Warren F. Terry to Raybestos-Manhattan Offering a Plant Dust Survey (1935)

A two-page letter of February 14, 1935, from Warren F. Terry, a dust suppression engineer in West Somerville, Massachusetts, to the Raybestos Division of Raybestos-Manhattan in Bridgeport, Connecticut, offering to survey its plant. Terry wrote that "Many states are contemplating passing laws covering dust diseases," and that he had made dust counts for a Massachusetts special commission on the foundry and granite industries. His survey would take dust samples by the impinger method approved by the U.S. Public Health Service and recommend controls.

What it shows

Terry pitched his surveys partly as protection in court: "These reports may later prove extremely valuable as evidence of the condition of your plant regarding its dustiness should legal cases develop and attempts be made to exaggerate past conditions." He also said repeated surveys should bring "a substantial saving in insurance premiums." The letter shows that by early 1935 outside engineers were offering dust measurement to manufacturers both as a way to control dust and as a defense against future claims.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Proposes doing a survey on the dust conditions at Raybestos plants. Terry is an Equipment Engineer with U.S. Public Health experience. Proposes to determine dust problems and submit recommendations for elimination and control. Mentions reports may be valuable as devices to measure improvement and as a record of existing conditions should law suits later develop. Terry assisted the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when it was contemplating passing laws governing dusty industries.

About this copy

This is document 02429-02430 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.