E. H. Jeffords to Sumner Simpson on the Fire Insurers' Review of the Charleston Dust Tunnel (1935)

A letter of August 26, 1935, from E. H. Jeffords, general manager of Raybestos-Manhattan's General Asbestos & Rubber Division at North Charleston, South Carolina, to Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan, sending copies of two insurers' letters about the tunnel the plant planned to build on the roof of Building #3 "in connection with the dust system." The enclosed two-page letter of August 16 from Carl G. Richmond, engineer of the Arkwright Mutual Fire Insurance Co., warned that the proposed angle-iron frame was too weak against wind, recommended channel irons, and discussed using Transite instead of corrugated iron to keep the tunnel airtight. Richmond added that a tin floor covering "is not a requirement of ours based on our present knowledge of the dust composition."

What it shows

The letters follow the building of the North Charleston plant's new dust collecting system in the summer of 1935, the system Simpson would soon hold up as a model for the company's other plants. The fire insurers reviewed it as a fire and wind risk to the building; their letters say nothing about workers' health.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's attorneys indexed the Sumner Simpson Papers. Their index describes these documents as follows:

02542-02546. Transmittal letter for correspondence and report dated 8/16/35 from Arkwright Mutual Fire Insurance Company related to windstorm resistance of dust duct at Charleston plant.

02537-02540. Encloses a report from R. Corson of Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Company which discusses the windstorm resistance of the dust duct at the Raybestos Charleston plant. Engineering recommendations are made that would make the tunnel stronger. Cover letter echoes recommendations of report.

Related documents

• E. H. Jeffords to Sumner Simpson Enclosing Arkwright's Ruling That the Dust Tunnel Needs No Sprinklers (1935)
• E. H. Jeffords to Sumner Simpson on the Dust Settling Chamber and Arkwright Correspondence (1935)
• Sumner Simpson to George R. Weber on the Startling Metropolitan Life Report on Manheim (1935)

About this copy

These are documents 02542-02546, 02537-02540 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.