J. C. Macildowie to S. A. Williams on Dust Collecting Equipment at Nashua (1932)

A one-page "Confidential" letter of December 22, 1932, from J. C. Macildowie, manager of J-M's Nashua, New Hampshire, factory, answering S. A. Williams's memo of December 20. In the past year Nashua had put a bag house over the dry saw in the Ebony Department, used for cutting Transite and Transite encased board, at a cost of $475, its only spending on dust collection. Macildowie writes, "There is no bad dust condition at Nashua Plant," as the state inspector had remarked on a visit on December 14.

What it shows

Respirators were available to men cleaning machines and bags, but workers objected to the standard rubber or metal respirators because others had used them. The plant had made its own respirators out of cheese cloth, cheap enough to throw away once soiled, which the manager admitted looked "rather crude."

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

J.C. Macildowie (Nashua Plant Manager), 12/22/32, responded to Williams' memorandum of 12/20/32. Stated that during the past year Nashua had installed a bag house over the dry saw in the Ebony Department at a cost of $475.00. The saw was used for cutting white Transite and transite encased board. Indicates that there was "no bad dust condition at Nashua plant." In fact, the State Inspector, who visited the plant on December 14, remarked how clean the plant was. Respirators were available for use while workers clean machines, bags, etc. Noted that homemade disposable respirators were more popular with the workers than the standard rubber or metal respirators, because the employees objected to using articles which had been used by other workers. "These homemade affairs look rather crude, but they have many advantages over the more expansive (sic) standard article."

Related documents

• S. A. Williams to J-M Plant Managers Asking for a Report on Dust Control (1932)