Letters Sent to H.M. Armstrong, December 27, 1929

December 27th,1928. Mr. H. M. Armstrong, The Radium Extension Service, 185 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill. Dear Mr. Armstrong: Your lettor of December 20th, is at hand and I appreciato, 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 mas neglected. We take the position that radium and mesothorium must share alike any blame which may be ascribed to then 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 naterial. 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