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THURSDAY, NOV. lst, 1945 PAGE THREE THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO Goodyear "Old Originals" Re-unite at Bowmanville for 35th Anniversary Celebration Dinner P. Alcumbrack G. Bagnell A. J. Ballagh *C. H. Carlisle W. A. Edger N. Greenfield *A. M. Hardy T. Hayes *G. L. MeCrea D. R. Morrison P. Mutton L. Nichols S. O'Brien *H. Richards G. Souch W. Souch J. Thickson Pictured above are the thirty al Goodyear staff of Goodyear- 1910. Only nine-those marked service for the past 35 years or1 remaining members of the origin- Bowmanville prior to October 1, with asterisks-have unbroken more. All will be present at thel *F. Oke *Miss E. S. Jollow F. Piper *H. Pye M. Quick *E. Large i4I A. Richards *W. H. Thickson T. Veale H. Wakelin W. Widdicombe E. Wight W. Williams 3 5 t h Anniversary Celebration Friday, November 2, at 6:30 p.m., talk about the "old days" in j Chairman of the Goodyear Board, Dinner at the Balmoral Hotel on to renew old acquaintances and'Bowmanville. P. W. Litchfield,1 will present 35-year pins. Goodyear's Entry to Aeronautics Was a Milestone in Use of Rubber The Wright brothers made their first flight in an aeroplane at Kit- ty Hawk in 1903. That was the start in heavier-than-air flying. The fact was seized upon by Goodyear's production scientist, Paul W. Litchfield who instantly envisioned a new field for the rubber industry, airplane tires and other fabrics. Between 1903 and 1909 was the period of exper- iméit, trial and error, in the de- velopment of the airplane. In 1909 the Goodyear Company pro- duced the first successful pneu- matic airplane tire. It became instantly a prime factor in safety in takeoffs and landings. It was the beginning of Goodyear's en- try in aeronautics. Now, in 1945, Mr Litchfield, as Chairman of the Board of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Com- pany, Limited, can look back to 36 years of continuous and tre- mendous expansion of the com- pany in the field of aeronautics. The story is one of romance and daring for it involves not only the swift acceleration of peacetime flying, embracing all types of air- craft, but the partigipation of the company in the air offense and defence in two great wars. The story will have to be told in brief chronology for the complete tale would fill a volume. Balloon Races ing held. Mr. Litchfiqld saw fur- ther possibilities for rubber, went to France, saw the races, came home, organized a balloon depart- ment at Goodyear. By 1911 a balloon was built and a record flight made between St. Louis and New York. From then on produc- tion continued, new fabrics were created, tests expanded, blimps came into the picture, 'all a most fortuitous development for World War 1 was just around the cor- ner. Contracts came from govern- ments, particularly from the USA government, for blimps, barrage balloons, airplane tires in ever in- creasing quantities. By 1917 the balloon factory employed 2,800 people. Between the two great wars came a decade of balloon de- velopment, experimental races, trips into the stratosphere and the competitive progress in huge dirigibles to match the strides of the Germans with their Zeppelins. In all this, Goodyear was the driv- ing force. When war loomed again they were ready with man- ifold improvements, new inven- tions that did so much to chart the course to victory. Rubber Warcraft The blimps were the smaller, lighter-than-air craft that search- ed the seas for stibmarines; the In 1910, free balloons weret re low-flying enemy planes, capturing public attention in to spot enemy positions, to see, France, even as the aeroplane liten, and report. In aid of plane was beginning to write history in pilots and shipwrecked seamen the skies. Balloon races were be- came Goodyear rubber boats, CONGRATULATIONS Prom the humble beginning in 1910 to the organization of 1945 is a worthy achievement. We wish to extend hearty con- gratulations to GOODYEAR on their 35th Anniversary with the hope for contin- ued success and expansion in the years ahead. f T H EEZL'aL rubber pontoons huge enough to bridge rivers and transport the vast vehicles of war. Mae West vests, as compact and small as a necktie, could be inflated in a second, saved countless lives at sea. To achieve all this, the spe- cial department, Goodyear Air- craft Corporation was created in 1939. Its personnel grew to pro- portions as great as the parent plant. It was a far cry from 1910. A dramatic highlight may be told. In 1942, when the Japs sped across the south seas, three USA navy men fell in that area in the Pacific. For 34 days they sur- vived in a Goodyear rubber boat before rescue. The craft is now in the Goodyear museum. Rub- ber as fashioned by Goodyear lit- erally saved countless lives. Stratosphere Flights During the peace years the work went on. Vast airliners were constructed, the first was the rigid ship Shenandoah, built by Goodyear in 1923. Balloons were still constructed, soaring into air heights, testing currents, gather- ing barometric data, aiding the science of aviation and forecasts of land-level weather. Picard, the Belgian, set a record for Self-sealing fuel tanks, bu Canada, helpec countless Unit and contribute the final defe Luftwaffe anc freedom in ti battle theatre years of World At the close War Goodyear first practical line tank for a menace of "fla these tanks heavy, and thE ably to the we The more im tank, fittings fo by Goodyear-E height in balloons. In November, 1935, Goodyear's Anderson topped them all, soaring into the strato- sphere to a height of 72,395 ft. nearly 14 miles. And so it went, constantly sear- ching, experimenting, building, in peace and war, pioneering the un- known future in aeronautics. Litchfield started something in 1910, the year that Goodyear came to Bowmanville. A report issued in 1941 told that the Good- year fleet of aircraft had com- pleted 150,000 flights, embracing 100,000 hours, travelling 4,000,000 miles, carrying 400,000 passen- gers and not a life was lost. The Future This amazing record, spaced over a period that parallels Good- year's 35 years in Bowman- ville, has been told all too briefly to give other than a sketchy view of a stupendous task. At the close of World War II, we find a new vista opening in Goodyear's plans. A late report states that a vast new airliner, helium-filled, is on the way, a ship with pull- man comforts that can carry hun- dreds and with a range to circle the globe. Belts Built in Bowmanville TuÏn Wheels of Canadian Industry trom Coast to Coast "Bowmanville - built mechani- cal rubber goods play an import- ant part in turning the wheels of Canadian industry," George L. McCrea, manager of the mechan- ical rubber goods department of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Canada, Ltd., said in a special interview with a States- man reporter today. "Almost every Canadian busi- ness uses products built by Good- year employees in Bowmanville," he stated. "Mines, paper mills, manufacturing concerns, large and small-all these and many other enterprises are dependent upon mechanical rubber goods in some form. Declaring that rubber is one of the most adaptable of all natural products, Mr. McCrea pointed out that it has become an integral part of our civilization. It has George L.MeCrea been important in the develop- ment of our great transportation standard of living systems, our telephone and radio Mr. McCrea joined the networks, and in the hundreds of the old Durham Rubber Co home appliances that contribute as shipper in the Toronto so much to our present high in 1902 at a salary of $6 a rubber airplane made of newly-discovered syn- and motors in the latest war- ilt by Goodyear in thetic rubber which was highly planes. This greatly reduces the d save the lives of resistant to the corrosive action hazard from leaks or fire caused ed Nations airmen of gasoline and petroleum pro- by bullets penetrating these vital d a great deal to ducts. connections. at of the German When a bullet punctures a tank The fact that Chemigum is im- d the winning of lined with this matenial, contact mune from the deteriorating ac- he skies in every with the gasoline causes a soft na- tion which oh and gasoline have upon natural rubber makes it during the closing tural rubber fller to swell and preferable for many other uses in 1 War II.sea the hole. An inner lining of aircraft. It is now being used of the First World "Chemigum"-a synthetic resin throughout hydraulic control sys- had developed the which resists gasoline protects tems for accumulator diaphragms, self-sealing gaso- the soft expandable rubber from packing, hose connections, gas- irplanes to end the contact until punctured. With kets and similar purposes. .ming coffins." But this construction, it is almost im- For this reason synthetic rub- were bulky and possible for an incendiary bullet bers of the Chemigum type are ey added consider- to ignite the highly inflammable now largely repîacing natural ight of the plane. contents of the tank. rubber in aircraft service, except iodern rubber fuel Chemigum-lined, buliet-sealing in tires and tubes. Once more av- >r which were built hose is also being widely used as iation has benefitted by the rub. 3owmanviple, were fuel lines between wing tanksrber chemists' research. staff of mpany branch week. By 1910, when that company was purchased by Goodyear, he had become Toronto branch manager. "The new Goodyear manage- ment appointed me assistant man- ager of the mechanical rubber goods department," he said. "I worked under P. D. Saylor, the manager, until he went to Eng- land in 1913 to become managing director of the Goodyear Com- pany in the old country." At that time, Mr. McCrea was promoted to the position of department manager-the position he has held ever since. Until 1917, the Bowmanville branch was the only Goodyear factory in Canada, and made tires as well as mechanical products. With the arrival of the "horseless carriage", however, the demand for tires became so great that the company was forced to build a large tire factory in New Toronto. In the fall of 1917 the tire de- partments moved to the new plant, leaving Bowmanville to specialize in the manufacture of mechanical rubber goods and sol- id tires. "Since then," Mr. McCrea stat- ed, "the Bowmanville plant has continued to expand year by year, until today it holds a lead- ing place in the industry in Can- ada. I think we can attribute our present position to the long ex- perience and skill of our people working at the Bowmanville fac- tory. We have been building me- chanical rubber goods in this town for over 35 years-and many of our people have been in the business all their lives." Mr. McCrea pointed out that Goodyear has a definite advan- tage in having its own cotton mill at St. Hyacinthe, Quebec. Cotton fabric is the basis of near- ly all belting, hose, and other mechanical rubber goods, and Goodyear is the only Canadian rubber company that is able to specify and order from its own mill the exact quality of fabric needed for each particular pur- pose. "The future for Bowmanville and G o o d y e a r is decidedly bright," Mr. McCrea asserted. "We will add new lines, and pro- duce a greater number of pro- ducts as the demand grows. There is absolutely no doubt that we will share in the prosperity of Canada in the years immediately ahead." FORMER SUPERINTENDENT A. M. Hardy A. M. Hardy, who was super- intendent of the Goodyear plant in Bowmanville for more than 25 years, will celebrate his forty- seventh anniversary in the indus- try this coming January. Mr. Hardy joined the Durham Rubber Company in January, 1899, and stayed with that corn- pany until it was taken over by Goodyear in October, 1910. In 1917, when the tire depart- ments moved to the New Toronto factory, Mr. Hardy was promoted to top position in the Bowman- ville organization. He held this office until ill-health caused him to take leave of aþpsence early in 1944. Since that time, Mr. Hardy has held the office of Consulting Sup- erintendent at Bowmanville. FINAL TEST FOR COLLAPSIBLE FUEL TANK Long May the Wheels of Progress Keep Rolling Goodyear has made an impor- tant contribution to the prosper- ity of Bowmanville residents. And with high hopes for the future, we are pleased to extend hearty congrat- ulations and best wishes. •