Canadian Johns-Manville Memo to Headquarters on Stopping Return of Foreign Fibre Jute Bags (1945)

A one-page memo of August 14, 1945, from Asbestos, Quebec, to J-M's general headquarters, headed "Jute Bags (Foreign Fibre Containers)." The writer forwards a report by Mr. Foley (not in this file) showing that "the situation from a labour and health angle is still bad." Local medical staff had blamed the trouble on weather combined with "a peculiar fibrous dust"; handling the bags again in different weather brought "little improvement," and a number of operators "appear to be allergic to this particular dust which develops a condition comparable to hay fever."

What it shows

The company doctor recommended avoiding handling the bags "if at all possible," and the memo recommends telling the factories it was no longer necessary to return further lots of the foreign bags to Asbestos for cleaning. The memo follows Dr. Smith's December 1944 report of breathing trouble among men cleaning bags of South African blue fibre and headquarters' reply that no other plant had seen the problem. Eight months later the problem had not been solved, and the answer proposed was to stop sending the bags to Quebec.

About this copy

The memo is signed by H. Deeley at Asbestos, Quebec (the signature is faint and may read "Dooley"), and the name of the person at headquarters it went to cannot be read. J-M's description has Foley writing to Deeley; Foley's report is mentioned in the memo but is not in the file.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

J.P. Foley writes to Deeley, 8/14/45, stating that he wants to discontinue the recycling of jute bags. The bags are extremely dusty and workers complain of the irritation caused by the dust and do not wear their respirators.

Editor's note: J-M's description says Foley wrote to Deeley and that workers did not wear their respirators. The memo is signed by Deeley at Asbestos, Quebec, and forwards a report by Foley that is not in this file; the page does not mention respirators.

Related documents

• F. G. Lippert to Kenneth Smith on Cleaning Bags of South African Blue Fibre (1945)
• Kenneth Smith to F. G. Lippert on Workers Handling Bags of South African Blue Fibre (1944)