The daily Alaskan., 1907-06-10
The Elixir of Life
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IOrIrlnnl

met my old college Chum Dlsbrow. We hadn't met since we left college, twen. ty-hve years before, and would not have known each other had We not been introduced. Dlsbrow was known to me by reputation, for he had become eminent In physics. I also followed science and have achieved some repu. tatiou In baeteriolOgy. When the bride and groom entered the drawing room for the ceremony, DlsbrOw and l fol- lowed
 What a perfect picture of youthful beauty" l whispered to Dlsbrow, re- ferrlug to the bride
 How old would you take her to beT he asked.
 "Twenty-tw0 or twenty-three."
 A singular expression passed over bis face.
 .Do you think her older than that" Suppose I should tell you she Is over forty"
 "I would doubt your sanity"
 At this point the marriage service commenced, and our remarks ceased, When 1t was over and we had offered our congratulations, Dlsbrow and ] went to the supper room to partake Of the dellcacles displayed there. Help ing ourselves, we found a COzy corner and sat down to chat and eat
 "Estwlck," said DIsbrow 10 me, "I'm going to celebrate our meeting after so many years by letting you Into a se- cret We are brother scientists; there. fore don't consider what I am about to tell you a breach of confidence, or, rather, l consider the professional con ddeuCe superior to the Individual Ohll gatlOn. Do you underestimate"
 Perfectly"
 Well, the girl we have just seen married Is forty-twO years old"
 I gave a gasp of astOnishment.
 But l must go back to the begin ming. You know when left college something was expected of me"
 "You were considered a prodigy" ] interrupted.
 Ut wasn't the prodigy; 1t was luck, just as It was with Roentgen, only my luck came long before his. l made a similar discovery years ago. l have applied 1t as no one else has applied 1t. Now, you know that from the mo ment We begin to live We are attacked by microbes. Cancel the micrObe, and you cancel old age. From experiments on Insects found that by exposing thg larvae to a ray since called radlum J arrested decay. But at the same timn l arrested growth. From Insects I ez perlmented on frogs, kittens, dogs and other animals. l have a pet collie ar teen years old as lively as a puppy"
 "DisbrOw, has your learning made you madT
 NO; l am as sane as you. But ] knew that If offered any such Ideas to the world I'd be put iu limbo, and as I dread lunatic asylums and value my freedom I have kept my mouth shut"
 For heavens sake, go On."
 This Is no place to give you any thing more than a preface to what ! have proposed to tell you about the bride. I did make my discoveries known to one man, old YOllmar, our professor Of chemistry at college, That was just as had made up my mlnd to try to arrest decay in human beings. Not long after that YOllmar came to me and told me that two multimllliOn- aires desired to join their vast for tunes by the marriage of a son of the one to a daughter of the other, but the boy was but two years of age, while the girl was twenty-fOuC. If they wait ed till the boy became Of age, the girl would be too old to produce an heir. At least such SD event would not be likely. Besides, the difference Of age would be 8 great obstacle to their marriage. The old man asked ne # J would make an eIOrt to arrest decay on the part of the girl"
 Come, come, Disbrow, what non. sense is thisT
 Your incredullty demonstrates the necessity Of keeping my secret If you tell 1t, sooner or later they'll have me behind closed doors. You haven't the scientific head old YOllmaT had. He umbled to the Idea at once"
 GO on with your yarn"
 I'm not going to try amid thIs clat' ter of dishes and voices to tell you my process. l will only say that the stun bling block ln my way was the fact that the electrOns discharged from radium are Obstructed in their passage through aIr. was therefore obliged to put the subject in a receiver and exhaust the air"
 (Which means death"
 "Ah. There's where the wonderful power Of radlum comes In. It is sui, aclent to keep life In the subject for an Indefinite period"
 But where did you get your appa, ratus? Sufficient radlum for the pur. pose would cost a fortune"
 "The girls father opened bis bank account to me"
 "Well|
 My subject was bit frightened and her father-the only one except herself in the seCTet-was beside him