Document gVNMwJZd3kMEo3B6XwMMJyoQ

June 23, 1S7G Mies Nell Conway 600 West Orange Grove Road Tucson, Arizona 35704 Dear Nell: As I told you in ray letter of April 0, J wrote to friends of mine - technical men ia the Detroit Laboratory of Ithyl Corporation, who would be most concerned in,the means of clearing the air of exhausted substances from the tailpipes of automobiles. I had word from the that they were looking into the matter about which you told me. , I don 't irdnd telling you that I was very skeptical about the likelihood of the removal of lead (and other materials) from the exhausted stream of the motor, and when X did not hear promptly fro Detroit, X had assumed that X was correct in iny judgment. This, as you well snow, is not ray field of expertise, but I 've been aware of th things which have been tried out through the years, for 1 started the Detroit group in looking for scisse means of doing this, with respect to load, over twenty years ago. The trouble has been, and continues to be, that th fcjulk o f material exhausted requires a bulky piece of equipment to take out the particulate material, and this, while feasible mechanically, is not regarded as;; practicable in Use on everyman's automobile. The bulky material for th removal of the particulate material has to be replaced frequently, and it is not believed that a large proportion of the owners of cars will attend to this, and also bear the cost . ' This is but a little of the background of th situation. When, therefore, a few days ago, X had an informal (verbal) report from the Laboratory, I was not surprised to learn'that the prospect for Mr. Waterman's invention is not very bright, at least; at the moment. My friends were loath to speak too harshly of the situation, but I gather that this is not believed to have a good future. This, I may say, appeared to me to be the- case, for a number of reasons. I was asked to break this news to you gently, if I felt it necessary to speak at all,for despite the urgent need for a satisfactory answer to this set of problems, my fx-iends at the Detroit Laboratory dislike very much to discourage anyone who has 4- interest la solving it* Moreover, they are very mindful of who you are, and anyone connected (now or ever) with the Kettering Laboratory is in a special category. X have not followed this advice for the reason that neither you nor Catherine (or is it Katharine) can afford to get into a sizeable investment; You should know the truth about this matter at th earliest possible time. I'm dreadfully sorry to b the bearer of bad news, but X really feel certain that this is not the answer to this problem. X am sure that if anything turns up to ofiey promise, my technical friends will welcome it with open arms, for the present HP 0015929 itissj: ffIX Gommj Page 2 .MS* .28, '1070 situation, while actually unchanged through the years, with respect to the existence of an actual hazard to the public health, has political and psychological overtones which are very serious Please give ay regards to Katharine, and ay best wishes, as always, follow you wherever you go. Sincerely, KA:wb Sobert A, Kehoe, M.D. Professor Eaeritus of Occupational Medicine H e 0015030