Vandiver Brown to George S. Fabel on Southern Asbestos Staying in the Saranac Experiments (1940)

A one-page letter of January 25, 1940, from Vandiver Brown, Johns-Manville's general attorney, to George S. Fabel, president of the Southern Asbestos Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, with a blind copy to Sumner Simpson of Raybestos-Manhattan. Brown was "very glad" that Southern Asbestos had decided to help underwrite "Dr. Gardner's experiments for one additional year, even though at slightly increased expense," and was "personally convinced" the cost would be "well worthwhile from the industry's point of view." He would only authorize Gardner "to proceed for one more year upon the basis of the existing agreement" (which he had already done), would rely on the companies' "informal assurances" about sharing the added cost, and said Johns-Manville would go on paying the quarterly installments and billing the other companies for their shares.

What it shows

The letter shows how the extra year of Leroy Gardner's work at the Saranac Laboratory was arranged: no new contract, only Brown's authorization under the 1936 agreement, with the remaining sponsors paying more after two companies withdrew (Brown's letter of January 15, 1940). Continuing under the existing agreement also kept its terms in force, including the sponsors' control over publication of the results.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Acknowledges receipt of letter dated 1/22/40. Informs that authorization for continuation of Saranac study was given for one year only. States that J-M will continue to make payments to Saranac and bill other companies for their shares.

Related documents

• Vandiver Brown to Sumner Simpson on Two Sponsors Leaving the Saranac Experiments (1940)
• Vandiver Brown to Dr. Leroy U. Gardner Authorizing the Experiments for 1940 (1940)
• Vandiver Brown to Sumner Simpson Enclosing Gardner's Interim Report (1939)
• W. H. Dunn to Johns-Manville Paying Raybestos-Manhattan's First 1940 Saranac Installment (1940)

About this copy

This is document 04354 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.