Document mmzbaK6NnGrKr1pz4Xa3N0BMk

\ May 5, 1937 Mr* I * Dent Jenkins Harrison Radiator Division General Motors Corporation Lockport* Mew York Dear Mr. Jen kin s* I am replyin g to your telegram by le t t e r rath er than by wire because I want to point out one or two m atters fo r your con sideration . As to masks fo r your men* I think you would fin d i t more sat isfa c t o r y * from the point of view of the cer t ain elim in ation of exposure* to use the a ir lin e mask. This would be somewhat more expensive but i t would be much more e ffe c t iv e . In order to do t h is* you would have to supply an a ir pump obtain in g your a ir from a source th at could net be contaminated with dusts from the foundry. Your a ir lin e could be brought in to some poin t more or le ss cen t r ally located in r elat ion to the workmen* so th at a d ist r ib u t in g lin e could be taken o ff fo r each manfs U3e* By t h is means fr esh *clean a ir would bo sup plied to each man, and even i f the- face piece did not f i t p er fect ly * there would be a leak around i t t o the outside by reason of th e positive p r essu r e. I have seen t h is type of mask in use in dusty plan ts where the movements of the men were lim ited to an area not gr eat er than ten or twelve fe e t , The advan tages of t h is system are th at the equipment i s comfortable In a l l kinds of weather and w ill* th erefore be u sedj -in addition i t provides abundant clean a ir so th at th ere is no reason for the in h alation of dust from the atmosphere# Fair ly gen eral experien ce with simple r e sp ir at o r s in d icat es th at th ey do not always f i t p er fect ly and* moreover* th at theymen do not always use them u n less they are under lose su pervision . They ar e somewhat uncomfortable In hot weather and fo r long periods of u se* so th at the tendency is to become car eless in t h e ir u se* and thus to have inadequate protection . I do not have adequate Information at hand as to the manufacturers and d ist r ib u t o r s of a i r lin e equipment* but I w ill add t h is information in a p o st scr ip t when I have obtained the information I want. ' As to r e sp ir at o r s* 1 th ink the W illson Uo.l and Ho.2 Du stite Respirators equipped with cotton f i l t e r s w ill be about as good a ch oice as you could make in th is fie ld . There Is probably a dealer near you but N17515 2 Mr. I . Dent Jenkins the name of the manufacturer la Wilson Products In corporated, Reading, Pennsylvania. I f th ese r e sp ir at o r s are to be used, they w ill have to be in spected p er iod ically * and r ath er fr e quen tly* so as to make sure th at they f i t p er fect ly , and tba t they are kept in good con dition . Various In d u st r ial companies have 3ystemtlzed the d e t a ils of lookin g a ft e r these m atters and I think I need not give you sp e c ific d ir ect ion s at t h is time fo r t h eir u se* I should su ggest th at your choice of equipment here might depend on whether the operation in question Is to be continued for setae time* or whether I t is a temporary job. I f you have any in ten tion of changing the equipment or the ch aracter of t h is work, the dust r esp ir at or might be used as a stop gap u n t il the changes contemplated have been made, a ft e r which measures su it ab le to the new set-up should be in corporated in your plan of procedure. By reason of the convenience of sever al of my a sso c ia t e s, I fin d I t w ill be advisable fo r us to be in Lockport on the week of the 17th of May, r ath er than the 10th . I t w ill be im possible for two of my men to work with me on the week of the 10th , and I assume th at t h is w ill probably not make any m at er ial differ en ce to you in completing the arrangements fo r the work* I sin cer ely hope t h is is th e case and I sh all be glad to hear from you as promptly as possible as to whether t h is is sa t isfa c t o r y . Very t r u ly yours, 1 RAKjis Robert 'A. "Kehoe T I U F' ff t A o *> ^ v U i O O J it