Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-03
RAD|UM AS A CURE
Medical Men Regard Its Posi-
biIitieS as Wonderful.
MAY PUT END TO CANCER
Experiments Being Made With
Radioactive Water.
RADIUM ITSELF IS SCARCE
But There Is Abundance of the
Charged Water for All the AZ
hicted of the World.
RAD1UM ITSELF IS SCARCE
BY WILLIAM Z. CURTIS

By WILLIAM L. CURTlS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
The pitchblende mine at st. Joachims-
thai. Bohemia, from which the radium
of Nine. Curie came is half filled
with water and honeycombed with
springs. 1t is the source Of quite a large
stream which goes tumbling down the
mountain side and follows the valley un-
til IL is lost in the River Tepl and then
goes on through the Elbe into the sea.
Medical men around that part Of the
country believe that the water is heav-
fly impregnated with radium, and people
60 there to battle in il. The accommo-
dations have been primitive and limited
until recently, but now q suitable bath
house has been provided by the Austrian
government and a hotel that will ac-
commodate eighty guests will soon be
erected, II is promised for next season.
and there is every reason to believe that
the sleepy little village of st. Joachims-
thai will ultimately become a popular
resort of invalids vino believe in the
curative properties of radium.
Prof. Joseph Step, who. as / told YOU
yesterday, is officially in charge of the
niue and the extraction of radium from
tne pitcnpIeDOe, teIiS lie tQdt years ago
the water was known to contain some
mysterious property. Most chemists
thought IL was electricity. Now they
know that it is ''radismus," as they have
concluded to call the healing power.
Radium in the Water.
The radium is in the water. There Is
10 doubt of that" said Prof STEP land
we can prove the percentages. We can
measure its strength by photographs or
a plate, or by electric means. but we
have never been able to extract it, We
cannot get hold Of it. 1t is invisible anG
Intangible. II is not a fluid, but force
The water is cold, while that at Carls.
bad is warm. but ! believe that ths
Carlsbad wafer also contains radismus
! believe ii is good for diseases of thu
skin and the blood. and we hope to cure
cancer with il. There is already hos
pital building for the treatment Of dis
eases of the skin. We have had an aver
age of eighty patients a year come I.
ST. Joachimsthal for several years TO
relief from those diseases. Doctors il
Vienna recommend Il.
"we find radioactive water In our min
in large quantities. have found, radio
activity up to 1000 volts for a liter Q
water in fifteen minutes. Water whic
has the radioactive property does nc
contain any dissolved radtum. The waite
In only inductively active-that Is. 1t ha
only absorbed the radioactive gas. Thi
secondary radio-activity. however. doe
not last long: it diminishes about half
four days. In order to retain the radio
activity i'm the water it must not be ez
posed to the air. Counselor Russer Z
the Vienna clinic obtained from this min
quantity Of the residue and charge
water with radio-activity which he use
for baths in the treatment OF govt an
rheumatism. The manner In which ii
radio active water operates 10 still my,
FERROUS. although II Is claimed by man
learned men that radio-acuytty IL Il