Document N2gk74dbbbkJ0Dd3jRNm5vjn8

FILE NAME Allis Chalmers ALL DATE 1935 Jan 22 DOC ALLO09 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Memo - Symposium on Dust Problems - with Cover Letter Manville TWENTY EAST FORTIeth Street . NEW YORK JM JM PRODUCTS = January 22 1935 Mr. M. F. Judd Secretary Manhattan Inc. Bridgeport Conn Re Mellon Institute of Industrial Research Symposiuomn Dust Problems Dear Mr. Judd As I indicated to you over the telephone this afternoon I am enclosing a copy of a memorandum I prepared for Mr. Lewis H. Brown regarding my trip to Pittsburgh last Tuesday January 15th to attend the Symposium on Dust Problems held under the auspices of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research VBT Enclosure Very truly yours Vandiver BrownBrown Vandiver Brown Attorney JAN 30 1935 RM144A- RM144A- 144A-.pr 11-77.77 14 A-.pr 144A-.pr t Hauptz Hauptz Hauptz ! % Hauptz Hauptz MEMORANDUM RE MELLON INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH SYRPOSIUM ON DUST PROBLEMS PITTSBURGH- JAN 1235 On or about December 12 1934 the Hellon Institute of Industrial Research addressed letters to having industrial disease problems inviting tshon eem 8t5o ianttdeunsdtriaes meeting to be held under the auspices of the Institute on the 15th day of January One of these invitations was the not Asbestos Institute accept and was not and although the Asbestos received by Institute did officially represented Manville Corporation requested and obtained permission to send a sentative The invitations expressly stated that repreattendance -at this meeting need entail no obligation the writer Manville was of this memorandum represented at Approximately the meeting by 250 people were present repesenting over 50 tries which had invitation of the Mellon Institute accepted the The Mellon Institute was greatly surprised at the remarkable response and it is opinion that one cannot find a better indication of my the nature of the problems it was the serious discuss purpose of the meeting to I was able to ascertain that the Hellon Institute had been prompted to call the meeting by representatives of the sand and glass and the refractories industries tatives of these industries conferred with Mr. Represen Director of the E. R. Weidlein Institute and after advising him of the nature of their problem of its spread character and muserous muserous menacing aspects suggested the need of some form of concorted action on the part of those industries presently or potentially involved I understand that Hr F. W. Sherwood President of Illinois Glass Company and Mr. Roger Hitchins President of the American Refractories Institute were the persons who presented the situation to the Mellon Institute 141 Weidlein on behalf of the Institute agreed to cooperate to the extent of calling the meeting and having the representatives spend a day in Pittsburgh as the guests of the Institute There was some preliminary discussion as to the possibility of using the Hellon Institute as a clearing house for information and research upon aspects of the problem common to all industrics but nofinito commitments were postponed until after the of the meeting holding various An impressive list of experts specializing upon aspects of the dust problem attended the meeting and R41R4411431.32.222 R41413.22 R413.2 4.129.77.722 -2- -2- Mr. F. delivered addresses Among these were Mr. A. C. Hirth a lawyer associated with Williams Eversman and Morgan Toledo Ohio attorneys for Illinois Glass Company Dr. Eugene P. Pendergrasosf the ray Laboratory University University Hospital Phila- delphia Dr. A. J.Lanza Assistant Medical Director of the MetropolitLa ifne Insurance Company Dr. R. R. Sayers Medical Officer in Charge of U. S. Public Health Service Professor Philip A. Drinker of the School of Public Health Harvard Uni- versity Robertson Jones General Manager Association of Casualty and Surety Executivos and Mr. Donald E. Assistant Director Saranac Cummings Laboratory for Study of Tuberculosis with the The addresses delivered by open discussion that followed these them specialists together revealed among other things the very menacing character of the problem its complex nature the uncertainties attending most of its aspects and the necessity of some form of united action by the afflicted industries . It was recognized that some aspects of the problem were peculiar to special industries but it was equally evident that other aspects were common to all For forms of dust namely free silica and example only two known to produco disabling fibrosis of athsebelsutnogs ar Eevendefiinnittheely case of theso dusts the problems resulting therefrom are quite different since the fibrosis resulting from silica is of a much more serious character than that resulting from asbestos in that the former predisposes to tuberculosis and is much have a fatal termination On the other hand one of the most serious aspects of the and more likely to this illustrates all dust producing industries problem that the fact that is common to known to produce disability has not no other dust is claims prevented entirely groundless aggregating millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars being brought against industries which have asbestos dust hazard For no silica or example Dr. Lanza pointed out that no one had ever maintained that gypsum dust was harmful and nevertheless the gypsum industry had suits yet covering claims in excess of four million doplelnadrisng against it industries It appeared that among were the following the problems common to all 1 The menace of ambulance chasing lawyers in combination with unscrupulous doctors The uncertainties surrounding diagnosis of any of the various forms of pneumonoconiosis are so many that a question of fact is presented in every case Expert testimony can be pro- duced by both plaintiff and defendant and it is for the jury to decide whose experts are -3- -3- correct in their interpretations In making this decision the jury is not likely to favor the opinion of the experts produced by the employer 2 The desirability of making various dust diseases compensable under properly drawn workmen's compensation laws One of the speakers stated that the strongest bulwark against future disaster for industry is the enactment of properly drawn occupational disease legislation Such legislation would a eliminate the jury and empower a Medical Board to pass upon the existence of the disease and the extent of the disability b eliminate the shyster lawyer and the be quack doctor since fees would strictly limited by the law and c permit the correct- ing of initial mistakes in the making of awards by providing for hearings to reduce or eliminate awards if proof could be adduced that the claimant was not disabled or that the extent of his disability had been over- estimated 3 Problems of ventilation dust collecting and elimination and respiratory devices 4 The establishing of standards a for dust counting and particle size determination b for the taking of rays for diagnostic use and c for the interpretation of the marking on the films so produced At the close of the discussion a Mr. Kurtz VicePresident of American Refractories Corporation made a motion that Mr. William P. Yant Chairman of the meeting appoint a nominating committee who would nominate a group of individuals to serve as a committee for the formulation of ways and means to bring about effective cooperation of some character between the various of the dust industries for meeting problem common to all and combating those phases This motion was carried and a Nominating Committee appointed which retired and upon returning presented to the meeting the names of seven individuals to act as such Committee No other names having been placed in nomination the following were elected to act as the Committee and report back to the various industries and groups represented at the meeting or to whom the invitation had been originally extended : -4- Vandiver Brown representing ee Asbestos Cork and Metallic Dr. B. D. Saklatwalla representing Chemical Abrasives Alloys and ferrous metals E. O. Jones representing Foundries A. W. Sherwood representing Glass Sand Ground Sand and Glass Hanufacture . A. J. Gentholts representing Iron Steel and Ores A. J. R. Curtis representing Lime Limestone Cement and , Oypsum Roger A. Hitchins representing Refractories and Clays I explained to the other members of the Committee that I had been sent to the meeting solely as an observer and had no authority from Manville Corporation to accept membership on the Committee and certainly none from the Asbestos Industry as a whole I was urged however to meet with the Committee and agreed to do withdraw if approval of my be forthcoming I pointed so on the condition that I might serving in that capacity should not out that members of the Asbestos did Industry not care to be associated in the minds of the public or of employees with those industries whose problem was silicosis and that for this reason I felt there might be some opposition to having a representative of the Asbestos Industry working with them I did indicate however that I realized numerous aspects of our problem were the same and that if cooperation could be worked out without an undue amount of publicity Hanville Corporation and perhaps the Asbestos Industry ha a whole would in all likelihood be willing to cooperate It was the opinion of the Committee that this condition would not present any insuperable difficulty Mr. Roger Hitchins President of American Refractories Institute was made Chairman of the Committee which held a moeting Tuesday evening after the close of the Symposium Mr. Hitchins was designated to meet with Mr. Weidlein of the Mellon Institute and ask him to make a proposal in definite and concrete form as to the manner in which the Mellon Institute might bo able to assist the various industries for a fee of 25,000 When this proposal has been received and approved by the members of the Committee it will be submitted to the various industries with the recommendation that it be accepted and that the v pious industries or individual corporations agree to stand good for a proportionate amount of the fee not in excess of a definite specified suu -5- -5- by the ing I Mellon gathered that the proposal which would Institute would include among others be made the follow- a The compiling of a comprehensive bibliography of all books treatises and publications deal- ing with any aspect of the dust problem and the evaluation thereof b The compiling digesting and correlating of data and information from various subscribing industries relative to their particular experi- ences c The drafting of approved workmen's compensation legislation covering pneumonoconiosis d The digesting of the laws of the various states which might affect the operations of industries presenting a dust hazard e The outlining of problems requiring research or the establishment of fixed standards and the prevention of duplication of effort and expense along these lines The interest with which the discussions were followed and the enthusiasm which greeted the proposal for unified effort lead me to believe that the necessary support will be found for some sort of program along the above lines VANDIVEP BROWN January 18 1935