Document kDbE6G44kj208BeKGZQMQXxeE

PUBLISHED BY THE MARINE DEPARTMENT. HUMBLE OIL & REFINING COMPANY Volume 14, Number 20 October 16, 1972 'Esso Bangor In Shipyard; Last This Year The Esso Bangor entered the shipyard on September 15 for in spection and repairs. She is the last vessel in the fleet scheduled for shipyard work this year. The Esso Lima was to enter the ship yard in October, but that visit has been cancelled now that the ves sel is to be sold. Tankers scheduled to make shipyard calls in 1973, and the approximate months, are: Esso Chester, March; Esso Baltimore, and Esso New Orleans, April; Esso Miami, May; Esso Houston, June; Esso Jamestown, July; and the Esso Seattle and Esso San Fran cisco, September. Choose Interests, Follow Through/ Says Morris Whether he's belting out a hot cha-cha, a current show tune, or lazily swinging along through a waltz or a religious number, Harold A. Morris makes sweet music on his electronic organ. Mr. Morris, who retired in 1959 as a Marine Department ship re pair inspector in New York, and who now lives in Long Beach, California, likes to play the organ so much that he "makes time" (re member this quote) each day to practice. Although most of us would consider him an accom plished musician, he still takes lessons. "There's always another step to learn or another plateau to reach, so I keep practicing," he explains. "Actually, I find that playing the organ helps to keep me busy." One suspects that Mr. Morris is not a man to let himself slip out of high gear. For example: In addi tion to keeping up his own sprawl ing one-story house and a sep arate building on the back of his lot that contains a large recreation room and a huge barbecue pit, this energetic 68-year-old annu itant owns, maintains, and man ages an eight-family apartment house. "I do all the plumbing, carpen try, and other maintenance work required to keep the apartments in good repair," he said. "I also make repairs periodically in 12 apartments owned by a friend. To help me in this work, I have at tended several welding classes at a nearby high school and I pur chased my own welding equip ment and other tools needed in carpentry and plumbing work. It's just too expensive to hire this work done," he pointed out. "Also, (See MORRIS, page 3) EQUITY PORTFOLIO VALUE $13.48 The Thrift Fund Trustee re ports the value of each unit in the Equity Portfolio as of the last business day in Sep tember 1972 is $13.48. Last Business Day Of May, 1971 May, 1972 June, 1972 July, 1972 August, 1972 September, 1972 Unit Value $10.00 13.59 13.30 13.52 13.56 13.48 Captain Hosch Is Widely Known For Wood Carvings Give Captain Charles L. Hosch a block of wood, a carving knife, and a few chisels and he'll carve out a fish, a bird, a sea horse, or some other objet d'art that would draw praise from the severest of critics. Captain Hosch is a pro fessional wood carver, an art that he has developed over the past 20 years. "Once you get the hang of it, it's really not too hard to make a wood carving. Mainly, you just whittle away the parts you don't want," Captain Hosch said in ah obvious oversimplified explanation of his talents. He has several dozen carvings in his huge ram bling house in Houston where he works in a converted garage. He estimates that he has carved more than 1,000 objects in the past 20 years, some of which he has sold (he is still commissioned at times to do special carvings for individ uals or organizations), others he has given away, and many he has kept. He gives carving demonstra tions at charity functions, making objects that can be sold for a small price. "I particularly like to participate in charity shows be cause they are for a worthy cause and help people," he said. He has also demonstrated his talent and displayed carvings on a local Houston TV station. He was one of 100 artists from all over Texas who recently par ticipated in an ail-media arts and crafts show at Galveston to help (See HOSCH, page 4) COPIF.O r-l(OM THE COLLECTIONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN THF. IJNIVFHSlTV n c T r v a c a t a , ir-,-,,.. TAFFRAIL TALK WHEN THE Esso Seattle was at anchorage in Singapore for repairs recently, the crew was surprised when a group of "tank cleaners" came aboard--they were women ranging in age from 18 to 80. The women are employees of the com pany responsible for cleaning tanks, boilers, decks, etc. They bring their own food and cleaning equipment and, according to word from the ship, the job they do is fantastic--they leave the ship spotless. Also, while in Singapore, two young school girls from Thai land visited the vessel. They were taken on a tour of the ship by Captain Ed Crawford and given lunch and some souvenirs, includ ing back issues of Esso Fleet News to take to school. The young sters were chaperoned by their aunt, a school teacher. "They were real impressed with the size of the ship and I told them to have their parents buy gasoline at Esso service stations in their neighbor hood. They assured me that they would so maybe we have a couple of new customers as a result of our hospitality," Captain Crawford wrote. THIS SCALE MODEL of an old Apache fort was built out of matchsticks painstakingly glued together by Francis X. Boyle, OS, during an 80-day period aboard ship earlier this year. Mr. Boyle, on the right, holds a section of matchsticks while AB Michael Mitchell prepares to add a few drops of glue. Mr. Boyle has no idea how many matchsticks he used in building the fort. He regularly collected the matchsticks from ash trays aboard ship and from shipmates who saved them for him. picture taken. Seated from the left are his own secretary, Patricia Domingo, who hosted the vistors, and Helen Carson from the Ac counts Payable Section in the Houston Office Marine Depart ment. Standing, from Mr. Roth's right, are Myrna Cox of the Gen eral Services Department in Hous ton, and Karen McNeely, secretary to J. W. Bennett, manager of the Boston branch office. WHILE VACATIONING on the West Coast recently, these pretty ladies called on the San Francisco branch office at Benicia, Califor nia. Branch Manager Lawrence D. Roth wanted to record their visit for posterity so he had the above PERSONNEL IN the Esso Miami gave $138 to the Seoul, Korea, relief fund to help relieve suffer ing as the result of torrential rains which pounded the city for two days in August. More than 200 residents were killed and nearly 100,000 were left homeless. The downpour delayed the Miami for five days before she could start discharging corn at Inchon. JOHN H. CORRIGAN, who retired as chief mate in 1968, sent this picture taken in front of his home at Daytona Beach, Florida, as he prepared to zoom off to the beach on his motor bike. "I am enjoying my leisure time, not only because I can take trips on my bike but also because 1 have been able to lower my golf handicap from 14 to 7," he said. Page 2 Esso Fleet Nev/s COPIF/J FROM THE COLLECTIONS IN THE CENTER FOR AMERiCANTtiSTOif THE UNIVERSITY OFTPVA :< a t a iic t im I MORRIS, continued from page 1 | I have attended a number of apart ment management classes to be come more efficient in managing my own units." With all these activities, Mr. Morris has yet another one--he repairs cars for friends--he has a garage full of tools so that he can even do major overhauls. Although practicing on the or gan, maintaining a house and apartments, attending classes from time to time, and repairing cars might seem like a full-time schedule for any one man, Mr. Morris, who holds a chief engi neer's license, served as engineer on the San Pedro Ferry about a year (and is still on call). He has also been an engineer on three seagoing yachts at various times. Packed on top of all this, the Mor rises like to travel. They recently spent 27 days in the South Pacific, and have been to Alaska, Hawaii, and Europe. They plan to visit South America and Africa soon. And, oh, yes, they are both active in church work. Add all of these activities up and you'll understand why we put the "makes time" in quotes when referring to the organ at the be ginning of this article; that's just what Mr. Morris has to do IF he is to keep in practice in order to en joy his favorite pastime--music. "It's a matter of organizing your time," he explained. "The main thing is to choose your hobbies and interests and follow them through. Then you will keep busy and happy in your retired life and the feeling of accomplishment is wonderful." Last Lost-Time injury In The Ocean Fieet-Sept. 2 IWW-Sept. 1 ESSO FLEET NEWS is published every other Monday for active and retired em ployees of the Marine Department, Humble Oil & Refining Co.; Emmett A. Humble, General Manager; Sydney Wire, Assistant General Manager. GENE LEGLER.......................................... Editor October 16, 1972 Mr. and Mrs. Harold A. Morris pose at the electronic organ in their home at Long Beach, California. The lamp was one of many used by the company years ago to test kerosene. It is about 75 years old. Mr. Morris converted it to electricity. Retirements JERREL DUKES, A/Oiler, retired on July 1. He first joined the com pany as oiler in the Esso Lima. This was in January, 1951. After several breaks in service, Mr. Dukes, in June, 1963, returned to the fleet and worked as messman, utilityman, wiper, fireman-watertender, and again as oiler. His last ship before retiring to his home in Houston was the Esso Lexington. EDWARD C. BURNS, who lives in Orlando, Florida, retired on July 1 as FWT in the Esso Miami. He joined the company in July, 1948, as FWT in the Queenston Heights and sailed in this rating during his career, except for about eight months in 1949 when he served in the tied-up fleet at Baltimore. WILEY B. SHIRLEY joined the fleet as AB in 1952. His first company ship was the Esso Annapolis. He obtained his original 2nd mate's license in April, 1965, and sailed as 3rd mate in June of that year. He sailed for the first time as 2nd mate in August, 1969. Mr. Shirley's last vessel before retiring on Au gust 1 was the Esso Lexington. He has 20 years of company service and lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. While sailing in an unlicensed ca pacity, Mr. Shirley in 1960 became a member of the board of gover nors of the Esso Seamen's Asso ciation and served on this board for several years. DENNIS ARMAND, who had 22 years service when he retired on August 1, joined the fleet as deck i mainte nance man in the Esso iAl. Cumberland. He advanced to AB --^ in 1 9 4 9 and sailed in this ca- > pacify for the first time in the Fort Fetterman. His last ship before retiring was the Esso Miami. "Although I've been retired for only a short time, I miss my shipmates. I am working partime in painting and repair jobs," Mr. Armand writes from his home in New Orleans. Page 3 EXX-MOR-008065 | HOSCH, continued from page 1 | raise money for the establishment of a Galveston chapter of Big Brothers Foundation, Inc. Although most of Captain Hosch's carvings are from 3- to 12-inches tall, he has several 8foot carvings and he once trimmed a cherry tree and carved it into the shape of a girl with her outstretched "limbs" serving as anchors for clotheslines. "The secret of being a good wood carver is that you have to continually work at it. A good imagination, sharp tools, and a whale of a lot of patience are also needed," he explained. "The ser ious wood carver must also know a lot about wood--it's texture, stress points, and other charac teristics," he added. He gets ideas for objects to carve from various sources, but most of them are his own creations. "I carry a sketch book with me on plane trips to and from a ship, and keep one handy when I'm at sea. I experi ment with drawings, lines, and angles, some of which come out rather weird." Over the years, word of his professionalism has gotten around and many people from various countries give or send him blocks of wood from their respective areas. Once, someone gave him a block of wood (a shipmate, per haps?) that looked good on the outside, but when Captain Hosch later started to carve it, termites fell out and started crawling for the woodwork in his house. "That's the time I reached for the spray gun as fast as I would for a fire extinguisher," he said. Captain Hosch is an active member in the Art League of Houston, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Texas Fine Arts Association, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has captured a number of first-place awards for his carvings. During some future paid leave, he plans to carve a door containing the coats of arms of various coun tries. Captain Hosch poses with woodcarvings in his Houston home. Page 4 I Obituary | PAUL P. DUGAS, 66, died on September 19 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He retired in October, 1961, with nearly 16 years of com pany service. Mr. Dugas was em ployed in October, 1945, shortly after receiving his U.S. Army dis charge. He worked continuously as bargeman on the Western River tows until illness forced his retire ment. Letter of Appreciation Mrs. Aili Johnson sent the following note to Esso Fleet News: "The family of Captain Taisto A. Johnson extends gratitude to the many friends who sent flowers, letters, cards, and contributions to the fam ily after Captain Johnson's death. The greater part of his life was spent aboard fleet ships and during this time, he developed many meaningful friendships. The expressions of sympathy and concern pro vided comfort and support to all of us." Esso Fleet News I RETIREMENTS, from page 3 | at retirement was the Esso Gettys burg. EDMUND J. REIMER started his seagoing career with the Military Sea Transportation Service as cook in the SS Joseph V. Connolly. He sailed aboard her for more than two years when she burned at sea and sank off the Coast of New foundland. "Luckily, I was among those who were able to abandon ship success fully and were rescued by a passing freight er," Mr. Reimer recalled. He sailed for sev eral more years Reimer with MSTS and then took his first assignment in the company's fleet in 1952 as messman in the Esso Zurich. He became 2nd cook in the Esso Chester in 1956 and chief cook in the Esso Lima in 1967. "I intend to divide my retire ment time between Pennsylvania, enjoying my grandchildren, and Mallorca, Spain, where I share a house with two life-long friends. The house there will also serve as headquarters while I take trips to other cities, such as Naples and Athens, he said. In the meantime, Mr. Reimer is at home in Rock- port, Massachusetts. from Third Mate to Master. Soon after leaving the company, Mr. Hall and his wife, a photography buff, bought a new car and took an extensive trip from their home in Annapolis, Maryland, to San Diego, California, visiting tourist attractions along the way. When they returned home, Mr. Hall started looking for employment-- and found it in an unusual way. He visited the local courthouse to ap ply for jury duty and while there, an influential acquaintance happened to see him and referred him to a possible job in the Anne Arundel County Courthouse. The "possible" job turned into a real job and he became an employee of the State of Maryland. He is quite a micro-film expert and among other things he reproduces copies of many types of legal documents for use by lawyers and others. These include copies of real estate subdivisions for at torneys, title searchers, and the general public. He also sends out notices of newly-formed and ex isting corporations to attorneys and their clients. "The biggest ad justment I had to make was to be come used to working in an office --quite a change after spending some 30 years at sea," he said. "Nearly every senior citizen can recommend some things to do and not to do to enjoy retired John D. Hall is shown here conferring with his "boss," Mrs. Marjorie S. Holt, clerk of the circuit court for Anne Arundel County. life," Mr. Hall said. "I certainly recommend that one seek other employment. In my case, I had two sons in college (one has since graduated) and I needed the extra income to help out here. I would also recommend to men still work ing in the fleet that they consider participating fully in the com pany's benefit plans--the earlier the better. Thanks to my participa tion in these plans, I had the re sources to fall back on to help keep my head above water after I retired." John D.Hall Happy In Court House Work When a man retires from the fleet, he usually does two things: He and his wife take a trip some where; and after this is over, he starts searching for some kind of employment, not only to supple ment his retirement income, but to have something meaningful to do, or "something to get up for in the morning," as one retiree said. This is the pattern followed by John D. Hall who retired in 1970 as a 26-year Deck Officer, serving As part of his daily duties, Mr. Hail operates equipment to locate and reproduce legal documents needed by various attorneys. Page 4 Esso Fleet News