Document KGE4OKVY8OvD28aQa6voLvjxX

\\ s / \/ Et h y l Ga so l i n e Co r po r a t i o n IN TER-O FFICE C O RRESPO N D EN C E CH RYSL ER BU I LD I N G 135 E a s t 42nd S t r e e t NEWYORK February 10, 1931. D r. R. A. Kehoe, Dear Dr. Kehoe: We have been gi vi n g ver y car efu l con sider at ion t o the questions t h at you have r ai sed r ecen t l y i n regard to the shipping and handling of sm all l o t s of ETHYL f l u i d , in cludin g t h at which i s used f o r avi at i on purposes. Our Sal es De partment ci r cu l ar i z ed i t s branch o f f i ce s and we expect t o sh or t l y have a r epor t on the exact method of handling Avi at i on ETHYL f l u i d a t every pl ace where i t i s u sed . I agree with you ver y wholeheartedly t h at we should discont inue shipments o f Avi at i on ETHYL f l u i d to a l l poin t s t h at have not i n st al l e d adequate mixing equipment, u n t i l such time as t h i s i s done. We w i l l tak e the n ecessar y st eps to see. t h at shipments ar e stopped as soon as the survey r epor t i s r ecei ved from the Sal es Department. T h i s, however, does not apply to the Arny and Navy. The Army does not order any ver y gr eat qu an t i t y of ETHYL f l u i d i n cans and I am i n cl i n ed to think t h at i t only u ses t h ese cans f o r emergency purposes, or some sp eci al t e st f l i g h t s, or i n i t s l ab o r at o r i es. As you ar e aware, the Army has sp eci f i cat i o n s out t o o i l companies ask ing them to submit bid s fo r blended Avi at i on gasol i n e, t o be made avai l ab l e a t p r a ct i ca l l y a l l poin t s from which they would norm ally operate, through out the coun t ry. ' 000059 The Navy, however, has taken thousands o f cans each year and continues to do so. The m ajor i t y of t h ese cans ar e shipped to the Ph iladelph ia Navy Yard and reforwarded from t h e i r to t h e i r var i ous points throughout the coun t ry. I have no knowledge whatsoever as to how they ship these cans out of t he Navy Yard---- whether co i t i s on t h e i r own equipment, by fr e i gh t or by expr ess. I t i s my own opinion t h at we should tak e an absolute st an d, ar b i t r ar y i f n ecessar y, and n o t i fy the Navy t h at we sim ply w i l l not continue t o fu r n i sh them with these l ar ge qu an t i t i es of cans of ETHYL f l u i d , but w i l l only fu r n i sh than with whatever seems to be the reasonable amount requir ed fo r emergency cases, sp eci al t e st f l i g h t s, and f o r labor at or y usej i n si st i n g upon them making t h e same arrangements as the Army t o obtain gasol i n e a l ready blended with f l u i d from o i l companies. Th is might be a l i t t l e bother to them and cost them a l i t t l e money but I have always the r eser vat i on t h at i f we perm it them to i n d i scr i m i n at el y continue t o use thousands of cans which ar e undoubtedly handled by hundreds o f people each year , t h at even t u ally t r ouble i s going to occur. I n d i scu ssi n g the m atter with Coard Tayl or today, we agreed t h at when M r. Webb returned from Europe we should submit to him a recommendation t h at we draw up a con t r act f o r both Army and Navy use which ca r e f u l l y st i p u l at es the con ditions under which ETHYL f l u i d may be ordered from us and how i t i s t o be handled. We would then on ly fu r n i sh them i n accord with the terms and con ditions of such con- // T Dr. K. A. Kehoe, -2- 2/10/31. t r a ct and we could in cor por at e i n same whatever seemed t o be d esi r abl e t o safe guard the si t u at i o n . Another thought t h at I have i n mind i s t h at with the inauguration of our new type of con tainer with the br ass cap on i t t h at we number each one of them and r equ ir e our Plan t t o assume f u l l accou n t ab i l i t y fo r each con t ain er . Th i s number I think could be im printed i n the m etal and not be obviously d i st i n gu i sh ab l e. We would not t e l l anyone t h at we weye numbering the cans except our own people. John Sch aefer could then each month prepare a r epor t showing the d i sposi t i on of the exact number t h at had been shipped out during the month, one o f which would go to your Department. I f we ever found any cans i n the possession of p ar t i es who were not supposed to have them, we could then see the numbers on them and t r ace the source through which they were obtained. We would than have sp e ci f i c cases to br in g to the at t en t i on o f the gu i l t y p ar t i es and gi ve them proper warning as to what we were going to do about i t . I b el i eve Coard Taylor advised you when you met with him i n Dayton t h at we have i n st r u ct ed our f i e l d st a f f to stop the p r act i ce of making sp eci al mixes out o f cans f o r planes ( u su al l y A n y and Navy) to bring up bulk st or age stock s t h at might have acci d en t l y become d i l u t ed with non-Ethyl gasol i n e, and fo r sp eci al t e st purposes. I think t h at t h i s act i on alone i s going t o elim inate a l o t of cans get t i n g i n t o the possession of people who should not have the m at er i al . I would appr eci at e your please w r i t i n g me your fu r t h er comments on t h i 3 f si t u at i o n and i f you think the suggestions contained i n t h i s l e t t e r w i l l gi ve us the fu t u r e pr ot ect ion t h at we a l l f e e l we must have. 0000597