It is no wonder that lawyers have had a field day with the asbestos claims. The stuff was used for just about everything, as this article from 1922 points out. Nothing was left untouched by asbestos, from the kitchen to the entire house. Asbestos was everywhere and it continues to be a problem.
The Story Of Asbestos
A great number of people are under the impression that “asbestos” is a manufactured material.
Asbestos is a mineral that is mined in open rock quarry fashion and is found in vast quantities in Canada and some parts of the United States, but the Canadian asbestos is found to be of the longest fibre and greater strength and best for commercial purposes than that found in this country. Compared with other minerals the aggregation of unique properties possessed by asbestos is unparalleled. Wood burns, asbestos is unchanged by flame or by temperature of 1500 degree fahrenheit. Stone disintegrates — asbestos defies erosion. Steel rusts — asbestos is immune. Asbestos resists wear and the action of oxygen and acids, is a non-conductor of electricity, and insulates against heat or cold.
Today an audience sits in a crowded theatre. It faces a curtain with the word “Asbestos” on it, spelling to them safety, an armor against fire. Around are brilliant light energized from distant generators through a system safe guarded by this same asbestos. Many here in Ardmore live or work in buildings roofed with asbestos. Here, too, are many housewives whose dining tables it protects. Even the motor cars have brakes lined with this same mineral. You have in Ardmore a stove manufacturer who uses asbestos fibre and board for the backs of the stoves.
Today asbestos is a recognized necessity, developed by the efforts, the courage and the resources of a business institution which by making the curio of ages serve man, has contributed to the world’s progress and has made him safer and more complete. Had someone championed asbestos earlier, had someone the vision and foresight to realize the possibilities of this mineral, the world today would be further along. The Chicago fire might never have happened — indeed, it is possible that a few years hence the community fire will be a finished page as the asbestos roof gains wider acceptance.
The H.W. Johns-Manville Co., Inc., established in 1858, the pioneers in the asbestos world, has in your midst today representatives whose sole purpose is to demonstrate and explain to you in every way this wonderful mineral made up into different types of roofing. A type of roofing for every type of building or residence and a type to fit each one’s pocketbook.
Source: The Daily Ardmoreite. Newspaper. May 17, 1922.
