Sumner Simpson to George R. Weber on Gardner's Second Progress Report (1938)

A one-page letter of late April 1938 from Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan, to George R. Weber, vice president in charge of the company's United States Asbestos Division at Manheim, Pennsylvania. Simpson wrote that he had received a progress report from Dr. Gardner on the Saranac tests, and that "the most surprising thing was that the fine dust over a year has had practically no harmful effect on the animals under test, guinea pigs, rabbits and white rats." He had sent the report to Charleston and would forward it to Weber when it came back, and he asked for the factory's comments and those of Weber's doctor.

What it shows

Simpson passed the news of Dr. Leroy Gardner's second progress report to each of Raybestos-Manhattan's asbestos plants. He summed up its finding: "the harmful effect, if any, of asbestos dust is mechanical rather than chemical in nature, that is, results from large particles because of their size or contour." The report went first to E. H. Jeffords at North Charleston (April 27); Simpson's office was still trying to get the original back for Weber in mid-May (May 17).

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Informs has received progress report from Dr. Gardner. The report has been sent to Charleston and will be forwarded to Weber ASAP. Findings are that injury due to asbestos could be mechanical instead of chemical.

Related documents

• Sumner Simpson to E. H. Jeffords Sending Gardner's Second Progress Report (1938)
• Leroy U. Gardner, Second Progress Report on Experimental Asbestosis (1938)
• Sumner Simpson's Secretary to A. F. Heinsohn Asking for Gardner's Original Report (1938)

About this copy

This is document 03456 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.