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    "localId": "75725382",
    "label": "Letters Sent to Dr. Herman Schlundt, May 15, 1930",
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    "title": "Letters Sent to Dr. Herman Schlundt, May 15, 1930",
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        "Safety Light Collection",
        "Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
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    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
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    "ocrText": "May 15th, 1930.\nDr. Herman Schlundt,\nUniversity of Missouri,\nColumbia, Mo.\nDear Dr. Schlundt:\nA conference is being held today at New Haven, Conn.,\nwith the New Haven Clock Col, Waterbury Clock Co., the E. Ingraham Co.,\nand the U.S. Department of Health and Dr. Flinn present, to discuss the\nmatter of activity which has been found amongst various employees\nengaged in the application of luminous mater al to watch and clock\ndials.\nlie gather from Dr. Flinn that Mr. Knowles, the\nphysicist who has been making the radioactive tests upon the employees\nengaged in the application of luminous materials to watch dials, that\nhe has found a number of people active, whom Dr. Flinn has not noted\nany activity in. Ifurther gather from some of the Clock Companies\nthat they were not any to well impressed by some of the representatives\nsent to their respective plants by the Dept. of Public Bealth, and\nthat in case the Dept. of Public Health is inclined to report girls\nactive who hitherto have not been reported active by Dr. Flinn they are\ngoing to object.\nThe object of this conference primarily is to adjust\nany difference that may exist so that the Dept. of Health will render a\nreport which will be satisfactory to the various companies involved.\nThe instrument with which Mr. Knowles has been working\nhas a natural drift about 1/4 that which Dr. Flinn has, and as I recall\nit is slightly more sensitive. As you realize Dr. Flinn and Mr. Knowles\nmay both be classed as more or less novices in the art of radioactive\nmeasurements, and while I have a good deal of regard for the ability of\nboth, still also realize that their lack of experience is a handicap.\nMr. Knowles seems to think that he can detect much\nsmaller quantities of radium in the human being than Dr. Flinn, whose\ninstrument's drift is so much higher - the respective drifts are about\nas follows: Dr. Flinn's instrument 0.0032 div. per sec, Mr. Knowles\ninstrument 0.0009 div. per sec.\nAs Dr. Fialla advised you Mr. Knowles and he were going\nto callibrate the instrument which Mr. Knowles is working with, by\nplacing emanation seeds in a cadavar and making readings. This work has\nbeen completed, and while I do not have the final results obtained, still\nDr. Piádla did indicate to me the constant which we have been using is\nconsiderably too low. I gathered this from his statement that according\n-2-\nto their callibrations Miss Fryer should contain about 1/2 the amount\nof radioactive materials as you reported. This would indicate that the\nconstant should be considerably higher than the one which we have been\nusing, namely 0,000086. You will recall that this value was computed\nfrom the radioactive determinations on Miss Dunn, and the net drift of\nthe instrument as determined prior to her death.\nIn view of the fact that a number of the recent cases tested\nshow an abnormally high free emanating power, it seems that the discrepancy\nin our callibration may be accounted for by the fact that a larger\npercentage of the radium in Miss Dunn might have been free emanating than\nthat allowed for.\nDr. Fialla rather indicated that he would prefer not to disclose\nthe exact values obtained by the Dept. of Public Health, until their\nreport was published. However, he did say that in case I would drop\nin at his laboratories some day soon he would be glad to show me the\nreadings which they made.\nI give you all these details as I know you will be interested,\nand it is quite possible that there may be a conference held to adjust\nthe differences between the Dept. of Public Health and Dr. Flinn.\nI am a little afraid that the Dept. of Pub. Health are going\npretty far in stating that they can detect quantities of one (1) micro-\ngram of radium element, or less. It seems to me as though we should\nadhere to our former belief that when we reach quantities as small as\nindicated that they would fall within the range of experimental error.\nI have been expecting to hear from you as to a date which would\nbe satisfactory for you to make electroscopic tests upon Mrs. Henry and\nMrs. Hoare.\nWith kind regards, 1 am\nSincerely yours,\nVice President.\nHHBarker'RH"
}