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About The Henry County weekly. (McDonough, GA.) 18??-1934 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 1921)
Tnhnspital'l^i^j CtZ tO/ZADO f/ZAD<?VAtfFSZ?d By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN. y* ON« i:UM.\(; Mine. Marie V Curie and her discovery JE. of radium, her recent n visit to the United States f* and the presentation to " her by American women (IjYjm of a gram of radium in recognition of her serv sf\) ices to science and hu- Jf* inanity the reading pub -1 ** lie is sufficiently In formed’. Everybody knows that she wiw made much of by our dignitaries; Mint ten degrees were conferred upon foer by our universities; that Presi dent Harding himself made the pres <mtation to her in the White House with appropriate words in the pres of a brilliant gathering of nota bles. and that a tired and happy wom an finally sailed away with her precious gram of radium stored in a mahogany earn* lined with steel and lead. She said she was going to take a real rest «od that she hoped in September to ,g» back to her work in the Curie In stitute in Paris —now that she again has radium to work with. The insti tute divides its work along two main tines. One has to do with •Urn study 9f radium and radioactive substances purely from tbe viewpoint of y>e jdiys iciuti ■„ tbe other deals with their appli cation to (lie treatment of human ail ments. She will also carry on an ex feu.sive investigation of mesa thorium, another radioactive substance —enough tf this was presented to her to bring Ulur value of the combined gift to $165,- 400. I But where ttiis American radium came from and how it was produced fe another story, which may profitably lie told In this connection. It is espe cial!) interesting, inasmuch as the to tal world's supply of radium is esti mated at only 140 grams (a gram is wie twenty-eighth of an ounce). The ainstration by comparison shows how itiual! is this amount. The lower sec tion represents that, made by the prin cipal American radium refinery, tlie oiark section that made by other Amer- Hran refineries and the upper layer Unit produced abroad. So, though radium was not produced in the Uni ted States till 1016, this country now A*s j*ade about five times as much as rest of the world. » While Mine, Curie, by discovering radium, introduced a new conception !&}•» the fundamental problems of ex Lrtmce. she actually produced very lit tle mdium, since she was denied ttie ores with which to work. Moreover, •he sine it all away to the medical profession of Mu rope. A very small portion found its way to New? \ t>rk. In 1911 the late Joseph M. Flannery of Pittsburgh, who had made a success with vanadium as an alloy for steel, devoted his attention lo the produc tion of radium. The ores of otjter countries being out of the question. * fir turned to the earnotite deposits mf southwestern Colorado. Prior to Mir World war this earnotite ore had Iwen shipped to French and German producers of radium. The mining and handling of carno #ite ore in southwestern Colorado is attended with difficulties. The region Is desolate and practically uninhab ited. Water is scarce. Flannery had troubles. He had to train new #uen. He finally established headquar ters at the only spring of clear water «r!thin 100 miles: here the Standard Chemical company maintains all the ttffices for its mining work, transporta tion and supplies. Eighteen miles •tvay the company built the largest radium concentration mill In the world. through which has passed the #rre from which has been refined more tfuin half the world’s supply of radl arw. Burros carry the ores from t tc> tallies to the mill, and water and sup sj! es to the miners. Mine. Curie worked on European wes which contained about one gram mS radium to every five or six tons. In the Colorado ores there is about J^BDi j jggjjr _ 3, / 'SJUF>jRZ;Tr one gram to every 500 tons. More over, ttie carnotlte miner is a pocket hunter. Sometimes the ore appears on the surface and along rim rocks; then extraction" is easy. More fre quently the ore is found under a heavy overload of other material; then reg ular mining tunnels are run and dyna mite Is used to break the rock for transportation to the surface. The pockets vary widely; some contain only a few pounds, while exceptional pockets have contained 1 ,S(K) tons. First, of course, the pocket must l>e found. Prospecting is done by drill ing in likely spots with jack hammers and with diamond drills. Where the overlay is not more than 25 feet deep the jack hammer, operated by portable gasoline compressors and compressed air, is the cheapest method of work ing. Under other conditions the dia mond drrtl is used. Hamilton Foley writes for the Pan American Union an interesting ac count of the operations of the com pany and of the production of the radium presented to Mme. Curie; the pictures used herewith are among the illustrations, lie says in one place: “Let us follow the various opera tions from the extraction of the ore to the final recovery of the radium. At the concentration mill in the wilds of Colorado 500 tons of ore are re duced to about 125 tons. In a pow dered form this quantity is shipped in 100-pound sacks, by wagon and, where possible, by motor trucks, the 65 miles to Placerville, Colo. Here a narrow-guage railroad takes it to the transcontinental railroad at Salidn, Colo. From Salida it travels the 2,300 miles to Canonsburg. Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh, where the company maintains its concentration plant. No. *> “It should he noted that at the mill jin Colorado, and in the operations pertaining to it. some 300 men are necessary to carry through all the de tailed work. Also, that when the ore is taken up by the Colorado mill, there is only 1 part radium for every 400,000,000 parts of the ore; but when the ore reaches the mill at Canons burg the proportion is 1 part of radi um to 100,000,000 parts of the ore. “The task of the Canonsburg men is to reduce this mass of ore to less than a quarter of a ton, and In such a way that whatever radium may have been in the greater mass will be found in the small residue. This is done with regularity and precision, notwithstand ing that in the elimination of the 100,- 000,000 parts of undesirable material the Canonsburg plant has to use 10,- ( 000 tons of distilled water, 1,000 tons of coal, and 300 tons of chemicals. It should be noted in this connection that whatever small quantity of va nadium and uranium there may be In this material is saved while this final reduction is being made. “The actual recovery of whatever radium there may be In the tons of ma terial handled at these two great con centration plants is made elsewhere. I When the 123 tons of material that reached Canonsburg from the mill in tlie West have been reduced to less j than a quarter ton. this residue j is sent to the radium research labor atories of tlie company in the form jof radium barium chloride. By sue- HENRY COUNTY WEEKLY, McDONOUGH, GEORGIA rn tt47MpOZttjy<? OZZF GO -51^' —" Zilmmmm I&UM&Pf carmAr/vtti cesslve fractional crystallizations ot the radium chloride and, at a later stage, of the bromide, most of the radium is obtained in a salt contain ing over J)5 per cent of pure radium bromide. Bv still further chemical treatment the bromide is converted into the sulphate or the chloride, and in tlie therapeutic use of radium these two salts find the largest use.” Mme. Curie, several years ago by general request, fixed an international radium standard. This is deposited in Paris and the leading cities of the world have replicas of it. So now radium preparations are measured by comparing the electrical energy car ried by their gamma rays with that of the international standard. While radium has still many mysteries, it may be said for the benefit of the general public that Its energy appears to be given off in three rays, which are known as the Alpha, Beta ami Gamma rays. It is stated that the Alpha and Beta rays are electrb-al and that the Gamma ray is rather a vibration than a ray. The Alpha ray is believed to comprise 85 per cent of radium’s activity; it travels with about the speed of light and has no penetrative power. The Beta ray is about 10 per cent of the activity, travels with about 1-15 the speed of light and can penetrate about an inch and one-fifth of lead. The Gamma ray can penetrate more than three inches of lead; when It strikes a hard substance it breaks up into two rays corresponding to the Alpha and Beta rays. It is the Gamma ray that is used in bloodless surgery. The Alpha ray does not burn. The Rota ray is kept from the patient by a screen that ab sorbs it. The Gamma ray seems to have the peculiar quality of picking out useless or harmful tissues for Its first attack; it will harm useful tis sues only after harmful tissues have been burnt away or dissolved. Radi um is handled in glass tubes incased in lead containers. Those who handle it constantly usually get pretty badly burned sooner or later. Flesh burned oy radium cannot bq healed; it simply disappears and is gone. One of Mme. Curie’s hands has been affected and her general health has been under mined by intensive wartime work with radium. * A gram of radium makes a small thimbleful. Its current price is $120,- 000. A gram is divided into a thous and parts, each of which is called a milligram and sells for $l2O. Physi cians who use it have from 50 to 25C miligrams. The state of New York has recently purchased 2Vi grams foi use in the treatment of cancer. With radium worth $120,000 a thim bleful. how is it that the dials of even cheap watches can be made luminons ! by its use? It’s this way: The lum inous material on the dial is a com i bination of a most minute portion of real radium and a special zinc sul | phide. These atoms are so small that | it would take hundreds of millions lof them to cover an inch. As each atom explodes, a projectile too small to be seen under a microscope flies off | and strikes a crystal of the zinc ox ide. The heat generated by the im pact makes a flash visible to the eye. As these explosions occur at the rate I of about 200,000 a second on the watch ■ dial, their combined flashes make the dial luminous. GEORGIA HAPPENINGS OF TIMELY INTEREST Dublin. —Announcement has lately reached here that an examination to secure a new postmaster at this place will be held soon. Several applicants /Contemplate taking the examination and a lively contest is expected. V. ,L. Stanley is the present postmaster, having held the office under the past ,two administrations. Hawkinsville. —After colliding with the pier of the drawbridge at Haw kinsville the steamer Jewel, which plies the Ocmulgee river from Haw kinsville to points down the river, sank heavily loaded with steel for the new bridge being built at this point. The boat was owned and op erated by Capt. Jack Roebuck. Atlanta.—Oil companies operating in Georgia will bring legal proceedings within a few days to test the con stitutionality of the gasoline tax of one cent a gallon provided in a bill passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Hardwick, it was announ ced by R. N. Reed, president of the Reed Oil company. Arlington. An enthusiastic and well-attended meeting was held here recently under the auspices of the Arlington division of the Calhoun county farm bureau, for the purpose of working out a cropping system for this community. County Agent A. E. Gibson submitted a plan, including the growing of melons and cucumbers. Dublin.—A mistrial was declared in the Laurens superior court here re cently by Judge Kent in the case of George Walker, fifteen-year-old youth on trial charged with the murder in connection with the death of George Avery, seventeen, recently, at Orianna near here. Walker, it is said, is the youngest defendant charged with mur der ever to face trial, in this section of Georgia. Juliette. —The resolution presented to congress by the Macon Bunting- Williams post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, urging that the bill now pend ing in congress providing for the pay ment of a bonus to the soldiers in the world war b 's so amended as to in clude all soldiers who served their country in any war upon foreign soil has met with much favor by Monroe county veterans of the Spanish-Amer ican war. Savannah. —Shackleford, aged 32, a business mann of Portsmouth, Va.; his wife and five children were ser iously injured, none of them fetally, recently near Riceboro, when the car in which they were driving was struck by Seaboard Air Line train No. 1, Savannah for New York. Witnesses of the accident are said to have shout ed warnings, but the autoists failed to slow down in time to avoid being strock. The fast train stopped with record promptness. Toccoa. —An unidentified woman on Southern train No. 13D adopted a novel method of ridding herself of her baby as the train left Toccoa. As the con ductor called “all aboard,” the woman suddenly rose from her seat and hand -3d the baby to a woman near her, with the request that the other woman hold the child for a moment. She then jumped off the train leaving the baby in the arms of the other woman. No trace has been found of the woman who left the train. Arlington.—A meeting was held here recently under the auspices of the Arlington division of the Calhoun county farm bureau, for the purpose of working out a cropping system for this community. County Agent A. E. Gibson submitted a plan that was lauded by those present. It called for the growing of melons and cucumbers. To arouse still more interest, the banks and the Arlington Wholesale company have offered prizes for the best original cropping plan for a one horse plan. Americus. —Fifty thousand dollers will be expended immediately in re locating and rebuilding that part of the Dixie highway between the Sum ter county line and Leesburg. A con tract for the work has just been given to Dover & O’Shields, of Montezuma, by the board of county commissioners of Lee county. Half of the money to be spent will be federal aid funds; $20,000 will be raised by‘a Lee county bond issue, and $5,000, the amount al located to Lee county, will be state aid funds. Atlanta. —Governor Hardwick an nounced the appointment of Lew J. Kilburn, of Macon, as a member of the state industrial commission to suc ceed W. P. Raol, resigned. He was named to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Raol. The position calls for a salary of $4,000. a year. Mr. Kilburn was sworn in by the governor recently and has assumed his new duties. Mr. Kilburn received the indorsement of labor leaders in all parts of the state. He served for many years as fore man of the composing room of The Macon News, and has served also as president of the Federation of Labor. He also has served several terms as a member of the state legislature. Many ills Due To Catarrh The mucous membranes through out the body are subject to catarrhal congestion resulting in many senoua complications. PE-RU-NA Wall Known and Rollabla Coughs, colds, nasal catarrh, stom ach and bowel troubles among the most common diseases due to catarrh* 31 A° very° dependable remedy after protracted sickness, the grip or Span ish Flu. . ~ . PE-RU-NA is a good medicine to have on hand tor emergencies. Tatlits or liqiri *»“ buj*m IN USE FIFTY YEARS RDfIDCV week te ?r°e n e jla II || V Short breathing re- VIIVI E lieved in a few hoursi •welling reduced in a few day*; regulates tha liver, kidneys, stomach and heart; purifies the blood, strengthens tha entire system. Wrrfa for From Trial Treatmant. COLLUM DROPSY REMEDY CO., DepLE. On ATLANTA. GA. Justifiable Aloofness. “Wasn’t it Omar Khayyam who asked for a book of verse and a .jug of wine?” “I don’t know,” replied Miss Cay enne. “I don’t read him. In view of tlie jazz poetry that now circulates and the bootlegging incident to alco holics. I am convinced that Omar Is not at all a proper person.” Cuticura for Sore Hands. Soak hands on retiring in the hot suds of Cuticura Soap, dry and rub in Cu ticura Ointment Remove surplus Ointment with tissue paper. This is only one of the things Cuticura will do if Soap, Ointment and Talcum are used for all toilet purposes. Advertisement Sparrows Put Up a Fight When workmen, about to repair the roof of the Presbyterian church in Danville, Pa., used burning sulphur in an attempt to exterminate sparrows which had nested in the church’s bel fry. they were attacked in force by the birds and driven from the roof in confusion. Trustees of the church are considering offering a reward for the extermination of the birds. 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