E. H. Jeffords to Sumner Simpson on Gardner's Report and the Shabani Mines Extract (1938)

A two-page letter of May 2, 1938, 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. Jeffords acknowledged Dr. Gardner's report and said he had given a copy to Julian Mitchell, the company's Charleston attorney, to discuss with "our medical adviser, Dr. Lynch." He enclosed a typed extract from the South African Mining & Engineering Journal of January 15, 1938, sent to him by Captain Ross of the Asbestos Corporation, in which Dr. A. J. Ireland, chief medical officer of the Shabanie Mines, reported no case of asbestosis among the mill men there.

What it shows

Jeffords understood that Dr. Leroy Gardner's reports were "not to be regarded as absolutely conclusive," but agreed it was very surprising "that the fine dust has not caused any serious damage" to the animals. The enclosed extract quotes Dr. Ireland's conclusion that "no anxiety need be entertained in regard to the asbestos mining industry" where there was good ventilation and the mill men wore dust respirators, as at the Shabani mines. Simpson sent the extract on to Gardner and to Vandiver Brown on May 4, and Dr. Kenneth Lynch commented on both papers on May 6 (Lynch to Mitchell).

In Johns-Manville's index

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

03458-03459. Acknowledges receipt of letter dated 4/27/38, which enclosed the progress report from Dr. Gardner and a letter dated 4/29/38. Informs will go over report with Mitchell and Dr. Lynch and will then return report. Attaches copy of interesting article out of the Southern African Mining & Engineering Journal.

03460. Describes service and health records of millmen at the Shabanie Mines, exposed to highest concentrations of dust. Studies millmen from 1932-1938 and concludes "that no genuine case of pulmonary asbestosis ... could be ascribed to." Also states that no anxiety need be caused by asbestos mining where good ventilation and filtering respirators are used to protect the workers.

Related documents

• Sumner Simpson to E. H. Jeffords Sending Gardner's Second Progress Report (1938)
• Vandiver Brown to Sumner Simpson on Gardner's Findings and Claims of Progressive Fibrosis (1938)
• Leroy U. Gardner, Second Progress Report on Experimental Asbestosis (1938)
• E. H. Jeffords to Julian Mitchell Forwarding Simpson's and Brown's Letters and the Shabani Extract (1938)
• Sumner Simpson to Leroy U. Gardner Enclosing the Shabani Mines Extract (1938)
• Sumner Simpson to Vandiver Brown Enclosing the Shabani Mines Extract (1938)
• Dr. Kenneth Lynch to Julian Mitchell on Gardner's Fine-Dust Findings (1938)
• Sumner Simpson's Secretary to A. F. Heinsohn Asking for Gardner's Original Report (1938)

About this copy

These are documents 03458-03459, 03460 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.