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Nov. 11,1938.
Commander C.S. Stephenson,
Bureau of Medicine & Surgery,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Commander Stephenson:
Since your visit here we have given considerable thought
to the practicability of the use of the sensitive electroscope
developed by Dr. Curtiss as a control method in luminous material
application plants. There is no doubt about this being a very
delicate instrument and if used by an expert. such as Dr. Curtiss
would have value in locating any possible hazards from radioactivity,
especially in plants handling quantities of material such as ours.
However, in the hands of those not specially trained or possessing
considerable knowledge and skill, in our opinion the instrument is
too delicate to have any great value.
It seems to us that the health angle so far as the luminous
application is concerned is largely dependent on strict supervision
of the operators to see that sanitary conditions are observed. In
the average application plant, there is very little possibility of
any radium contamination except through careless of sloppy handling
of the material. Periodic examinations by the ultra violet light
method would determine any wasted luminous material and would have
the advantage of locating it, whereas if the electroscope was used
the only thing it would do would be to determine the presence of
radio-activity without specifically locating it.
Our reactions given above may not conform to your own ideas,
but we are sure you will accept them in the spirit in which they
are offered.
Very truly yours,
CBLee:DK
President
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"ocrText": "Nov. 11,1938.\nCommander C.S. Stephenson,\nBureau of Medicine & Surgery,\nWashington, D.C.\nDear Commander Stephenson:\nSince your visit here we have given considerable thought\nto the practicability of the use of the sensitive electroscope\ndeveloped by Dr. Curtiss as a control method in luminous material\napplication plants. There is no doubt about this being a very\ndelicate instrument and if used by an expert. such as Dr. Curtiss\nwould have value in locating any possible hazards from radioactivity,\nespecially in plants handling quantities of material such as ours.\nHowever, in the hands of those not specially trained or possessing\nconsiderable knowledge and skill, in our opinion the instrument is\ntoo delicate to have any great value.\nIt seems to us that the health angle so far as the luminous\napplication is concerned is largely dependent on strict supervision\nof the operators to see that sanitary conditions are observed. In\nthe average application plant, there is very little possibility of\nany radium contamination except through careless of sloppy handling\nof the material. Periodic examinations by the ultra violet light\nmethod would determine any wasted luminous material and would have\nthe advantage of locating it, whereas if the electroscope was used\nthe only thing it would do would be to determine the presence of\nradio-activity without specifically locating it.\nOur reactions given above may not conform to your own ideas,\nbut we are sure you will accept them in the spirit in which they\nare offered.\nVery truly yours,\nCBLee:DK\nPresident"
}