Document k6jbpJmrEa39JmgnnBNBXGNjV

FILE NAME: Raybestos-Manhattan (RBM) DATE: 1946 Aug 12 DOC#: RBM111 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter to Raybestos-Manhattan from Gatke Corp. RE Dr. Gardner 230 RATION AUTOM O W S & /m OSTBM l BRA/ti\Tm/Mt-RS RRtGTiQMS HQN'MSTMUG UA8M6S & SSA8S st a t e ooai 228 N. U SALLE ST. icaqn / 1946 Mr. J . P . D. Rohrbach, Executive Vico President, Raybestos-Manhattan, I n c ., Stratford, Connecticut. Dear John: I am lad to have your le tte r Of August' 9th, and especially lad that you are going after Vandiver Brown with the idea of getting some action from Dr. Gardner.- Dr. Gardner'3 delay has extended over a period of years, and with his^plan which w ill c a ll for increased a c tiv ity , I see no p o ss ib ility of his being in any better shape when winter comes than he might be at the -present time. I do not know how much money our Industry spent with Dr. Gardner but I t must bo a considerable sun. I think we started but with a fiv e year plan which was extended, and although promises have been made I see no indication on the part of Dr. Gardner that he w ill liv e up to his re sp o n sib ilitie s, and i f i t is going to take him two months to prepare the report I have much doubt that we w ill ever get the report. I think we should in s is t , .therefore, on getting a report of his findings which he should he able to prepare on the basis of his previous report which we understood was not f in a l . In this report he established that dust of n p article size less than 5 microns was not in ju riou s. In the same report he did establish that damage wa*a caused by the heavier fib r e s, which we know can bo arrested through the use .of approved types ef respirators. Viifch those two fa cts established, and without in .leg \ teions of p o ss ib ilitie s of cancor, o tc . . e tc . , we would nave something definite and worthwhile to comoat the claims of these country doctors who set themselves up as experts butt who actually have had no experience beyond what they read in books, and wnoae statements have been accepted by the courts as more or less authentic because we have had no expert testimony based on such \ experience as Dr. Gardners. ' 1 I 3tate fin a lly that i f Dr. Gardner w ill give us a report sim ilar to what he. has already reported, and 3how in this i i 0 C 0 3 XHl'/i'f, Yai.77V GATKE CORPORATION h r. J . c'. Rohrbach, aybestos-kanhafctan, Inc. August 12, 3,946 -2 - | report ju st what hla experience ha3 proven, that dust p articles less than 5 microns are not injurious, or, should I say, have | been found by his tests not to be in ju riou s, then I would be i s a tis fie d to wait u n til Dr. Gardner can make a report such as y he would lik e to make.. I t is my opinion, however, that once we \ got the report he is in a position to furnish we could le t the vj rest of i t go by the board. Dr. Gardner certain ly should fe e l some obligation to give us something quit.e soon for fear he might be incapacitated before the work is done. They have been s o lic itin g funds for a laboratory extension to which I have not yet subscribed, and gave as my reason their apparent lack of interest in the a ffa irs of our Industry. I am writing this le tte r ju st before taking a train to the Indiana Plant. I t may be rather disjointed because I am trying to give you my innermost feelings regarding the whole matter which I hope you can make good use o f. With kind personal regards. Yours very tru ly , TLG:FP President