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    "localId": "75722809",
    "label": "Letters Received to Mr. Barker [H.H. Barker], May 28, 1928",
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    "id": "75722809",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Letters Received to Mr. Barker [H.H. Barker], May 28, 1928",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75722809",
    "collections": [
        "Safety Light Collection",
        "Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
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    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001344.pdf",
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    "ocrText": "Cohmbia University\nMAY G 1928\nCollege of Physicians and Surgeons\nEPIDEMIOLOGY\n437 WEST 59TH STREET, NEW YORK\nINDUSTRIAL HYGIENE\nPUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION\nINSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH\nSANITARY SCIENCE\nMay 28 LGE CORP\nDear Mr Barker:\nRADION\nI have been giving a little thought to your defense in the Law Courts\nand an idea came to me that is rather bold and depends almost on the flip of a. coin.\nIf youstudy their case both from the Court presentation and newspa-\nper articles you will see that they all claim that radium once deposited in the bone\nis never eliminated and las Martland says remains for I700 years. Dr Howard Kelley of\nBaltimore in an interview says it will remain for 2000 years. Madam Curio in an ar-\nticle published in the N.Y. Journal said the same thing. Of course all of this talk\nis without full information and inexperience in other lines besides their own,-\nbut why try to deny it in Court? Question their witnesses in such a manner as to put\nthem definitely on record on this point. Certainly St George, Norris and Humphrey\nwill fall into the trap, Martland may be a little cagey. Now they base their whole\ncase on this fact and that radio-active material is to blame for the girls condition.\nconsequently if radium is not present according to their theory it cannot be blamed\nfor the condition of the girls. Of course this part of your defense would require a\nvery strong attack on Mrs Hughs' results. I don't think you need to fear Dr. Gettler.\nIt would require handling her without gloves in the matter and you have her testimony\nalready given to aid you in this examination. Of course I didn't hear her testimony\nand don't know anything about her results but I remember your saying that she admitted\nin conversation that they were not as positive as she would like them to be. It would\nrequire testimony to show that Dr Humphrey's observation as to radium rays and x-rays\nto be wrong. It might be necessary to conduct a few experiments along that line with\nx-ray plates to prove him wrong as I think he is,\nNow on the other hand you will have to rely on Dr Schlundt's and my\ntests to prove that the girls are not radio-active now. According to their theory if\nthey are not radio-active now they never were and consequently are not and cannot be\nsuffering from radium poisoning. You can go on the stand and testify as to the accura-\ncy of the method, etc. Dr S hlundt expe rience etc should be sufficient to satisfy\nthe Court that our work was accurate. Of course if Dr Moore and Dr Lind could testify\nit would make the case all the stronger. Then you have Miss Freyer's case to con-\nsider and the fact that we found her radio-active in I928. Personally I doubt very much\nif Dr. McCaffery has my report for if he had there is no doubt that it would have been\nspread on the Court's records in the affidavits as everything else I ever wrote that\nthey have is. Certainly Berry would have asked me to indentify it when I was on the\nstand when he asked me to identify the other papers. We didn't tell her that we\nfound her radio-active,- all the comment was on the blood which she brought out. They\nwill have to bring Dr MeCaffery into Court and I doubt if he would come. Of course\nif he comes and brings my report that is another thing but I do not think he has it\nfrom my observation of the man. If the report is not presented I should think it\nwould be just as well not to put me on the stand for then Berry cannot question me.\nI was careful in Newark not to say that she radio-active in I926. I think Dr McCaffery\nmay have told her but that is not legal proof. Or if I am correct I cannot be crossed\nexamined except what I have testified to in direct testimony. In that case all I need\nto testify to is my examination on April 24th which was negative. Of course this sug-\ngestion may be foolish but it fits in very well with their case which depends abso-\nlutely on whether radium is present or not.\nAgain I don't know how much reliance you care to place on Schlundt and my\nwork and whether you are convinced that we can detect smaller amounts of radium by our\nmethod than be theirs. One thing in discussing the delicacy of our work Dr Schlundt did\nnot take into consideration is that we had the electroscope against the bones and there\nwas very little chance for absorption as was the case when the ampules were placed in the\nvest pocket in front and the readings made at the back. Also the square of the distance\nis reduced. It was more like the five ampules under the arm which I think even Mrs Hughes\nacknowledged was very active.\nWill you please get my reprints from the lawyers also the autopsy report on\nMiss Dunn's case which I gave to Dr Rector. I want to chart the blood pictures of all\nradium cases that I can find.\nExcuse spelling English etc in this note as I am typing as I think and there\nhave been many interruptions.\nYurs truly"
}