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ROBERT RHYNE, RETIREDHis curst , ob In Textiles Paid 18c A DayWhen he was five years old, he watched men and mules dig the foundation for what is now the main section of the Firestone plant in Gastonia. That was 1900. Three years later Robert Rhyne was keeping up two sides of a spinning frame at a Lincolnton mill and earning 18 cents a day.On December 17, 1903, someone ran between the spinning frames, shouting the news that the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk had successfully flown the first powered aircraft.From those beginnings to hus retirement here in early February, Rhyne logged 56 years in textile mills — more than 24 of them at Firestone.He has known a variety of jobs: oiler, sweeper, card stripper, speeder tender, carding overhauler. Besides Firestone and the mill where he had his first job, he worked at several other places — one as far afield as Danville, Va. He used to come home to Gastonia on week-ends, making good time in his Model T.HIS YEARS of mill life harbor other memories, too. There were the “railway” cards before the revolving machine in general use today . . . the age of steam-power manufacturing . . . and days when a man could leave his machine to pluck a few blackberries or run an errand, returning in time to doff a frame of yarn.More significant are recollections of change — to better machines and improved working conditions, increased quality, better employee benefits and more pay. “And it's all to the good,” he says.On his last day of work here, Mr. Rhyne recalled that he had never had an injury on the job, nor had he missed a week’s work because of sickness. Upon his leaving, friends on the job presented him a gift of money. Someone guessed he’d spend a little of it to buy natural rubber for some slingshots — the kind he had been making for more than 55 years, as target-shooting pieces.Beyond his hobby, he will paint his house on Club drive, dabble in the garden, and spend some time this summer at Balls Creek Methodist Camp Ground, where he and Mrs. Rhyne have a cabin.SLINGSHOTS — At home on Club drive, retiree Rhyne checks materials for his pastime craft — making slingshots of wooden forks, leather, thongs and strips of rubber. He has made hundreds of slings for use in target shooting. In proper hands, the piece drives with amazing accuracy.
Newspaper Details
Gastonia Firestone News
Gastonia, North Carolina, US
Tue, Mar 01, 1960
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 28 Jan 2021
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