Original semi-official letters from A. Davidson, J.H. Swenarton, C.E. Thompson, C.E. Williamson and others, Balfour, Guthrie & Co. Ltd, New York, to B.D.F. Beith, Matheson & Co. Ltd, London, 18 December 1941-17 December 1943, with enclosed letters and papers, including semi-monthly reports of unsold tea. There are also copies of telegrams exchanged between London and New York, 9 December 1941-26 May 1942, and of semi-official and other letters from B.D.F. Beith and J.F. Owen, Matheson & Co. Ltd, to Balfour, Guthrie & Co. Ltd, New York (mainly) and San Francisco, 16 December 1941-17 June 1943. Loose inside the file is a copy of an agreement between Sharp & Dohme Inc., Philadelphia, and Jardine Matheson, Hong Kong, for the latter to act as Sharp & Dohme's distributors in China, witnessed 24 August 1939 and 17 July 1940.

Much of the correspondence is concerned with the tea trade. The other subjects include the Canton Insurance Office Ltd, Ewo Breweries Ltd, Ewo Cotton Mills Ltd, Hongkong Fire Insurance Co. Ltd, Sharp & Dohme Inc. agency, sinking of S.S. 'Ruth Alexander', staff, staff war allowance and staff wives and dependents.