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For a Merrier Month of May Spring is in the air, April showers (and storms, too, this year) are over, flowers are blooming, birds singing, sun tans browning, young men's fancies are lightly turning -- in all, 'tis a season to be merry and, perhaps, even "trip the light fantastic toe". What we are leading up to is this suggestion -- if you must trip during the month of May, let it be "the light fantastic" only. Aboard ship especially, let's make May the No Trip * No Fall Month. Trips and falls are a dow'nright plague to our safety record. They are Public Enemy No. 1 in the accident reports. Here are just a few recent ones: Wiper tripped and fell over storm sill leading to crew quarters. Fractured right kneecap. Able Seaman slipped and fell wdiile descending ladder at after end of well deck. Sprained left ankle. Oiler, opening blowdown valve on evaporator. slipped while applying pressure and fell back ward. Struck small of back against a flange and suffered severe bruises. Steward stepped out of chill box and turned left ankle. Fractured same. Chief Cook was ascending gangway carrying two small bags. Slipped and cut left shin bone on a cross tread. Able Seaman walking along main deck, slipped and fell, bumping head on deck. Large lump on back of head. It won't be easy to eliminate trips and falls this month. Everyone will have to be alert to cor rect hazards such as oil spills, faulty ladder treads or any other booby trap to the unsuspect ing foot. But mostly it will require that everyone personally watch his step. This is too nice a time of year to be on crutches or to have some part of your anatomy in a sling. So. remember the slogan -- NO TRIPS, NO FALLS IN MAY. Refunds on Adcf'l. Group Life Insurance To be Paid to Employees and Annuitants A refund of $3.82 for each $1,000 of ADDI TIONAL Group Life Insurance in force on De cember 31, 1960 is to be made to all employees and annuitants who were participating in the pro gram on that date. The refund checks will be mailed in the near future and payment vouchers will be labeled "Re fund AGLI". The money is not taxable as it is a return to employees and annuitants of their own contributions. The refunds are made possible by a surplus of about $712,000 at the end of the program, after all claims and insurance company costs had been met. Additional Group Life Insurance was started in October, 1957 to double the amount of group in- surance available to employees under age 55. (Additional insurance for employees over 55 gradually reduced to zero at age 65.) There were 21,880 participants in the program at the end of last December. They had over $186,000,000 of in surance protection and in the 3% years that the program had been in effect, had paid $3,582,000 in premiums. In that period benefits paid out totaled $2,726,000 and insurance company costs were $144,000. This left the surplus of $712,000. The new insurance program which started Jan uary 1, 1961, continues the same total amount of insurance protection that employees had available in the former Basic and Additional programs. The new contribution rates are 55 cents per month per $1,000 of insurance for employees and annuitants up to age 65 and $1.25 per month per $1,000 for annuitants beyond age 65. These contributions are substantially less than the total cost of the insur ance. The difference is paid by Humble. d = UX i SL L rl EXX-MOR-007473 Three New Cargo Handling Marks Made in April During the month of April, Esso officers and seamen set three new cargo handling records -- one loading, one discharge and one combination of the two. Men in the Esso Bangor and shore personnel at the Baytown Refinery teamed up to make a very exceptional loading record on April 24-25. The ship took aboard 21 grades of refined products for New York -- lube oils, solvents, and distillates -- in 12 hrs. 55 min. As many as 15 grades were loading at one time. A new high discharge record at Paulsboro was made by the Esso Washington on April 2-3, when she pumped ashore five clean grades totaling 298,505 bbls. in 12.67 hours. The 23,560 bph. dis charge rate topped the Esso Gettysburg1s August 23, 1960 record of 22,487 bph. by 1,123 bph. The Washington discharged through four 8-in. hoses into three 12-in., one 14-in. and one 16-in. shore lines at an average hose pressure of 100 lbs. The combination loading-discharge record was made by men in the Esso Huntington at Baton Rouge on April 28-29. In a 23 hr.-50 min. period, 14 grades of products (eight lube oils, four alco hols, heating oil and fuel oil) totaling 176,447 bbls. were loaded and five waxes and one lube oil (14,650 bbls. total) discharged. This was the Esso Huntington's fastest turnaround at the Baton Rouge Refinery for this type of operation. Prod ucts were moving from shore to ship and ship to shore during all but 2 hrs.-15 min. of the total cargo handling time. Back Pay to Officers Effective with current payoffs, wage rates based on the new agreement between the JSTOA and the Company are being used in calculating earn ings. A check covering the difference between the old and new rates from November 1, 1960 to the day prior to the current payoff will be mailed to officers before May 15. Plastic Seat Improves Cargo Valve Performance A long-time headache to the Repair Depart ment (and ships personnel, too) has been the fre quently unsatisfactory performance of cargo valves. As pipelines and valves have increased in size and higher pressures used, the problem of keeping valves tight has become more difficult -- and expensive. ra Three of the Fleet's Five Oliveiras The Oliveira family, of New Bedford, Mass., was well represented in the Esso Boston last month and the fact was recorded photographically by Able Seaman Werner Zoepf. Patriarch of the family is Leopold S. Oliveira (center), Second Cook. At left is Leo, Jr., Chief Cook and at right, Lucio, Wiper. A third son, Eduardo, is Utilityman in the Esso Suez and the senior Oliveira's nephew, Henrique is a Fireman-Watertender on paid leave (ex Esso Paterson). The family's total service in the fleet tops 48 years. While this may be some sort of record, it isn't as good as it may yet become. Mr. Oliveira has a fourth son, August, who is in the Air Force and a fifth, Julio, a high school student. A sixth son, John, was a Messman and Second Cook in the fleet from April, 1946 until his untimely death in an automobile accident on August 19, 1950. u. a. IC A promising solution, however, appears to be the installation of pure "Teflon" seats. Teflon is a milky white DuPont plastic material that is impervious to alcohols, solvents and other petro leum products. A ring of it, about %" square, is pressed into a groove cut into the bronze seat and machined down until it is only 8 to 10 thou sandths of an inch higher than the bronze seat. And it seems that this little difference makes the big difference. After success with several experimental instal lations, it is now planned to put Teflon seats in 10" to 16" cargo gate valves whenever they re quire reconditioning. As an additional precaution against rust and scale lodging on the seats, the interior valve bodies are being zinc coated. ESSO FLEET NEWS is published for the seagoing em ployees of the Marine Division, Humble Oil & Refining Co.: J. D. Rogers, General Manager; Janies E. Stoveken, Assistant General Manager; Sydney Wire, Assistant Gen eral 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. O. Box 1512, Houston 1, Texas. EXX-MOR-007474 Second Ship Safety Achievement Award Won by an Esso Tanker All officers and crewmen who were aboard the Esso Bethlehem on May 2, 1960, when five men were picked up from the disabled yacht Dutch Treat, will receive Ship Safety Achievement Award certificates. The awards, sponsored jointly by the Marine Section of the National Safety Council and the American Merchant Marine Institute, are made yearly for outstanding rescue work. The Bethle hem's accomplishment won top honors for tankers in 1960. The rescue took place about 85 miles off Char leston, S. C. The Bethlehem's No. 2 lifeboat was expertly maneuvered through a half-mile of heavy seas to reach the five yachtsmen in the foundering 40-ft. ketch. All were returned safely to the tanker. The Safety Achievement Award to the Esso Bethlehem will be the second received by an Esso ship. The first was made to the complement of the Esso New Orleans for saving the life of a skin diver in 1958. New Humble 30-Year Service and Annuitant Emblems. The Humble name is red, the oval blue and back ground and edgings are gold. New Humble Service Emblems A new service anniversary emblem has been designed for Humble and an additional emblem has been designed for presentation to employees at retirement. Available around June 1, the new emblems will be awarded to an estimated 4,000 employees this year. An employee who has one of the five service anniversaries (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years) in 1961 is eligible for one of the new Humble em blems regardless of whether or not he has re ceived an old one. The new emblems are similar in many respects to those awarded in the past. All, however, will now bear the name HUMBLE in a gold-edged oval. As previously, the 20-year emblem will have one diamond and for each 10 years of service after that, the emblems will have one more diamond. In addition to the service anniversary emblems, Humble will now award a special emblem to em ployees at retirement. The date of eligibility for these new emblems also goes back to the first of 1961. Similar in design to service awards, the retire ment emblem bears the word "annuitant". Each will show the number of years of Company serv ice an employee would have completed on the next anniversary following his retirement. For example, a man who retires in June before his 41st anniversary in December, will receive an annuitant's emblem showing 41 years' service. The service and retirement emblems will be available in four forms -- a lapel pin, stick pin, pin or charm. Jersey's First Quarter Earnings Estimated earnings for the first three months, released April 27 by M. J. Rathbone, President of Standard Oil Company (N. J.), showed a gain of 13V2 per cent over the first quarter of 1960. Consolidated results for the three months ending March 31, 1961, were estimated at $193,000,000, or 89 cents per share based on the 216,533,000 shares currently outstanding. Comparable earn ings for the first quarter last year were $170,000, 000, or 79 cents per share. Product sales volumes for the first three months of 1961 increased about three per cent compared with the first quarter of 1960. Total revenues from sales and investments were estimated at $2,286,000,000 for the first three months of 1961, as compared with $2,203,000,000 for the first quarter last year. Income and operating taxes, together with im port duties, consumer taxes and other payments to the U. S. and foreign governments, totaled $651,000,000, compared with $612,000,000 for the first three months last year. WORDS OF THE WISE "Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be, and wherever he may be placed, the man w'ho thinks becomes a light and a power." Hertry George --A-- "Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system and profoundly affects the health. I have never knowm a man who died from overwork, but many who died from doubt." Dr. Charles Mayo SP 1 k- COH/n/J FROM THE CCJELECTiONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN HIST! THE UNIVERSITY OF T E X A S A T A U S TIN ! Marine CYI Awards $100 Protective Lubricant for Exposed Machinery and Parts By Pumpman Rex B. Williams and Deck Maintenanceman Bill E. Tyra A lubricant and protective coating that will not wash off in heavy seas and retains its qualities in winter and summer has been developed and used by Messrs. Williams and Tyra. They mix about equal parts of Humble Surett Marine Gear Oil and Rust Ban 324 and add light oil to make the mixture thin enough to apply with a sash brush. They have used it on deck machinery, flanges, valves, and moving parts in the pumproom with excellent results. The men's suggestion that the Company man ufacture and market the compound is under con sideration. It is named Humble Marine Division Protective Coating, and four 15-gal-.- drums (two Deck & two Engine Dept.) are to be put aboard each vessel in the fleet. $20 Shades for Esso Baltimore Class Ship By Second Mate Albert J. Isakson Window shades to black out light more effec tively than curtains on deckhouse windows of the 48,800 dwt. vessels was Mr. Isakson's suggestion. In addition to increased visibility from the bridge at night, a saving in wear and tear on the draw curtains would also result. $15 Fuel Oil Valve Handle By Fireman-Watertender George Greavu Easier and quicker opening and closing of the fuel oil supply valves when maneuvering could be made by use of a valve handle designed by Mr. Greavu. TAFFRAIL TALK Three Mates and three Engineers have ac cepted assignments with the Repair Department to serve as Inspectors on the Esso Zurich and Esso New York during their current repair periods. Third Mate Harald Ronhave and Third Asst. Engineers Sebastian L. Koep and Anthony Petryk are inspecting tank coating work on the Zurich, which put into Jacksonville for about 50 days' repairs on April 10. Third Mates Gerald F. Smith and Arthur Danielsen and Third Asst. Engineer Curtis W. Keech began similar work April 26 on the Esso New York. She is repairing at Newport News for about 35 days. The Marine Office at Everett, Mass., has re cently moved to new quarters on the second floor of the Employees' Building, 31 Beacham St. Deferred Payment of Thrift Fund Balances As mentioned in the Fleet News for March 9, the new Humble Thrift Fund (effective January 1, 1961), has a tax saving feature wherein an em ployee may defer receipt of his Thrift Fund bal ance to the year following his retirement. This is especially beneficial to a man who retires in the latter part of the year as it prevents lumping the Thrift Fund proceeds with the major part of a year's earnings. The Fund requires, however, that a "Request to Defer Payment" form be submitted not later than six months before the retirement date. An officer in the fleet raised the question of how soon a request to defer payment could be made. The answer is -- any time before the six month deadline. OBITUARY Annuitant Henry J. Koenigs. Retired since April 1, 1958, Captain Koenigs died at Staple ton, S. I., on April 20. Bom in Aachen, Germany, 66 years ago, he had a long seagoing career, serving as an AB in sail ing vessels and an officer in steamships. He joined the fleet as Third Mate in the E. M. Clark in July, 1931 and for 2 y2 years prior to his retirement was Master of the Esso Paterson. His Company service totaled 26 years. Captain Koenigs is survived by a brother, Hubert, of Germany, his wife having passed away on April 2. Annuitant Artemio Sirigo. A Bos'n in the fleet for many years, Mr. Sirigo, 73, died on the island of Santorin, Greece, where he had resided since his retirement on February 1, 1953. He had a 50-year sea going career. Starting at the age of 14 in a Greek square rigger, he advanced to Able Seaman and Bos'n and sailed throughout both world wars. He sur vived a torpedoing in each -- the Orleans in 1917 and the John Worthington in 1943. Mr. Sirigo had 23 years of Company service when he retired. He is survived by his wife, wrhom he married in 1954.