I found out the Arkansas Gazette being a Little Rock daily and Sunday newspaper offered jobs to paper route carriers. I could earn $40 per month with a 100-count customer base. I begged my parents to buy me a bicycle so I could earn some really big money. So, just like that, I went from a barefoot country boy to a bicycle riding city slicker!
I am thinking of my very best 'toy' as a youngster living in a rural section near Pine Bluff, AR that my sweet parents encouraged me and my lil brother to play with. It was a discarded 16 inch tire.
When I was located in Pasadena, TX as a Manager of 5 paper machines, I had a very good friend working maintenance to pass away. I remember him with good thoughts of the past. One such recall occurred on his birthday in 1990. I accepted an invitation to a surprise BD party at his sister's house.
All paper machines operating before OSHA 1974 enactment had potential of mangling or death to the employee who worked without caution. For example: Nip guards at winder, Calendar Stacks, Press Section, Conveyor belts, ETC. were NOT equipped with personnel safety devices.
The year was 1962, and a 19-year-old future papermaker decided to "audition" for a spot on the bullgang at a small one-machine operation at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. (Dierks Paper Company)
