Brooklyn, N. Y. The light area between the two keel blocks is a paint "holiday" on the bottom of the Esso New York. It's a spot that was covered by a keel block the last time the ship was drydocked and was not painted. The pitting you see there is a result of an electro-chemical action which eats away the unprotected steel in that spot and others like if. Since coatings have become better and drydocking intervals longer, wastage tends to concentrate in the holiday areas. To correct this situation, the Esso New York was refloated during her last drydocking, moved a few feet and then raised again so that every inch of the bottom surface could be coated. This will become standard practice for future bottom painting work. Project Engineer Walter H. Radut :u. EXX-MOR-007399