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HUNDREDS ARE KILLED BY EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY
Disaster Reputed To Be Worse
Than That at Messina Sev
eral Years Ago.
Special Cable to The American,
ROME, May 9.—Latest reports give
horrifying details of the earthquake
in Sicily,
Whole towns and villages have been
completely buried and the loss of life
and property is enormous. Special
editions of the newspapers declare
the disasier is even worse than that
at Messina. The seismic phenomenon
was unprecedented m violence, Roads
were completely cut up into sections
wkhich are divided by wide crevasses
emitting sulphurous fumes. Conse
quently many townships are com
pletely isolated and their destruction
is feared,
The extension of the earthquake
zone makes prompt aid practically
impossible, although the authorities
have dispatched thousands of soldiers
in special trains for the scene of the
disaster from Palermo and other Si
cilian towns. A completely equipped
Red Cross hospital corps will- leave
Naples to-morrow.
No correct estimate of the dead,
can be made. Conservative reports
Poor Man’s Radium
By GARRETT P. SERVISS
Written Especially for The Georgian.
ADIUM costs $BO,OOO per
R gram. It takes about 30
grams to make an ounce,
£0 that an ounce of radium, if it
were in man's power to get so
much, would be worth not less
than 32,400,000, Radium is 120,
000 times more valuable than
gold, and millions of times more
rare, for only a few grams of ra
dium exist in all the laboratories
of the world, and even that is not
pure, unadulterated, unmixed ra
dium, ¢
Price Represents Cost,
Now, look at the other side of
the picture, This almost incal
culably rare and valuable sub
stance Is, there is reasdbn to be
lieve, one of the most powerful
agents for the relief of human
suffering that has ever been dis
covered. It has been applied with
appareut success to the treatment
of such a disease as cancer, for
which no other cure exists. There
i« a long list of other maladies
which undoubtedly yield to its
curative influence. Yet it is so
costly that in many cases its use
is prohibited by that considera
tion alone.
The rich man can have radium
—in case there is any for sale;
the poor man can not, It is not
an example of an artificial price
maintained for profits or divi
dends. “The price of radium rep
vesents simply the cost of ex
tracting it. No trust has as yet
been formed in it. Nature her
self fixes its price when she put
a smaller proportion of radium
in a ton of pitchblende (the min
eral from which it is extracted)
than she put of gold in a ton of
sea water.
And vet, the good news 1s heard
that, after all, THE POOR MAN
CAN HAVE RADIUM.
Dr. Octave Claude, head of the
clinic in the hospital of St
YL.ouis, Paris, reports that the
“actiniferous muds,” or residues,
feft after the extraction of ra
dium from the minerals in which
it is found, afford a means of
applying radioactivity to dis
eased surfaces which is, in some
ways, superior in ils results teo
the use of radium itself as ordi
narily employed.
Pure radium is too intense in
its action for many local appli
cations,
It is difficuit to concentrate its
effects upon any desired point
without injuriously affecting sur
rounding tissues. But the ac-
TAE GEORGIAN'S NEWS BRIEFS
.
Policemen Save Boy
From Car's Wheels
CHICAGO, May 7.~-Policemen Burt
and Sheridan proved themseives he
roes when they pulled John Coleman,
5, from beneath a street car after he
had been knocked down and was
about to be mangled by the w heels
Settles $lO,OOO on
California Twins
ILOS ANGELES, May 9.~The stork
left twin boys in the care of Mr. and
Mrs. Frank Prior, of Vanice, Cal., to
day, and their granafather, Thomas
Prior, has settled $5,000 on each of the
little fellows.
have placed the number at 100. There
is little doubt that this will be in
creased, for-many wounded are dying,
buried beneath the ruins.
Acireale, Zafferana, Mengano and
Bongiardo give the largest contingent
of deaths. The towns were practi
cally razed to the ground and the
population is panic-stricken, proces
sions of weeping womenf with chil
dren clinging to them passing over
the upheaved ground, invoking Ma
donna and the saints.
Etna still is threatening and emit
ting vast columns of sulphurous
smoke. Shocks recur every minute
and scientists fear that a sudden ex
plosion of the latest voicano might
submerge the entire eastern coast of
Sicily. ¢
The Pope has telegraphed the local
bishops instructions to disburse funds
for the relief of the wounded.
The King probably will leave for
the stricken district to-mdtrow.
tiniferous muds left after the long
series of preeipitations by means
of which the chemist obtains ra
dium, and which retain a certain
degree of radioactivity, are far
more gentle in their action, and
yet, if Dr. C'laude is not mistaken,
~ they are exceedingly effective in
the treatment of disease.
Alpha Rays Restrained.
These muds are applied in the
form of plasters put directly upon
the diseased.
The intensity of the action can
be goyerned by varying the thick
ness of the surface. The effect is
confined to the surface treated,
and there is no injury to sur
rounding tissues. The alpha rays,
which consist of relatively large
particles projected by the atomic
explosions, and which are the
chief source of danger in the em
ployment of radium in condensed
form, seem to be restrained, in
some manner, by the liquid me
dium. Thus it becomes possible
by spreading the preparation over
sufficient surface, and giving a
considerable depth to it, to ob
tain a more effective application
of the really useful rays than can
be done by means of the appara
tug with which pure radium is
emploved.
“Thanks to the fact that the
local action of the applications
remains gentle,” says Dr. Claude,
“we can continue them for a long
time, from several hours to sev
eral days, without fear of acci
dent. This,” he adds, emphatical
ly, "is no theoretical affirmation,
but the result of many practical
observations.”
Professor G. Petit, of the Na
tional Veterinary Schoel at Al
fort, who has applied the ac
tiniferous muds to the treatment
of diseases of animals, obtains an
increased effect by passing an
electric eurrent through them.
Can Be Applied in Baths.
This seems to increase the pen
etrating power of the rays.
Another way in which “poor
man's rtadium” ix applied is in the
form of baths of warm water, in
which 200 or 300 grame of radio
active muds have been dissolved,
These baths may be repeated
every day for several weeks in
succession.
Mme, Fabre and Dr. Bertoletti,
of Turin, have confirmed the con
clusions of Dr. Claude concerning
the curative properties of radio
active muds, 1 %
WANT 70 BUILD
A GOLLEGE I
GEORGIA
OKLAHOMA CITY, May 8. —Two
memorials were , introduced at to
day’'s session of the General Confer
ence of the Methodist ~ Episcopal
Church South by Dr. H. M, Dußose,
of Atlanta, providing for the removal
of Vanderbilt University from Nash
ville and for the establishment of a
rew university in Georgia. Both res
clutions were referred to the special
committee on the Vanderbiit affair
appointed by the bishops.
Dr. Dußose stated that the resolu
tions looked to the withdrawal of fu
ture support and aid of the church to
Vanderbilt, and -the establishment of
the principal school of the church
‘near Atlanta. Uunder his plan, Em
‘ory College, at Oxford, would be
‘built up by the church, the theologi
cal department and all other depart
ments which the church heretofore
‘has maintained at Vanderbilt would
be removed, additional buildings
erected, and Atlanta would become
the educational center of the Metho
dist Church South.
Backed by State Delegates.
~ The Georgia delegation prepared
the two memorials, selecting Dr. Du-
Bose to present them to the confer
ence,
Dr. Dußose stated that the spe
cial committee, on which he and Asa
@G. Candler, of Atlanta, are mem
bers, likely would not attempt to lo
cate a new school, but recommended
to the conference the creation of a
special convention, with power to
withdraw from Vanderbilt and to lo
cate elsewhere,
.He said the committee probably
would recommend the complete with
drawal from Vanderbilt, the Georgia
delegation he said, was unanimous in
favor of such plan, believing it .to be
of advantage to Atlanta’s claim for
the university. If the commission is
created, the Vanderbilt matter would
be settled as far as the General Con
ference is concerned at present and
all matters relating to it would be
referred to the commission.
Dr. Dußose and Asa G. Candler as
well as other Georgia delegates are
active in looking after the interests
of Atlanta and Georgia. Their dig
nified and pleasing manner of push
ing Georgia's claims is meeting with
favorable resuits among the dele
gates.
Prayers for-a return to stability
of government in México and an early
settlement of the “home rule” ques
tion in England and Ireland, fea
tured a 90-minute prayer service of
the conference tc-day. Bishop Hen
drix, of Kansas City, presided over
the prayer service. Dr. J. F. Corbin,
of El Paso, Texas, representing the
Northwest Mexico Conference, prayed
for cessation of hostilities. F. M.
Bradfield, of London, fraternal dele
gate from England, prayed for peace
in Ireland.
Georgians on Committees.
The College of Bishops to-day an
nounced permanent committees of the
general conference, with the following
Georgia delegates as mmbrs:
South Georgia Conference—Com
mittee of episcopacy, W. N. Ains
worth and N. E. Harris, Macon; itin
erary, T. D. Ellis, Americus, and
Charles Lane, Macon; revisals, B.
Anthony, Wrightsville, and R. L.
Greer, Oglethorpe; publishing inter
ests, W. (", Lovett, Atlanta, and A. J.
Fullbright, Waynesboro; education,
C. R. Jenkins apd N. E. Harris, Ma
con; church extension, G. F. Harris,
Pavo, and B. Anthony; missions, E.
F. Cook, Nashville, and R. F. Bur
den; boundaries, Charles Lane and
Ed Cook: temperance and social
service, H. J. Fullbright and T. D.
Ellis; Sunday schools, R. L.. Greer and
C. R. Jenkins; Epworth League, R.
F. Burden and W. C. Lovett; church
relations, G. F. Harris and W. N.
Ainsworth; laymen's movement, R, F.
Burden,
North Georgia Conference— Episco
pacy, Dr. H. M. Dußose and Asa G.
Candler, Atlanta; itinerary, W, P,
Lovejoy, Atlanta, and W. W. Pitcher,
Warrenton; revisals, J. E. Dickey,
Oxford, and G. H. Wing; publishing
interests, J. E. Dickey and M. M.
Parks, Milledgeville; education, C. O.
Jenes, Atlanta, and M. M. Parks:
church extension, J. H. Eakes, Rome,
and J. T. Duncan, Douglasville: mis
sions, J. A, Sharp, Harris, and W, W.
Pitcher; bhoundaries and finance, R.
G. Smith, Oxford, and Asa G. Can
dler; temperance and social service,
R. G. Smith and E. A, Copelan,
Greensboro; Sunday schools, H M.
Dußcse and J. H. Ewing; Epworth
Leagues, W. P. Lovejoy and J. T.
Duncan; church relations, C. O. Jones
and T. W. Harbin, Cathoun.
LARTH Ia NOT
MOLTEN-MA3a,
CAYS SCIENTIST
CHICAGO, May 9.—The each is a
body of great rigidity—more rigid
than steel—according to experiments
of scientists of the University of Chi
cago. ‘To the non-seientific mind it
would appear that they have upset
the old theory that the interior of the
planet is a “molten mass."
The experiments were designed by
Professor Albert A, Michelson, head
of the department of physics at the
University of Chicago.
Two ditches, each 500 feet long and
six feet deep, were dug near the
Yerkes Observatory, at Lake Geneva,
Wis. One of the ditches extended di
restly north and south and the other
directly east and west.
Measures Tides.
A pipe six inches in diameter and
500 feet long was filled half full of
water and placed in each ditch. The
pipe and mechanism for measuring
the tides in the water were invented
by Professor Michelson. The ditches
were filled to insure conmstancy of
temperatures.
Ai each end of the pipes a hole Len
feet deep was dug and an inclosed
concrete casements made, in which
Professor Gale and his associates at
the observatory could descend and
ascertain the rise and fall of the water
level with microscopic precision. Pro
fessor Gale, except when occasion
ally relieved by an associate, made
the trip to the ditches every hour,
day and night, for two months, and
made the observations.
Professor Moulton had computed
the tides that should exist if the
earth were absolutely rigid. The at
traction of the sun and moon was
found-to cause tides in the pipe and
these were canceled out. .
Earth Like Steel.
The maximum changes in the level
in the six-inch pipe 'amounted at
each end to abeut 001 of an inch.
These tides were computed, and it
was found they amounted to only
afout seven-tenths of what they
would have been if the earth were
absolutely rigid. 2
“The results,” said Professor Gale,
“show that the interior of the earth
is not a fiery mass, but resists the
tidal forces of the moon about as it
would if the earth were made of solid
steel. Nevertheless the earth, in spite
of its high rigidity, behaves as an
elastic body; not liquid, ef course, but
still subject to the same influences as
are the oceans which form part of it.
Up-to-Date | kes
“I have sent for you,” said the man
of the house, “because these pipes
need looking after.. There’'s a leak
somewhere and a lot of gas going to
waste.” -
“No, sir,” replied the gas company's
inspector meditatively, “maybe
there’s a leak, but there ain’t any gas
going to waste—you'll find it all in
the bill.” .
There is a certain lawyer whose
quick wit is said never to desert him
either in the courtroom or else
where. Not long ago a client entered
his office and, tHrowing back his coat
exclaimed irritably:
“Why, sir, your office is as warm
as an oven.”
“Why shouldn't it be?” asked the
lawyer, smilingly. “It is here that I
make my bread.”
An amusing story is related of
Prince Arthur of Connaught, who
went over to Japan with the Order
of the Garter in the time of the late
Mikado.
Prince Arthur had the time of his
life in Japan, and he delights in tell
ing of a formal visit to a small town
where, to do him due honor, the rail
way authorities had placed a motto
in English directly facing the place
where he alighted. Unfortunately,
the English was not so precise as it
might have been for it read, in let
ters about a couple of feet deep:
“God Help Prince Arthur.”
Here is a good story about a group
of Scottish lawyers who were gath
ered around a brew of toddy one even
ing. The conversation turned upon a
question of pronouneciation.
“Now, I always say ‘neether,’ " one
of the lawyers said, in discussing the
pronunciation of the word “neither.”
“l say ‘nayther,” remarked an
other lawyer. Turning to the third, he
asked: “What do you say, Sandy?”
Sandy, whose head was a little
muddled by too many helpings of
toddy, woke up from a gentle doze.
“Me?” he said. “Oh. I say ‘whusky.