Asbestos: A Matter of Time (1958)

Johns-Manville Corporation made this film in 1958 with Wilding Picture Productions, Inc., for the company's centennial. It follows asbestos from the geology of its formation to the Jeffrey Mine and mill at Asbestos, Quebec, then through the uses of asbestos in homes, vehicles, ships, farms and industry. It ends with the Johns-Manville Research Center and the company's first hundred years from H. W. Johns's idea.

What it says about asbestos and health

Health comes up only as mine safety and clean air: the narrator says miners are "protected and guided by the highest safety standards" and calls the mill "remarkably dust-free". It names no disease.

About this copy

Our copy is a transfer of a print from Johns-Manville's own film archive (box 26-00003, 15-90003), shown in full, 21:43 long. Produced by Wilding Picture Productions, Inc.

Transcript

A machine transcript of the soundtrack, not yet checked against the film; names and technical words may be wrong.

Tremendous heat and pressure, striving to find release. When the crust was torn by subterranean upheaval, molten rock spewed upward. In time, millions of years of time, the molten rock and these crevasses cooled and hardened. Then the hardened rock itself was beset by further disturbances that left it heavily fissured. Theory says that through these fissures flowed hot, mineral-bearing waters and gases. And as the Earth spun off more millions of years, they crystallized, and in so doing, formed the most unusual and useful mineral fiber known to man.

Largely unseen, seldom recognized, it has played a tremendously important role in the improvement of our standard of living. As you might expect, the Greeks had a name for it. They called it the unquenchable, indestructible stone. They called it asbestos. Unaffected by fire, unchanged by weather, untouched by time's dark captains, rust, rot, and decay, asbestos possesses rare qualities for which which it stands alone. So fine are the individual asbestos fibers that it is only through the eye of the powerful electron microscope that they can be properly studied.

Even when magnified 31,000 times, they appear delicate, gracefully hiding the fact that they are incredibly strong, stronger than many types of steel wire of the same thickness. At the same time, they They are remarkably flexible and highly resistant to most chemicals. Man has never been able to duplicate their fibrous properties or colluse. Asbestos deposits have been found in widely separated parts of the world. But only in Canada, Africa, and Russia have abundant quantities been discovered. For the geologists of Johns-Manville, it's a never- ending search.

The world's largest asbestos mine is the Johns-Manville Jeffrey mine at Asbestos Quebec, so named for nature's magic mineral. Most deposits have a 10 to 25 year life, but this one has been yielding for more than half a century and even under the pressure of growing demands, it is expected to produce for another 100 hundred years. The more than 500,000 tons of top-grade chrysotile fiber extracted yearly are responsible for nearly a third of the world's total supply. The men who began this open pit are gone. Perhaps a few who were children in that time can hazily recall its beginning, but for most of the people of the town of Asbestos there has always been the pit. By drilling and blasting and digging it has grown.

The ore body taken from the earth. But pit mining is not the only method used to extract asbestos bearing ore from its deposits. Another productive way is called block caving. In open pit mining the asbestos ore is removed from the top of the deposit. In block caving, the ore is taken from underground. Each section to be caved is 200 feet square by 400 feet high.

Some distance away, a main shaft is sunk from the surface to a depth below the area to be caved. From the main shaft, a tunnel called the haulage drift is driven in the direction of the section to be caved. Then other tunnels called cross cuts are driven under the area to be caved and at right angles to the haulage drift. Through them run the mine cars. Now another system of tunnels called slusher drifts are driven directly below the section to be caved above and at right angles to the cross cross cuts. The floors, walls, and roof of all slusher drifts are heavily reinforced with concrete.

Through the roof of the slusher drifts, draw points 17 feet apart are pushed up into the section to be caved. The ore body above the draw points is now drilled and blasted and the asbestos laden rock tumbles down through the draw points to the floor of the slush drift. Now the crab-like slusher drags it to a point over a crosscut where it falls into the 10-ton mine cars waiting below. The beginning of a long journey. Now crude ore, soon useful asbestos fiber. All traffic is controlled by a central dispatcher through two-way radio and an electric signal system.

What with modern service facilities, repair shops, storerooms, lunch rooms, the mine is actually a community at work a thousand feet underground. At the tipple near the main shaft, the cars are dumped two at a time. The ore roars down a giant chute to the primary crusher on a lower level and the crude asbestos rock gets its first refinement underground. From the crusher it will go downward into bins and then a loading pocket from where it will be hoisted in twelve and a half ton mouthfuls by fast-moving skip buckets that shoot it to the surface. Working underground the miners of Asbestos Quebec utilize the most advanced mining methods using fast boring drills. In their many different jobs they are protected and guided by the highest safety standards light power ventilation structure all are important in the daily production of more than 12 000 tons of ore all are important in protecting the men who do the block caving from beneath the earth and from out of the open pit it.

Asbestos-bearing ore, crushed and dried, comes by way of conveyors to the dry rock storage shed, where it is temporarily housed in great quantities until needed at the mill. Those stories tall, the world's largest asbestos mill, equipped with the most modern refining machinery, remarkably dust-free, designed to process up to more than 800 tons of ore an hour. The mill, a towering monument to man's thought and labor standing against the sky. Into its air-conditioned immensity, the asbestos fiber comes to be stripped from the mother rock. On a series of vibrating screens, waste particles of rock are shaken from the fiber. Then sucked up into giant aspirators, it is further husked of its impurities.

In this carefully calculated process the fiber is refined again and again finally to be tested and graded according to its length under quality control standards which demand the best from crude ore to refined fiber through the magic of man's ceaseless ingenuity now packed and ready for shipment to hundreds of different points around the globe all from the town of Asbestos yes Asbestos Quebec is a small town but more than that it's an attractive town a friendly place modern and up-to-date its citizens close-knit by common bonds here's the community golf course where the Bobby Joneses of Asbestos perfect that old swing and and, well, sometimes carry their mining ability to unusual extremes. The mine, and the mill, and the few thousand men of the town who work them. A small place doing a vital job, sending the fiber on its way. What do you do with the fiber when you get it? What do you turn it into? How does it contribute to better living? how does it enhance our daily lives let's start with our homes the attractive roof which protects us against fire and weather will never rot or decay because the shingles are made of asbestos and cement cement could not do the job alone a cement shingle would break easily without the reinforcing forcing qualities of asbestos.

But when asbestos fibers are added, it becomes strong and tough, amazingly so. Strong enough and tough enough so that it can even be made into large, flexible sheets like these. When these fireproof sheets of asbestos and cement are used as the exterior wall finish of our homes, we enjoy the permanence of stone combined with the beauty of vertical accent so desirable in contemporary architecture in traditional architecture colorful asbestos sidewall shingles give us the same permanence and freedom from upkeep expense not only new houses but old houses as well can have the same benefits with a remarkable improvement in appearance and not only outside but inside as well asbestos helps beautify the home with colorful vinyl asbestos floor tile tough asbestos fiber protects them against wear a swish of the mop makes them gleaming bright in the court of household appliances that demand heavy amounts ounce of electricity, asbestos provides protective insulation. And no matter how long little Johnny plays with his electric train, asbestos insulation in the transformer offers similar protection. When we turn on a faucet and the water comes out sparkling clear, it's because asbestos has helped guard it from reservoir to our home in water mains of Transite, the white asbestos cement pipe that cannot rust. Because it is corrosion resistant throughout, its smooth interior stays smooth.

That keeps the water pressure up and keeps the water bills down. Asbestos cement pipe provides a health line in carrying off waste from our homes to the street sewer. And asbestos cement sewer remains cut our tax bills by lowering costs. When we travel, asbestos protects us right in our family car. Every time we touch the brakes, asbestos in the brake lining resists the heat of friction and brings us to a sure safe stop, and does it time after time after time. Thanks also to asbestos brake linings, your bus driver always has the modern express buses under safe and sure control.

Asbestos goes aloft, too. Whenever we travel on modern airliners, asbestos products contribute to our safety in many ways. When we travel by train, our ride is made faster and more comfortable with the aid of asbestos packings and gaskets which conserve the power of the mighty diesel engine, while asbestos insulations on steam and water lines contribute to our comfort. At sea, ships of the American Merchant Marine are the safest to float. No small part in this achievement is played by the noncombustible asbestos panels used to build the walls and ceilings of cabins and public spaces. These panels are both light in weight and structurally strong.

On the farm, asbestos roofing and siding help the farmer protect his buildings against fire, against rodents, and against rot and decay. Inside, sheets of asbestos and cement make easy to clean sanitary linings for poultry buildings, dairy dairy barns, and milk houses. By thus cutting the farmer's upkeep expense, asbestos plays its part in keeping down the cost of food. Our business and industry would find it difficult, if not impossible, to get along without asbestos. Asbestos felts help shield the thousands of miles of gas and oil transmission lines against corrosion. The basis of practically every industrial process is heat.

On process pipelines and equipment across the nation, asbestos insulations, by conserving heat, reduce industry's fuel bill by hundreds of millions annually. Indeed, it has been progress in asbestos insulation, withstanding higher and higher temperatures, that has helped make possible many of the new processes and new products that improve our daily living. This same ability to withstand high heat has made asbestos invaluable and saving power for industry. Pumps, compressors, tools, all kinds of reciprocating, oscillating, and rotating equipment operate more efficiently because of asbestos packing. And asbestos gaskets prevent the escape of fluids and and gases from a wide variety of pressure vessels. Asbestos friction materials control motion, withstanding the heat, shock, and strain of braking, holding and releasing the drums of cranes, drills, dredges, and other heavy equipment.

Asbestos can be made into the thinnest of paper, and in this form is widely used in the electrical industry, enabling transformers, motors, magnets, and other apparatus to carry heavier loads, getting more electrical productivity without enlarging equipment, and thus keeping power costs down for both industry and the homeowner. Asbestos cement ducts are used to enclose the cables that carry electricity underground. Costs are reduced, and we are better protected against interruptions of service. Asbestos fibers can also be spun into yarn, like cotton or silk. Yarn which is woven into strong, protective fabrics of various thicknesses and weights. Industry finds wide uses for asbestos in its buildings, just as the farmer and homeowner do.

So do schools, hospitals, and public buildings. Roofs built of asbestos felts bring added fire protection and effectively safeguard the buildings and their contents. Asbestos cement exterior walls provide the freedom from maintenance that building owners want. Rust-proof and durable, they are resistant to chemicals, fumes, heat, smoke, steam, and weather. inside the building asbestos movable walls make it possible to change space layouts without a costly loss of time and with complete salvage of existing materials and asphalt or vinyl asbestos tile is probably the most widely used flooring in business commercial and institutional buildings things. Yes, products of asbestos fiber make an important contribution to practically every phase of our lives. And it is here at the Johns-Manville Research Center, largest of its kind in the world, that such products are developed.

Here the scientists, technicians and other workers have at their service the latest and most modern aids to scientific research tools to enable them to find still newer better ways for asbestos to serve mankind it took millions of years for nature to create asbestos fiber it was only a hundred years ago that a man named H. W. Johns had an idea how it could be made commercially useful this is how that idea has grown from one man to to thousands of men and women, to mines and factories in the United States, in Canada, and even across the sea, in Belgium, and in far-off Africa. Many have shared in the accomplishment of this first 100 years. Thousands of people who, through their labor and skills, or the investment of their dollars, have built another of man's great industries. We are now in a new age that daily brings forth new scientific realities.

Man is moving toward new frontiers, the vast reaches of the universe. It is a realm where unbelievable pressures and temperatures will be commonplace. In the realization of this greatest of all adventures, Johns- Manville Asbestos, the magic mineral of nature, will be playing its vital role. No, this is not the end.