Document OEE9kqw510G3Q4eEdNno0Jow1

FILE NAME: Raybestos-Manhattan (RBM) DATE: 1936 Oct 30 DOC#: RBM102 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letters between Saranac, Johns-Manville & Raybestos Manhattan RE Cases of Asbestosis t TTHhPe. ?Saranac Laboratory for the Study of T uberculosis of THE EDWARD L. TRUDEAU FOUNDATION POST OFFICE BOX 571 7 CHURCH STREET Saranac Lake, N .Y . / r . January 2, 1937 Mr. S. Simpson Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc. Bridgeport, Conn. Dear Mr. Simpson: You may be interested to learn that Tyr. Dorset of the North Carolina State Industrial Commission has sent out an SOS to our Dr. Sampson, roentgenologist at Trudeau San: torium, for help in the diagnosis of 70-odd cases of alleged asbestosis. He apparently is bewildered by the medical testimony which he has heard and wired Dr. Sampson and Dr. Brumfiel, clinical consultant to this laboratory, to come down. They are leaving tonight and will make every effort to establish some sort of order in this diagnostic puzz^JL. LUG :CC Sincerely yours, y Leroy U.MJrdner, D ire cto r H) , ^ < > " % Mt \ (Qli.KEiU.ML A S B E S T O S S IROTIBitKR I l ) ; m i S a W OF Ra y b e s t o s -Ma n h a t t a n . I n c . As b e s t o s Pr o d u c t s Pa c k i n g s . B r a k e L i n in g , T e x t il e s P.O.BOX 6 7 CABLE AOO*:Sfr "G A R C O " COotS gs( O OCn rvv ' XtSTtUN umion 5 verxtn Q UOTATIO NS S U B JE C T TO CH A N G E WITHOUT NOTICE. ALU A G R E E M E N T S CONTINGENT UPON S T R IK E S . ACCIDENTS O R D ELAYS DEYOND OUR CONTROL AOORESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO THE COMPANY N o r t h C h a r l e s t o n , S.C. January 8, 1937 Confidential Mr. Sumner Simpson, President, Raybe sto s-Manhattan, Inc,, c/o Raybestos Division, Bridgeport, Conn. Dear Mr. Simpson:- I am in receipt of yours of the 5th instant, enclos ing re-print of an article published by Dr. J. Rush Shull of Charlotte, N. C., also enclosing copy of the letter addressed to yo\ by Mr. George R. Fable under date of December 18th, 1936. I had previously received your letter of December 29th in which you enclosed a letter addressed to you by Dr, Leroy Gardener, same having been written under date of December 24th. In said letter, Dr, Gardener makes comment as to the article prepared by Dr. Shull.I I read all of these papers over very carefully lastevening and, of course, this Dr. Shull uses' a great many medical terms, with which I am not familiar, however, I have arranged to discuss these papers with Mr. Mitchell, and we are then going to discuss them with Dr. Lynch, who is quite a celebrated Pathologist. The only comment the writer will make is that he thinks it a very good move on your part to decide to take this question up with the Metropolitan authorities and make the arrangement which you have made with Dr. Gardner, for as stated to you on a previous occasion, the last publications tend to show that numbers of Doctors, who have been able to purchase a medical dictionary, have decided to-write articles using as many as the so new words as they possibly can. All of which, in the writer's opinion, tends to confuse the layman, but docs not tend to solve the problem, if it is a problem. Thanking you for having sent me these papers, I remain. (>}A ' ` 1 IIEKIEK.U. A s k e o t -d s u u b r e k B a w n a ; s r o f Ra y b e s t o s -M a n h a t t a n ,1n c . Asbesto s Products Pa c k i n g s . B r a k e L i n in g ,T e x t il e s P.O.BOX 6 7 " CABLE A O O Q CS S garco COOC* \>lt o Q UOTATIO NS S U B JE C T TO CH A N G E WITHOUT NOTICE A LL AGR E E M ENTS CONTINGENT UPON S T R 1K ES, ACCIDENTS O R D EL AYS BEYOND OUR CONTROL . ADORESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TOTHE COMPANY North C h a r l e s t o n . S.C. Hay 26, 1957 PEPSQUA! AND CONFIDENTIAL Begl stored Tail Return Receipt Requested Hr. Sumner Simpson, President, Raybestos-Hanhattan, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn. Dear Hr. Simpson Subject: Inspection of Plant at North Charleston By U. S. Public Health Service. You will please refer to the letters as listed below: Your letter of October 31, 1936 addressed to the writer, " " to Hr. Julian Lltchell " " I11 November 5 K 1956 addressed to the `v/riter. Hy object in requesting you to refer to these letters^ is that you will note from same that you granted permission to the U. S. Public Health Service,through the South Carolina State Department of Health, to make an inspection of this plant. You will also note that in said letters reference is made to these Health Department officials making X-ray examinations of our employees. In regard to this, beg to advise that the officials as mentioned above did make an examina tion of our plant, but did not take any X-ray pictures of our employ ees. I am enclosing herewith copy of a letter addressed to myself-under date of Hay 20, 1957 by Dr. R. R. Sayers, Senior Surgeon, Chief, Division of Industrial Hygiene, National Institute of Health, U. 3. Public Health Service. I am also enclosing the original of the report which was made by these officials who inspected this plant. I am also enclosing a copy of the report v;hich includes everything except the Process IFlow Sheet, Schematic Views of Different Portions of our Exhaust System, and also photographs of our equipment. I am sending the original copy which wus sent me by Dr. Sayers and will be obliged if, after you have read these papers over, you will Mry Sumner Simpson 2 5/26/57 return to me the original copy, along with the photos etc., and keep the duplicate copy to which photos are not attached for your files. I would like to have the original in this office for the use of Mr. Mitchell and myself. You will now please refer to the letter addressed to me by Dr. Sayers and you will note that in the second paragraph of said letter, Dr. Sayers is requesting that you grant him permission to publish this paper in the official organ of the Public Health Service (Public Health Reports). Haw in regard to this, I would suggest that you read over the paper headed "A STUDY 0? DUST CONTROL METHODS III All ASBESTOS FABRICATIIIG- PIAHT" very carefully, and there are one or tvro points which I noted when reading this paper, which I would like to call to your attention, Humber 1 . Rote on page 9, first sentence of the second paragraph which reads as follows: "As a measure of the effectiveness of the dust control system in the preparation department, the exhaust fans were shut off for one hour." , then the next sentence in'the same paragraph states that under these conditions dust concentrations increased steadily to about 50 1!.P.P.C.F. You will note similar statements made in other portions of this report in regard to shutting off the fans in order to see how the dust concentrations would build up if there were no fans in opera tion, or, in other words, if we did not have a dust system. At the same time, you will also note that the officials who made the report state that although the fans were shut off; nevertheless, the very effected manner in which we have our cards covered tended bo con fine the dust. S. E. Jeffords* opinion as to the data shown under Ho. 1 . i!y opinion is that it would be very bad to publish this report with the statements as shown under Ho. 1 as above appearing in said report, for most of the individuals,who have brought suits against this Company,were 7/orking at this, plant prior to the time we had succeeded in bringing our du3t elimination system up to its present state of efficiency. Of course, you, as well as others who are competent to judge, know that nothing was known of the asbestos dU3t hazard, in this country, prior to 1929, and you also know that prior to '29 we were already taking steps for eliminating dust for the purpose of making working conditions as pleasant as possible for our employees. Therefore, as stated above, my verdict is that these remarks in regard to the building up of dust concentrations by shutting off the fans should be eliminated from this report, if same is to be published. Ur 7 3umnsr Simpson il ] 5/26/57 Humber 2 . At the top of page 10 you will note the report reads as follows: ''This operation is supposed to be performed with both stock car and stock roller outside the bin door. This rule of keeping out of the bins should be strictly enforced. However, stock rollers, wearing respirators, like to push their cars under the chute and then climb into the car and 'tread-down' the stock." In regard to this state ment, you have been in the South on one or tvjo occasions and are more or less familiar with the habits of our colored labor. That is, they much prefer to take advantage of every labor-saving device or condition. Therefore, it is very difficult to keep these stock rollers (who are colored men) out of these stock'bins. They would much rather go in the stock bin and,as stated in the report, "tread-down" the stock, than to stand outside the stock bin and fork the stock into the car. Orders have been issued in this plant to keep these men out of the stock bins but as soon as the foreman's back is turned, in the stock bin they go. Uy opinion as to Ho. 2. I think that the reraai'ks in regard to the stock rollers entering the stock bins should be eliminated from the report. Eumber 3 . On page 13, third paragraph, there is a statement which reads as follows ''Average Exx>osures in the first three operations, which were not them selves especially dusty, were due to dust from the twisting operation. With the exception of a trial exhaust system on one twister, the remain ing machines were unexhausted." This question of the dust in connection with the twisters has been discussed on more than one occasion with Ur. Fehnel of the Metropolitan life Insurance Co. and it was decided that until we could invent some method for drawing off the dU3 t from the twisters, we .vould have to take care of the dust problem by introducing a sufficient amount of fresh air through the openings in the building to "dilute" the air in the room. Y/e have been, and still are, experi menting on some form of equipment which will enable us to remove the dust from the twisters by suction, in the same manner ao we handle the dust on other equipment in this plant, but if you are familiar with the construction of a twister frame, you will realize that this is some problem. I do not know of any plant, nor have I ever heard of any plan) where the dust from the twisters was taken care of by exhausting same. Humber 4. Please refer to page 17 under the caption "Conclusion". After reading these remarks carefully, I recollect that sometime ago when the 3tudy o dust conditions at the asbestos industries were first being undertaken in this country, certain statements were made as to the size of the LTr. 'Sumner Simpson #4 5 /3 6 /5 7 particles and also as to the number of particles per cubic foot, but it seems that in recent years there has been some difference of opinion among the Doctors along these lines, and according to the statements as mad9 ~under this general heading of "Conclusion", it would appear to me that it has not been, as yet, definitely decided as to the time of ex posure to which an individual might be subjected or the conditions to which he is subjected 'which would cause trouble. I am submitting the papers as mentioned above,and have also taken the liberty of expressing my opinion, and also I believe that this was a very worthwhile examination, and I greatly appreciate the statements as made by Dr. Sayers. Still, I do nob think it would be well to publish this report in it3 present form. There are certain statements which X feel should be deleted from this report before it is published. I realize that -this is quite a lengthy letter but as I consider this a subject which should receive due consideration by all interested, I am submitting same for your consideration. I will, as stated in the first part of this letter, be obliged if you will return to me the papers which are attached together, and the first one of which is headed "A STUDY 0? DUST CONTROL I'LTIIODS 111 AH A 3BASTO3 FA3tTrC TIHO PL ^ Yours very truly, LHJ:jc Anc. CC: 13.. IflTCIElL Bridgeport, Conn'. October 10, 1358 Hiss A. S. Boasitcr, Editor ASBESTOS 16th Floor, Inquirer Bldg. Philadelphia. Pa. My dear Hiss Rossiter: Thank you for your clipping iron the September ii4 issue of IllliA RJB3LE JCUiiliili, regarding Industrial Respirators. I Trill pass, this along to our interested parties. Bono tine then you end Hr. Stover have a little tiae, think it eouid well pay you to visit 'our'Charleston or Manheia plants, ana sec -.a*t Kb have done in the lust hood ana Ceru ivoom, as %exi as other pro-ts of the shop. Am qxiite certain you, ana especially Ur. Stovsr, will be very, very much surprised. Very truly yours, 8S:G 003^5 T h ib lis h e d b y SEC 3HQ2B 3l E n E ^ /' OCT V. :!.. 10 16th Floor, Inquirer Bldg. PHILADELPHIA, PA., U ..S . A. 2 '- - U 9i3 October 7, 1938. < U Lk> ' Mr. S. Simpson, President, Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn. Dear Sir: Mr. Stover thought you might be interested in the attached clipping from the India Rubber Journal, con cerning Industrial Respirators. Y ou need not return it. Very truly yours, " A S B E S T O ,S" d'jur&ji TJ A. S. Rossiter, Editor. 00357 , V E x e c u t iv e Of f ic e s J o h n s -Manahlle C o r p o r a t i o n TW ENTY-TW O EAST FO R TIETH STR EET N E W Y O R K , N. T. April 5 , 1939 Sumner Simpson, Esq., President, Raybestos-Manhattan,Inc., Bridgeport, Conn. My dear Mr. Simpson: Thank you for yours of April 4-th and the interesting article by Drs. Sayers and D-reessen, which is returned herewith. I shall obtain a copy of the journal in which this article appeared, as I would like to add it to my files With kindest regards, I am Sincerely yours, VB:y Enc General Attorney. 005.198 Bridgeport, Conn April 2, 14J Br. J. H. Matthews, Asst, Facty. Hgr. The Manhattan hubber M fg. Division Passaic, New Jersey Sly dear H u Matthews: Enclosed is copy of the Industrial Hygiene Program of the Mow angland Health In stitute to be hj.a in Hartford on April 1G, 17, and IS. I have also written Mr. Cilley regarding this, ana he would like to attend, as he is interested in several of the subjects. Bridgeport is interested, too, end will more than liicely have at least two going from this plant. Bossibly some one from Passaic 7/ould want to attend. Very truly yours, SS:G line. \ PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT a-^3 00112 Wednesday - Aar 11 17 (Cont'ti.) 2:00 - Industrial Hygiene Training for the Public Health Worker. 3:00 - The effect of Various Dusts on the Hunan Crgonsiam. 4:00 - The Industrial Solvents; Their Physiological Effects. Philip Drinxer, S.B., Ch.E. Prof, of Industrial Hygiene, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Hass. Leiloy U. Gardner, H.D., Dir., Saranac Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis, Saranac Laxe,N.X Henry Field Snyth, H.D ,Dr.P.H. Prof, of Industrial Hygiene, University of Ptfinsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thursday - April 18 9:30 - Industrial Dermatitis Incidence, Cause and Pre vention. 10:30 - The Use of Respiratory Pro tective Equipment in the Protection of the Worker's Health. 11:30 - Engineering Methods of Oc cupational His ease Control. Louis Schwarts, M.D.. Medical Director, U.S. Public Health Service, Rational Insitute of Health, Washington, D.C. William P. Yant, B.S., Dir. Research and Development, Mine Safety Appliances Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Benjamin F. Postman, B.S., Industrial Hygiene Engineer, Connecticut State Department of Health, Hartford, Connecticut R aybestos-Ma n h attan . Inc. Passaic# New Jersey. April 6# 1940 /ftJ 1fr. S Simpson# President# Raybe8103-Manhattan, Inc.# Bridgeport# Connecticut. $ \ M >< A " *1Y ' / / y' ) "v }fy dear Ur. Simpson: / We thank you for the Industrial Hygiene Program of thd New England Health Institute attached to your letter of April 2. Vie will have a representative from this Division at Hartford on Aprijm - a n d 18 to attend the lectures# which we think will .be of^.particular interest to us. 00099