Asbestos Magazine, 1948

Johns-Manville's notes

1. Jan. 1948, pp. 26-30 summary p. 169

   Market Conditions. Textile demand high. Paper volume restricted due to short supply of fiber, and "demand exceeds production to an extent that the allotment system must be again instituted."

2. Jan. 1948, p. 42 summary p. 169

   JM has erected a new dry rock storage building at Asbestos, Que., with 60,000 ton capacity.

3. Feb. 1948, p. 18 summary p. 169

   ASTM Committee C-16 meeting held on Thermal Insulating Materials, seven tentative specs being set.

4. Feb. 1948, pp. 26-29 summary p. 169

   Market Conditions.

5. Feb. 1948, p. 29 summary p. 169

   About 2,000 ft. of J-M's 85% mag was installed on steam pipes by E.J. Bartell's firm at the Weyerhaeuser bark conversion plant in Washington.

6. Feb. 1948, p. 42 summary p. 169

   Lewis H. Brown, at the request of Sen. Vandenberg, gave his views of the proposed European Recovery Program to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 31, saying that to succeed, The Marshall Plan must be administered by a separate agency headed by an Administrator of Cabinet rank, responsible to the President. He also emphasized that the Marshall Plan would fail unless the American, British and French Zones of Western Europe were integrated. On February 10, he testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, at the U.S. House of Representatives.

7. Feb. 1948, p. 44 summary p. 169

   Ray H. Coultrap who will be remembered as Chief of the Cork, Asbestos & Fibrous Glass Branch of the Metals & Minerals Branch of C.P.A., is now sales manager for Sadonia Ltd., New York. The C.P.A. work concerning asbestos is now under the direction of F.H. Hayes, Chief of the Metals Branch. Mr. Coultap is still on the roster of the Metals Branch as Consultant for asbestos.

8. Mar. 1948, p. 16 summary p. 170

   Portland's new six-story newspaper office utilizes about 6,000 ft. of 85% mag pipe covering and 1,000 sq. ft. of block in its heating/air conditioning unit. E.J. Bartells installed the J-M material.

9. Mar. 1948, pp. 24-25 summary p. 170

   CJM is developing underground mining, which should be adopted in five or six years.

10. Mar. 1948, pp. 26-28 summary p. 170

    Market Conditions.

11. Mar. 1948, p. 41 summary p. 170

    MIMA's winner of the "oldest installation of 85% mag" is Toledo's Water Street Station. The material was installed in 1902 and is still in service.

12. Mar. 1948, p. 41 summary p. 170

    JM is showing its new film "Quality Control by Statistical Methods" to its plants and district offices. It will then be loaned to industrial firms and colleges.

13. Apr. 1948, pp. 22-26 summary p. 170

    Market Conditions. High pressure insulation demands, especially from the oil industry and public utilities, is at its highest peacetime rate.

14. Apr. 1948, p. 44 summary p. 170

    JM just published a new brochure "Johns-Manville Asbestos Textiles" which lists the many uses in industry and home.

15. May 1948, p. 29 summary p. 170

    Wage Rate Changes for Pipe Coverers.

16. May 1948, pp. 36-38 summary p. 170

    Market Conditions.

17. June 1948, pp. 26-27 summary p. 170

    Market Conditions.

18. June 1948, p. 50 summary p. 170

    CJM's new plant near Toronto is near completion. It will combine Canada's largest rock wool plant with the first a-c pipe plant, producing an estimated 25,000 tons per yr. of pipe. The several buildings will provide about 200,000 sq. ft. of floor space (almost five acres under one roof.)

19. July 1948, p. 14 summary p. 171

    ASTM has issued its Index to Standards, listing 1,500 specs and tests. The following committees cover asbestos products: C - 16 Thermal Insulating Materials C - 17 Asbestos Cement Products D - 9 Electrical Insulating Materials D - 13 Textile Materials

20. July 1948, p. 16 summary p. 171

    The building trade apprentice training programs established before the war are being carried forward. A pamphlet "Apprentice Training - Key to Productivity in Construction" has been published by the Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. It lists the building trades (including asbestos worker) where such programs have been established.

21. July 1948, pp. 20-22 summary p. 171

    ASTM Committee C-16 on Thermal Insulating Materials celebrated its first decade. Charles Bradley of J-M's Research Center presented a history of the group, reviewing the studies made prior to organization. The group currently has 80 members.

22. July 1948, pp. 24-28 summary p. 171

    Market Conditions.

23. July 1948, p. 51 summary p. 171

    J-M opens new insulating board plant in Natchez, MS.

24. Aug. 1948, pp. 12-14 summary p. 171

    J-M announces new product Quinterra (an asbestos-based electrical insulation) and opens new Tilton, NH plant exclusively for its production.

25. Aug. 1948, pp. 20-22 summary p. 171

    Market Conditions. Textiles - requirements still high for industrial and shipwork. High pressure insulation - volume heavy due to industrial expansion, shipbuilding, public utilities, chemical plants and refineries.

26. Aug. 1948, pp. 24-25 summary p. 171

    Wage Rates for Pipe Coverers by city.

27. Sept. 1948, pp. 24-26 summary p. 171

    Market Conditions.

28. Sept. 1948, p. 27 summary p. 171

    J-M Flexboard (an asbestos-cement material) is being applied to 10,000 rental units in the San Francisco area, the units having been originally designed and constructed to house workers employed in vital war industries, and therefore of somewhat temporary construction. The recovering of them with Flexboard will convert them into permanent structures.

29. Oct. 1948, pp. 28-32 summary p. 172

    Market Conditions. Textiles - Government purchases, both directly and through consuming industries, are beginning to have an appreciable, favorable effect. Many asbestos textiles are priced so high as to invite substitutions of competing materials.

30. Oct. 1948, p. 42 summary p. 172

    Dr. C.F. Rassweiler, J-M's vice president for R&D, addressed the Producers' Council on the "New Frontier for Construction through Research."

31. Oct. 1948, p. 44 summary p. 172

    T. K. Mial, J-M vice pres., is granted medical leave for an indefinite time.

32. Oct. 1948, p. 45 summary p. 172

    J-M officially opened Tilton, NH plant to manufacture Quinterra electrical insulation. The plant will employ about 100 people.

33. Oct. 1948, p. 50 summary p. 172

    Asbestos purchased or contracted for by the U.S. Government in the third quarter of 1948, for delivery to the stockpile before June 30, 1949, consisted of 1100 tons of Chrysotile, and 1900 tons of Amosite, according to the Engineering and Mining Journal.

34. Oct. 1948, pp. 50-51 summary p. 172

    India recently removed control over imports of various materials, asbestos included, by opening them to general licenses. South Africa is excluded.

35. Nov. 1948, p. 12 summary p. 172

    ASTM revises specs for asbestos yarns to provide a new system of numbering.

36. Nov. 1948, pp. 16-18 summary p. 172

    Article on new J-M Tilton plant.

37. Nov. 1948, p. 24 summary p. 172

    Dr. C.F. Rassweiler, J-M vice president of R&D, spoke at convention of Structural Clay Products Institute.

38. Nov. 1948, pp. 28-30 summary p. 172

    Market Conditions.

39. Nov. 1948, p. 40 summary p. 172

    Wage Rates for Pipe Coverers - changes by city.

40. Dec. 1948, pp. 10-14 summary p. 172

    Excerpt of article "Asbestos Resources of Japan" issued by Natural Resources Section, Supreme Cmdr. of the Allied Powers. Thru 1941, Japan's asbestos industry depended upon imports of raw material. Deposits of poor quality were known in Japan, but large-scale production from these was not economically feasible. Production from the most favorable of these scattered deposits is estimated at less than 500 metric tons per year from 1925 to 1939, most of which was used locally by the building industry. About 1939, the Japanese apparently anticipated the need for increased production of asbestos. The known deposits were exploited, and new deposits were urgently sought. Subsidies were granted to the mines between April 1943 and March 1944. These were direct subsidies with the stipulation that the money be spent for construction of mills. Priorities for machinery and transportation also aided in the development of the deposits. Significant development of the asbestos deposits in Japan started as a wartime necessity after normal imports ceased in 1941. Domestic production reached a peak of more than 12,000 tons of chrysotile and amphibole fibre in 1944. This abnormal rate of production declined rapidly in 1945 and almost ceased for a few months after September 1945. A slight recovery occurred in 1946 when about 4,000 tons of fibre were produced. 1947 production was about 3,500 tons of fibre and it is estimated that the 1948 production, all chrysotile fibre, will exceed 5,000 tons. It is estimated that from 1941 to 1945 about 2,000 tons of low-grade chrysotile fibre were imported annually from Korea; and about 1,500 tons per year of low-grade chrysotile came from Manchuria during the same period. The deposits are all low grade. Short fibers are used chiefly for tiles, shingles, siding, sheeting, insulating material and other building products. Some of the asbestos dust is used in paint or for fire prevention in coal mines. The large chrysotile producers use a dry milling system patterned after Canadian methods.

41. Dec. 1948, p. 16 summary p. 173

    Principal grades of South African crocidolite and amosite: Cape Blue (Length of Fibre): No. 3 or S, 0 to 3/8"; 2 or A, 3/8" to 3/4"; 1 or B, 3/4" to 1-1/4"; Long or C, D, F, 1-1/2" plus. Transvaal Blue (Crudes / Fiberized / Length of Fibre): TX / TDX / -- 1-1/2"; T1 / TD1 / -- 1-1/4" to --7/8"; T2 / TD2 / -- 7/8" to --1/2"; T3 / TD3 / -- 1/2" to --1/4"; T4 / TD4 / -- 1/4". Amosite: Longs, 3/4" and over; Shorts, 3/4" and less; B1, Best long greyish white fibre; B2 and B3, Second grade long fibre, varying in color from yellow to dark brown; M, Uniform mixed shorts; MD, Shorts of all grades. White Amosite Fibre (Crudes / Fiberized / Length of Fibre): AL1 / D1 / -- 1-1/2"; AL2 / D2 / -- 1-1/2" to --3/4"; AL3 / D3 or DD / -- 3/4" to --1/2". Tan or Brown Fibre (Crudes / Fiberized / Length of Fibre): B1 / DB1 / -- 1-1/2"; B2 / DB2 / -- 1-1/2" to --3/4"; B3 / DB3 / -- 3/4" to --1/2"; DDB / -- 1/2"; DDDB / Shorts for consumption in Union of S. Africa

42. Dec. 1948, p. 18 summary p. 174

    Use of corrugated a-c sheets for decorative purposes-pictures building in Honolulu with J-M product installed on exterior walls.

43. Dec. 1948, p. 20 summary p. 174

    Nat'l. Bureau of Standards recently published Circular 460. Several items in index relate to asbestos products.

44. Dec. 1948, pp. 22-24 summary p. 174

    Market Conditions.