Document MMOqMz8j7jmE3Gwp9ew4e1807

PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE DIVISION, HUMBLE OIL & REFINING COMPANY Voi. 7, No. 20 October 28, 1965 The Last Round The final round of voting in the NLRB-super vised election began Oct. 22 when the Esso Boston and Esso Chester were voted in New York for the third time. If the voting schedule runs its full course, the last secret ballots should be cast late in November and we should know which union you have chosen as your bargaining agent before the first of December. We urge every eligible unlicensed man who has not yet voted to make a special point of getting his ballot in during this last round. Let us go over the ground rules once again. Who May Vote? You are eligible to vote if you were (1) an unlicensed employee, either aboard ship or on leave, and on the payroll at any time between June 16-30, 1965 and (2) did not serve more than 30 days as an officer or Chief Steward during each of the years 1964 and 1965. How Many Times May You Vote? Once. What If You Haven't Voted And Will Not Be Assigned To A Ship When It Is Being Voted In The Third Round? If you meet the eligibility requirements, you may go aboard a Company ship to vote while the NLRB representative is supervising the balloting. You can find out when and where ships are scheduled to vote by calling the nearest Marine Division Office. Let us also repeat that your vote is very im portant, it's secret and it counts. Which union becomes your bargaining representative will affect your daily life and your future for perhaps a long time to come. Your vote should be in there to help decide which union it will be. Look at it this W'ay. If some group could come in and bargain with the Company about what your wages and working conditions will be and you were NOT permitted to vote on the selection of your representative at the bargaining table, you'd scream bloody murder wouldn't you? Yes, and we wouldn't blame you. Why is a Businessman Like an Oyster? "Opponents of private business are in the habit of saying that the businessman cannot possibly serve the public good, because his real motive is private profit. Like many fallacies, this one con tains just enough truth to make it intriguing. But what it overlooks is the simple truth, that quite different motives can be -- and are every day -- harmonized for the good of the whole community. "There is a familiar analogy in nature which may help. Pearls are made by oysters, not because the oyster is a creative artist but because a grain of sand gets into its shell and makes it uncomfort able. The pearl which results from the oyster's response to this intrusion is so beautiful that there has long been a thriving industry devoted to irritating oysters artificially. Other oysters, of course, are lucky enough to keep the sand out; they live placid, contented lives until they are eaten; but they don't produce any pearls. "The modern businessman is like the oyster to this extent: he performs best when he is somewhat irritated. His grain of sand is competition -- for markets and for profits. His pearl is many things: good products, fair prices, good jobs, tax revenues, and reinvestment of profits for future growth. He is not an angel any more than the oyster is an artist. He might prefer a placid, uncompetitive wray of making money if he could find it, but those comfortable oyster beds in the business world were always scarce and they are getting scarcer all the time. So the modern businessman knows his best hope of profit is to exert himself --- through better management, better technology, better understanding of the market, wiser reinvest ment of profits -- and thereby excel his competi tor in meeting the desires of the customer. "Thus there arises a certain harmony of in terests -- not an identity of interests at all, but a harmony between quite different interests -- EXX-MOR-006908 tI liA Amedeo Giallorenzi, Manager of the New York / If Branch Office (2nd from right) was honored at a luncheon at the Captain's Table, Bayonne, Oct. V 6, to celebrate his 30th anniversary with the Company. Joseph Andreae, General Manager of the Marine Division (2nd from left) presented the service emblem and gold watch. Others in the photo are, I. to r.: Captain Adolv Larson, retired (May 1962) Manager of the New York Branch Office; E. T. Di Corcia, Bayonne Piant Manager, and F. A. Westphal, Bayway Refinery Manager. which is one of the great secrets of a free society." -- From an address by David A. Shepard, Director and Executive Vice President, Stand ard Oil Co. (TV. J.) at the Executive Program for International Managers, Columbia Univer sity, Graduate School of Business, Oct. 5, 1965. mmmmmm TAFFRAIL TALK Captain William Hamilton, of the Esso New Orleans, sent us an item from Newsweek, Sept. 20, about a British seaman, James William Eng lish, who fell overboard from the 36,000-ton Esso Durham as she steamed past Sicily. It was night time and there was nothing for him to do but take a bearing on the North Star and start swim ming for shore, 33 miles away. He made it in 20 hours. When asked if he would ever go back to sea, Newsweek quoted Mr. English as saying, "Yes, why not? It's a good life for a man -- secure, if you know what I mean." The above item brings to mind the incident on May 19, 1940 when Captain Guy A. Campbell (ret. June 1954) put the Esso Baytown about and steamed on a reverse course to search for an AB who failed to relieve the wheel. The ship was turned around about 8 p.m., lookouts were doubled and a lifeboat made ready for lowering. At 10:13 p.m. the lost man's cries were heard and at 10:30 he was safe aboard. Received from MM/'UM Leonard E. Graves. Esso Houston, some interesting pictures published in the Aug. 12 Illustrated Press of Liberty Ccunty, Texas (Len lives up thataway). The pictures show 1904-5 scenes of Humble, Texas (whence our employer got its name and start) when it was an oil boomtowm. One view shows an unpaved street and covered wooden sidewalks in front of stores. Among the latter are a Chinese restaurant offering "short orders at all hours", and the Phillipine Saloon, advertising "Old Brookwood" whiskey and "REP" beer. *** OS Juan T. Aguero (Esso Miami) is, he believes, the first Guaman (or is it Guamese) to sail in a U. S. flag Esso tanker. He signed on the Esso Dallas at Guam, June 5, left her at Jack sonville on July 21 and, when the Esso Miami needed a re placement at Yokosuka, Sept. 17, he was hired again. Mr. Aguero has been going to sea since 1953, serving in MSTS and Navy vessels. His home is in Barrigada, a village near the center of Guam. Guam was discovered by Magellan in 1521 and became a U. S. possession in 1899, after the Span- ish-American War. It is now a U. S. territory, administered by the Department of Interior. The largest of the Mariana Islands, Guam is 1,590 mi. E. of Manilla, has an area of 212 sq. mi. and a population (1961) of 68,000. It is an important air base. ** * The Esso Miami docked at Baytown, Oct. 12, completing just short of 3 months of offshore service. Leaving Beaumont, Texas, July 16, her orders took her to Yokosuka, Japan, Aug. 12-15; Subic Bay, Philippines, Aug. 21-23; Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, Sept. 4-5; Yokosuka again. Sept. 15-18 and back to Texas in time for the last 2 games of the World Series. It was a good trip, by all accounts, and the usual souvenirs were brought back plus a couple of unusual ones. FWTs Kenneth W. Hill and Car- 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, Texas 77001. EXX-MOR-006909 mine G. Marobella bought Honda motorcycles, on which they saved about $200, including duty. i5l" .1- a ~~.j*r FWT Kenneth Hill's Honda aboard the Esso Miami. The aluminum luggage compartment aft is his own handiwork. i i RECENT RETIREMENTS Pumpman Wilfred L. Leddick. Marine Corps veteran (1927 31) with service in Nicaragua; survivor of 2 World War II torpedoings, one in Mona Pas sage and the other north of Scotland, and 17 years as Pumpman in the Esso fleet are highlights of Mr. Leddick's ca- " ` reer. He retired Sept. 1 and is now living in Schuylerville, N. Y., 11 miles east of Saratoga Springs and 36 miles south of Whitehall, his birthplace. After his Marine Corps service, Mr. Leddick worked in various inland waterway vessels, sailed with Eastern Steamship, Sun Oil and Sinclair and, from 1943-47, was with National Bulk Car riers as a shore pumpman. He joined the Esso Norfolk on Sept. 6, 1947 and served continuously as Pumpman throughout his Company service. Formerly a New York City resident, Mr. Led dick has 20-odd years of "sweet water fishing -- mountain lakes and streams" to catch up on plus some traveling in the U. S. and Canada. He and his wife Evelyn have a married daughter Carol Ann Rosato and 2 grandchildren, Billy and Joan Ann. The Qualities of an Officer "It is by no means enough that an officer . . . should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be, as well, a gentleman of liberal education, refined manner, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. "He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, if even the reward be only one word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though, at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thought lessness from incompetency, and well-meant short coming from heedless or stupid blunder. As he should be universal and impartial in his rewards and approval of merit, so should he be judicial and unbending in his punishment or reproof of misconduct." These words of John Paul Jones referred to the naval service years ago but they are just as true today and apply equally to our merchant marine. We have a fine maritime heritage and one to be justifiably proud of. Every officer either adds to or detracts from that heritage by his own profes sional conduct. --Adapted from a Supervisory Safety Letter published by the United States P.&l. Agency. The MIS-Adventures of JSWlB\E?ffONE M< FRACTURE Stumbleprone, going to shut off a valve during tank cleaning, slipped on a pipeline and fell to the deck, injuring his left arm. "Being eager and willing to do his part," the Master's report stated "I believe he acted in haste." There's no quarrel with the "eager and will ing'' part but acting in haste requires doubling your "look-out" for hazards lest headlong haste be worse than waste. EXX-MOR-006910  ct Q. Enclosed please find one empty envelope. As yon can see by the postmark -- this letter was mailed on Sept. 20 in N. Y., then received in Houston on Sept. 21. And today, which is Oct. 7, I finally get it. I think that is pretty poor mail ser vice ... 17 days is a long time to wait for Esso to send my mail to me. How about you, Mr. Ed? ? A. We agree. The delivery time from Houston to you was poor. The fault was a misplaced PCN (Personnel Change Notice) showing your return from paid leave. Mail was sent by air to your ship on Sept. 22, 23, 29 and Oct. 1, 4, 5. 6. etc. Through the fouled up PCN. your letter was not sent with the rest. However, you must remember that even though we have good young men in our mail room, they handle thousands of pieces of mail a week and 700-800 assignment changes per month. It's understand able that this volume of mail and the address changes provide oppor tunities for a goof once in a while. Your case was one of the onces. Q. How much of the contributory group insurance can I carry into retirement and does the amount of the insurance decrease after re tirement? A. If you retire with annuitant status you can carry the same amount of contributory group life insurance into retirement as you had at the time you retired.. Beginning at age 55 the amount of insurance will decrease a bit each year until it reaches one year's normal earn ings at age 65. It then decreases further to a half-year's pay at age 75 and stays there. The cost per $1,000 of insurance is 554 per month up to age 65 and $1.25 per month thereafter. An annuitant may elect to carry one-half of the amount of insurance for which he is eligible and pay no premium. Q. Prices of stock purchased on a Regular Schedule basis through the Thrift Fund often seem to be higher than recent market quotations. How are the stock pool purchases made? A. The quarterly stock pool pur chase prices may seem to be higher than recent market quotations but experience shows they are more often lower. Stock is procured daily for par ticipants purchasing on a regular schedule basis. The amount used each month is based on monies al located during the month. Stock is distributed to the participants each quarter, using the average of the prices paid daily and including com mission. If you were a sharp opera tor (and also lucky) you might do better than the daily average but over a long term the odds are against it. Q. Why do they charge so much interest on Thrift Fund loans? A. We're not sure what you mean by "so much interest". The Thrift Fund interest rate on loans up to $15,000 is 514% per year, calculated on the unpaid balance each month. This interest rate includes life in surance that will pay off the loan in the event of death. Just about the lowest interest rate on loans in the country today is 4!.->% (if you can get it) -- and that's without the life insurance. Perhaps you are comparing the Thrift Fund rate with some other lenders who charge rates like V2 of 17c ($0,005 or 50/100ths of 1%) per month on loan balances. Figured this way, the Thrift Fund rate is lower -- 43.75/100ths of 17c ($0.004375). - i WORDS OF THE WISE He is a fool who cannot be angry; but he is a wise man who will not. -- Old Proverb It isn't your position in life that counts, it's your disposition. -- Anon. If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence everyone must take an equal por tion, most people would be content to take their own and depart. -- Socrates SERVICE EMBLEM AWARDS * 20 YEARS * Walter L. Parker Third Mate July 1, 1964 Albert M. Scara Second Male April 8, 1965 John J. Voigt Pumpman June 20, 1965 10 YEARS # Fernando A, Ferreira Second Cook September 23, 1965 Willard L. Avant Ordinary Seaman October 10, 1965 OBITUARY t William C. Cone, 65, retired First Asst. Engi neer. died Oct. 18 in Brooklyn, N. Y,, where he lived with his wife, Otilie. A native of Georgia, Mr. Cone served 8 years in the U. S. Navy during and after World War I and was aboard the Company's F. W. Abrams when she was torpedoed and sunk off Cape Hatteras in World War II. He joined the Fleet as Oiler in Oct. 1941 and sailed as First Asst, and relieving Chief Engineer from April 1947 until his retirement, Dec. 1, 1957. Charles O. Abrahamsen, 67, who retired Jan. 1, 1963 after 23 years' service as Bos'n. died Sept. 9. He lived in Pasadena, Md. and is survived by his wife Rachael. Mr. Abrahamsen's Company service began in Aug. 1936. Between March 1940 and May 1942 he sailed a solid 26 months in the Prome theus, followed by World War II voyages in 5 more vessels.