The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-06-22
SCIENTISTS TRY
TO LEARN ITS
SECRETS
Mrs. Whitelaw Reid Makes
Present to Red Cross Guild
at San Mateo

at San Mateo
At the Red Cross guild hospital Il
San Mateo is a tiny bottle which
though of very small dimensions, i
valued at $4,000 and is the gift O
Mrs. whiteIaw Reid, wife Of the Ameri
can ambassador TO the court of 81
James.
It's existence has been kept strictl,
secret. 1t is laid away in strong box
away from danger of robbery or de
struction from fire. None but the sen
sitive fingers of the trained scientis
are allowed to hold the valuable phial
All others must keep their distance
And yet
No priceless ruby reposes therein
No precious stone is guarded there
For, greater than precious stone
greater than much fine gold or glitter
ing jewel is that contained in th
bottle.
What is it?
Radium-pure radium; all the wa,
from London town; from the foul an,
dark passages of the Cornish mine
radium extracted from a mass of pitch
blend; radium, radiating hope in it
steady glitter; tiny piece of radiun
costing $4,000.
Gift Last April
The gift was made last April TO
experimental purposes. but it wa
never published, never told to any bu
the few physicians and scientists VIII
were to labor around the mineral, hop
ing to wrest from the shining sub
stance the secret of its cure.
The reason for the secrecy was :;
practics1 one. Tire hospital Official
knew that once the existence of tn
radium in their possession becam
known there would follow numberles
requests for its use This would no
serve the purpose of the donor. Fo
the gift was primarily for experimental
purposes. Radium and its uses is still
in its infancy. It's various strength
are as yet mystery to the scientists
and it is to unravel these mysteries
to obtain some fundamental basis Of
which to conduct their operations. tha
the gift was made. Until physician
can arrive at certain definite conclu
sions the operations will be to a lare
extent somewhat more than proble
matical.
Near Mrs. Reid's Home
The reason that gift was made I
the Red Cross guild hospital in Sa
Mateo is because Mrs. Whitelaw Rel
has her home IN that section a
the country. She was undoubtedl
spurred to this step by the great inter
est which London scientists are talxini
in radium. She recognized the wort
of such a line of investigation. and
not caring to see the physicians q
her own land hampered in tbei
studies by lack of funds, quietly cam
to the forefront with her gift O
10000 The radum was purchased i
London and sent by her to California
Along with the news of the 9if
came dispatches from London Stain
that Lord Iveagh and Sir Ernest Cas-
sci had jointly given to the redium in
stitute of that city a gift of $3.50. 90
for the purchase of-71a grammes of tn
precious mineral to be used for ex
periments, and the California physi
clans will keep watch over their Lon
don brethren, working with them i
an effort to solve the mysteries.
While California and London are ex
perimenting with pure radium. the of
fcials of the Flower hospital in Ne,
York have discovered a new system @
applying the mineral in gelatinize
form. BY this system the cost
greatly lessened and radium may b
purchased for 500 an ounce.
Radium at $4,000, 900 a Pound
NEW YORK, June 21.-The price O
radium is now $S,ooo,O00 per pound O
IL ounces.
This price has been established b
an order given to a British company b
Lord Iveagh and Sir Faix Cassell 70
seven and half grams, which is littr
less than one-quarter of an ounce. an
for which they have contracted to pa
$3.50, 900.
The radium is to be used in expert
mental work in an institution recent
founded for the investigation of cure