Masonry Magazine July 1972 Page. 11
Mason Contractor News...
Corporate Name Change
General Portland Cement Company has changed its corporate name to General Portland, Inc. effective June 1. L. James Wade Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, said that the change in identity, approved at the company's annual meeting in April, reflects the "increased size and scope" of its operations in recent years.
Wade said that the addition of furniture retailing and real estate development activities to General Portland's operations has significantly broadened the company's growth.
People & Events...
The Mason Contractors Association of DuPage (III.) devoted its June 20th meeting to learning about a new concept in masonry the mortarless Wedgeblock system. Guest speaker was Norman Hancock of the Wedgeblock Company, St. Louis, who demonstrated the new block which has been accepted by the BOCA code. Mac Terry, formerly assistant regional director for the Structural Clay Products Institute, is the new executive vice president of the Colorado Mason Contractors Association. Robert B. Bronec has been elected vice president-international marketing for JI Case Co., Racine, Wis. Alpha Portland Cement Co., Easton, Pa., has named George N. Whipple manager of its St. Louis plant. Russ Herman Masonry Co. has changed its mailing address to E. 6207 12th Ave., Spokane, Wash. 99206. Thomas L. Lyall has been appointed vice president, manufacturing and engineering, for the Construction Products Division of W.R. Grace & Co., Cambridge, Mass. The new officers of the Masonry Contractors Association of Atlanta are Jim Magee, RTM Masonry Co., president; O. L. Jollay, president of O.L. Jollay, Inc., vice president; Jim Loden, Loden & Co., Inc., secretary-treasurer, and D.E. Lyle, Lyle Masonry Co., state chairman.
William J. Askins fills the newly created post of senior vice president-engineering at Massey-Ferguson, Inc., Des Moines, Ia.... Maurice L. Burg- (Continued on page 23)
Masonry • July, 1972
"Excellence in Masonry"
Awards to be Presented
The Mason Contractors Association of Greater Chicago will present its 2nd annual award program for "Excellence in Masonry" at the Regency Hyatt House on December 2. The program is open to members of the association as well as architects, general contractors, developers and others in the construction trades.
There will be awards for ten classifications of buildings or projects so that regardless of size or type of building all will be eligible. The winner of the "Excellence in Masonry" award in each category will receive a commemorative plaque. From the ten winners a blue-ribbon jury will select the most outstanding masonry building, and this project will receive the Gold Medal Award for 1972.
U.S. Gypsum Plant
Retires Safety Award
Charles R. Rooney, left, works manager of United States Gypsum Co.'s Lisbon Falls (Me.) wood-fiber facility, accepts the "President's Safety Plaque" from Kenneth H. Atwell, president of the Acoustical & Insulating Materials Association. Rooney's plant earned permanent possession of the industry trophy by winning top safety honors six times.
Callanan Wins Contracts
Callanan Industries, Inc., wholly owned subsidiary of Penn-Dixie Cement Corp., New York City, has been awarded more than $8 million in highway construction contracts by the states of New Hampshire and Vermont. The new contracts bring Penn-Dixie's backlog of work in process to $48 million as compared with $29.9 million at the same time last year.
Koehring Boosts Siderits
to PCM Marketing Post
Robert T. Siderits has been appointed to the position of Vice President-Marketing for the PCM Division of Koehring Company. In the announcement, by H. P. Mueller, Jr., division President and General Manager, it was noted that this newly created position at PCM is descriptive of the all inclusive sales and marketing responsibilities involved. Mr. Siderits joined PCM in 1967 as a product line sales manager. In 1969 he was promoted to General Sales Manager and has served in that capacity until now.
Would You Believe 4,000
to 6,000 Bricks a Day?
Would you believe there's anyone around who could lay from 4,000 to 6,000 bricks a day?
That's the claim of some bricklayers in Transvaal, Union of South Africa, who say this is their routine daily production. But their claim is being disputed by Mr. Ismail Achmat, bricklaying foreman for contractors Murray & Stewart. Mr. Achmat, who resides in Bridgetown, has been a bricklayer for 24 years and made this comment:
"As far as I am concerned, it's impossible to lay between 4,000 and 6,000 bricks a day as these Transvaal chaps claim to do. For a long time I was the fastest bricklayer at Murray and Stewart, and on a straight, nine-inch wall laying rough bricks working flat out. I could lay 1,600 a day. As for the claim of these chaps, impossible!"
Coming to the support of Mr. Achmat is Desmond Crowie, a Cape Town building contractor. In a statement to the Cape Town Argus he said:
"Nobody in Cape Town can lay more than 2,000 bricks a day. Laying 5,000 bricks a day would work out at 625 an hour. The ultimate bricklaying record for Cape Town cannot exceed 2,000 bricks a day. I know what I am talking about, and I shall be very keen (Continued on page 23)
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