Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-12-11
1ws x.Ray IN FRANCE.


- x.ray is being tried in a new
- the chief function of this in
.akie but inquisitive agent Is to
s3ssvate an opaque body, and tell you
sss 4 inside. And hitherto it's SER
'@l. were acceptable alike to what
~ be called its victim and to the
ss.s.tor. A child swallows the family
- 4rnp by accident. and is quite as
..v.ous as the doctor is, to find out
.ssrisel, where the blooming thing has
!sSed. Or maybe there's a bullet hid
~ away somewhere in the tissues Of
human being. having caromed half a
sseen times during its Journey, and
.s;,s having eluded the surgeons probe.
a TOO, with complicated fractures Of
- q what do you-call-it.
~ now the all-revealing emanation
= me vacuum tube has been called in
= service where there "a, or at least
~ be. a conflict Of interests. In
.Iher words. 1t has been invited to act
a customs detective. Rumors of this
- Of thing have drifted across the
N,antic from France two or three
lines within the last few months. But
enctal confirmation has only been re-
s.lvAd by the last mail The latest
psris papers supply full details Of the
sIair.
No a reporter of the Figaro" the
aarector.general of the French customs
..rvice gave "a short but enthusiastic
6eacription of his experiments. A par
~ to be examined, he said. was taken
MO 4 room that had been darkened by
IL lowering Of window curtains. 1t
~ placed between the usual X-ray
sanerator and a microscope, arranged
sunewhat like an enormous opera
Slaas. The latter was mounted on q
YdalIng tripod. On looking into this in
sirrment. one perceived, pictured in
ahadow on the luminous screen which
fook the place of the lenses, the con-
ferts OF the parcel under scrutiny.
II was able this morning." said NJ.
ruiialn, the official in question, Ito
eonnt the % cigars contained in a
pisled box, by viewing it endwise and
idewise. I could see the steel springs
M6den in a velvet-covered chair. In a
poytnl package, carefully sealed and
eubstantially wrapped, I detected two
mperb cuff buttons.
II recognize incalculable advantages
b this system. When people under
sand that dutfable articles which are
packages can be made manifest by
means of the X-rays, they will hesitate
about attempting TO defraud the rev.
enue. On the other hand, the new
method of examination will lessen the
annoyance which honest travellers are
compelled to undergo. There are some
tfifling difficulties to be met with in
providing for the use of the apparatus
ct railway stations and the city gates,
buk these can be overcome. The plan
seems to be well adapted to use both
tor the local and national customs"
Some of the newspapers, however,
question the efficacy of the system.
Tie "Gaulois,' for instance, after a
bitter criticism of the typical customs
on1cer and an extended psychologists al
study of him, refers to the new means
which he will employ. 1t then adds,
cyncally:
He will see the coins in your leather
pure, the steel nails in your boots, the
handle of your toothbrush if it is of
bune, and the glass of your watch.
None of these, though, are dutiable.
But tobacco, matches. laces. new goods;
md materials for clothing he can
scarcely perceive, because they are all
composed of matter that is transparent
to the X-rays. Having made the
apartment absolutely dark, he will ex-
pose your parcels and yourself to these
nys. which, you know. are very bane-
fnl and which burn the flesh lake the
nm Finally, upon the conclusion OF
Hsse propitiatory ceremonies, he leads
you out into the light, and begs you to
open your baggage in order that he
may see what the X-rays have not re-
vealed! Such is progress!"