Ask the Scholar
Page 2 of 2
I can add historical knowledge about this page.
Page image
OCR
December 27th,1928.
Mr. H. M. Armstrong,
The Radium Extension Service,
185 N. Wabash Ave.,
Chicago, Ill.
Dear Mr. Armstrong:
Your letter of December 20th, is at hand and I
appreciate, upon thinking over my reply to your former letter, that
the point which you specifically raised I did not cover. I had
intended to do so, but due to an oversight it was neglëcted.
We take the position that radium and mesothorium
must share alike any blame which may be ascribed to them for causing
the condition reported in girls formerly employed by us. This
position is based upon experimental evidence, to the effect, that if
one can be deleterious in any sense of the word, the other may prove
to be equally SO. When we consider that Radium and mesothorium are
isotopic, which means that they are chemically identical, we must
assume that their chemical behavior, disregarding their radio-active
characteristics in the human system, is the same. While there are
minor differences in the characteristics of the two, still in the
main they are identical. There is not enough difference in these
radio-active characteristics to justify any statement that any del-
eterious effects could result from one which could not result from
the other.
I realize that the above position is contrary to
what you would like to have us express, but in view of the circum-
stances we certainly would not feel justified in taking any other
position.
The work of Hoffman in the Journal of the A.M.A.
Sept. 26,1925, is not based upon scientific data, but upon hearsay.
You must realize, that when this matter was first brought to the
attention of the general public there was an endeavor on the part of
our competitors to ascribe the blame to mesothorium, rather than to
radium, believing that they could in that way shoulder all the
responsibility on us and users of our material. This claim was not
justified. Two of the five girls in the recently settled actions
at law, worked at our plant at a time when there was no mesothorium
used, while the other three worked at times when a mixture, varying
in proportions of mesothorium and radium were used.
Sincerely yours,
Vice President.
HHBarker:RH
Page data
- Page
- 2
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- document
- Media ID
- 483d0a82e689a784
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 75724699
- Core
- doc
- Type
- document
DTO data
{
"id": "75724699",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724699",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Letters Sent to H.M. Armstrong, December 27, 1929",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724699",
"collections": [
"Safety Light Collection",
"Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.jpg",
"imageCount": 2,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "75724699",
"label": "Letters Sent to H.M. Armstrong, December 27, 1929",
"core": "doc",
"dtoType": "document",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724699"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "75724699",
"sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724699",
"contentType": "document",
"title": "Letters Sent to H.M. Armstrong, December 27, 1929",
"citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724699",
"collections": [
"Safety Light Collection",
"Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
],
"iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.jpg",
"imageCount": 2,
"hasImages": true,
"source": "import",
"hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras
{
"url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75724699",
"naId": 75724699,
"levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
"recordType": "description",
"ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context
{
"seq": 2,
"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "document",
"url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/SLC/Radium/SLC_0001911.pdf",
"mediaId": "483d0a82e689a784",
"ocrText": "December 27th,1928.\nMr. H. M. Armstrong,\nThe Radium Extension Service,\n185 N. Wabash Ave.,\nChicago, Ill.\nDear Mr. Armstrong:\nYour letter of December 20th, is at hand and I\nappreciate, upon thinking over my reply to your former letter, that\nthe point which you specifically raised I did not cover. I had\nintended to do so, but due to an oversight it was neglëcted.\nWe take the position that radium and mesothorium\nmust share alike any blame which may be ascribed to them for causing\nthe condition reported in girls formerly employed by us. This\nposition is based upon experimental evidence, to the effect, that if\none can be deleterious in any sense of the word, the other may prove\nto be equally SO. When we consider that Radium and mesothorium are\nisotopic, which means that they are chemically identical, we must\nassume that their chemical behavior, disregarding their radio-active\ncharacteristics in the human system, is the same. While there are\nminor differences in the characteristics of the two, still in the\nmain they are identical. There is not enough difference in these\nradio-active characteristics to justify any statement that any del-\neterious effects could result from one which could not result from\nthe other.\nI realize that the above position is contrary to\nwhat you would like to have us express, but in view of the circum-\nstances we certainly would not feel justified in taking any other\nposition.\nThe work of Hoffman in the Journal of the A.M.A.\nSept. 26,1925, is not based upon scientific data, but upon hearsay.\nYou must realize, that when this matter was first brought to the\nattention of the general public there was an endeavor on the part of\nour competitors to ascribe the blame to mesothorium, rather than to\nradium, believing that they could in that way shoulder all the\nresponsibility on us and users of our material. This claim was not\njustified. Two of the five girls in the recently settled actions\nat law, worked at our plant at a time when there was no mesothorium\nused, while the other three worked at times when a mixture, varying\nin proportions of mesothorium and radium were used.\nSincerely yours,\nVice President.\nHHBarker:RH"
}