Document VJgmYNa2Oor83m3vX1rGOabew

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT _ o o ]2 cLOO- .A&c/'U'.fV. u 'wa'. K 4 tabbies' mziuR^JEEI RE:-- ILOU IEETITUTE OH izaech supccieli on dcrt o r; - .fitterergh- 141,15 Xl On or about December 12, 1934 the Mellon Ins titrate of Industrial Research addressed letters to some 35 industries baring Indus trial disease problems inviting them to attend a nesting to be held under the auspices of the Institute on the 15th day of January* One of these invitations was received by the Asbestos Institute and, although the Asbestos Institute did not accept and was not officially represented, Johns-ilanville Corporation requested and obtained permission to send a ropre-- sentative. The invitations expressly stated that "attendance at this meeting need entail no obligation1'** Johns--Danville raa represented at the nesting by the Trritar of this memorandum. Approxlnatoly 250- people more present repesontlng over 50 Indus tries which had accepted the invitation of the lie11on Institute. The Mellon Institute runs greatly surprised at the rmartable response and it is ny opinion that one cannot find a better indication of the serious nature of the problems it was tha purpose of tha mooting; to discuss. I was able to ascertain that tha Mellon Institute had boon prompted to call the meeting by representatives of tha sand and glass and the refractories industries.* Represen tatives of these* industries conferred with Mr. 54 3. feldlain. Director of the Institute, and after advising him of the nature of their problem, of its wido--spread character and numerous menacing aspects, suggested the need, of some form of concerted action on the part of those industries presently or potentially Involved. I understand that hr. 7* N. Sherwood, Tice-Presldent of Q-ffgns-nilnois Glass-Company and Mr. Roger Ritchies, Fresi.,, dent of the. Amricm Refractories Institute, woro-the persons / who presented the situation to tho Mellon Institute. Mr. 'Teldleim, on behalf of tho Institute, agreed to cooperate to tha extent of calling the meeting and bavins the representatives spend a day in Pittsburgh as tho guests' of the Institute. Thora van sacra preliminary discussion as to the possibility of using tho Mellon Institute as a clearing house far information and research upon aspects of tha problem common to al1 industries but definite comnltmants were postponed until after the holding of the 'meeting. An Impressive list of experts specializing upon various aspoat3 of the dust problem attended the meeting end sn*r TP'Wiw ***- 2- - delivered addresses. Among those vere Hr- A* C. Hirth, a lawyer associated with Ulillams, areraaan and Morgan, Toledo, Ohio, attorneys for O-.rgna--Illinola Gia33 Company; Dr. Cumene ?. Pendergrass or the X-ra7 Laboratory, University Hospital, Phila delphia; Dr. A. J. Lanza, Assistant Medical Director of the Metropolitan Life 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; Mr*. F. Robertson Jonas, General Manager, Association of Casualty and Surety Executives; and Mr* Donald E* Curunin^a, Assistant Director, Saranac Laboratory for Study of Tuberculosis* The addresses dalirared by these specialists, together Tlth the open discussion that followed then, 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 sons form of united action by the afflicted industries. It was recognized that soma aspects of the problem vero peculiar to special industries but it xas equally evident that other aspects voro common to- all* For example, only two forms of dust, namely, free silica, and asbestos, arc definitely known to produce) disabling fibrosis of the lung- Sven in tho case of those dusts tho problems resulting therefrom are quite different sinco the fibrosis resulting from silica is of a much aora serious character than that resulting from asbestos in that the former predisposes to tuberculosis and is much marc likely to havo a fatal termination- On tho other hand (and this illustrates one of tho coat serious aspects of the problem that is common toall dust producing industries) tho fact that no other dust is known to produce disability has not prevented entirely groundless claims aggregating millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars being brought against industries which have no silica or asbestos dust hazard. For example. Dr. Lanza painted out that no ono had over maintained, that gyp rum dust uras harmful and yet, nevertheless, the gypsum industry hud suits pending against it covering claims la excess of four million dollars* It appeared that among tho problems common to all industries warn tho following: (1) The me no co of ambulance chasing lawyers in combination with unscrupulous doctors- The uncertainties surrounding diagnosis of any of the various forms of pneraaozsocanioais aro so cany that a question of fact is presented in every caso* Expert testimony can be pro duced by. both plaintiff and defendant and it is for the jury to docldo whose experts are r. n r n * V U 0 d.' I -3-- correct in. their interpretations. la raking this decision, the .jury i3 not likely to favor the opinion ox' the experts produced by the employer. (2) The desirability of making various dust diseases compensable under properly drawn -voricmn^a compensation lass* One of the speakers stated that 3the strongest bulwark against faturn disaster for Industry is the onactaent or properly drawn occupational diseasa legislation". Such legislation, would (a) elininata the Jury and empower a iedlcal Board to pasa upon the existence of the disease and the extent of the disability; (b) eliminate the shyster lawyer and the quack doctor since fees would bo strictly limited b7 the lair; and (c) pemit the correct ing of Initial mis takas in the making of awards by providing for hearings to radnea or eliminate awards if proof could be adduced that the claimant van not disabled or that the extant of his disability had been over estimated. (3) Problems of ventilation, dust collecting and elimination, and respiratory devices. (4) Tho establishing of standards (a) for dust counting and particle sixo determination, (b) for the talcing of X-rays for diagnostic use, and (c) for the interpretation of the markings on- the films 30 produced. At the close of the discussion a dr. .vurtn, VicePresident of American hafrnctories Corporation, made a notion that Hr* Pd Ilian p. vaCrt, Chairman of the meeting aopoint a nominating committee who would nominate - a group of individuals to servo as a ctascaittco for- the formulation of ways and naans to biin about effective cooperation of son character between the various industries for meeting and combating those phases of tho dust problem common to all* This notion was carried and a Nominating Carnal tie- appointed which retired and upon returning presented to tho meeting the names of 3even individuals to act as such Committee. So other naans having been placed in nomination, the following were elected to act as the Committee and report back to the various industries and group3 represented at tho noting or to whom tho invitation had been originally extended: ' P O /; auv-- - -A-- Vandiver Brown representing Asbestos, Gerhard don-UIetallic B-p. 3. 3* Calaistrails representing Chemical, Abrasives, Alloys and Uoa-rarroua ratals 3, 0* Jonas representing Foundries A. \7 Ghermood representing Glass Sand, Ground Sand and Glass lanufactnra A. J* Oentholtu representing Iron, Steal and Oroa A. J R. Curtin representing Liao, Linoatone, Cerent and Gyp sue* Reger A. Zitchins representing Reiheic tori as. Ceramics and Claps I explained to tha other renders of the Comittce that I had been sent to the seating solaly as an observer and end no authority iron Johns~Yanri11 a Corporation to accept membership on the Committee and certainly none from tha Asbestos Industry as a whole* I was urged, however, to root with the Committee and, agra-ed to da so an. tho condition that I night r,\thdravz iff approval of ay serving in that capacity should not bo forthcozuing I pointed out that laeabors oi the Asbestos Industry did not caro to ba associated in the minds oi" tho public or of employesa with thoso Industries who3 problem was silicosis and that far this reason I fait there night ba souo opposition to having* a represents tiro of tho Asbaatoa Industry varhirg with them. I did. indicate, hawaver, that X realised iirnicrous aspects of crar problam wore tha earns* and that if cooperation could be TTorfced out without an undue* amount of publicity, Johns-Clanvilla Corporation and perhaps tho Asbestos Industry ha a vholo, would In all livelihood bo willing to cooperate*. It was tho opinion of tha Conraltteo that thin condition -would not present any Insuperable difficulty, !Ir. Roger Hitchins, President of American Refractor ies Institute, was undo Chnirmcui of the Committee which held a moating Tuesday evening after tho clona of tho Symposium Ur. Hitchins va3 designated to asset with. Ur. TJoidlain of the Hell'on Institute and ash him to naico a proposal in definite and concrete form as to tho manner in which tho HelXon Institute might bo able to assist the various Industrioa for a fee of 325,000. Then this proposal has bean received and approved by tho members of tha Commlttaa, it -will bo submitted to tho various industries with tho recommendation that it ba accepted and that the mrious industries or individual corporations agree to stand good for a proportionate amount of tha fee not in gxcqss of a definite sneaUTlcd sun. '3 0 5 oo LU ` 0 I gathered that tha proposal which would be nude 07-the Hellon Institute would include, among others, the folloi*1 ' (a) Tha compiling of a comprehensive bibliography of al1 books, treatises and publications deal ing alth 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.. (e) Tha drafting of approved workmen*s compensation legislation covering pneumonoconiaais* (d) The digesting of the Lawn of the various states which right affect the operations of industries presenting a dust hanard. (e) The outlining of problems requiring research or the establishment of fixed standards and the prevention of duplication of effort and expense along tha so Unas. Tho interest with which the discussions vara followed and the enthusiasm which greeted the proposal for unified effort lead ae to believe that the nocassary support '*111 bo found for same, sort of program along the above lines* 7ALT317ER 3HGtII January 13, 1935 /< O H- O` 1U' . ''I / / .