Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1910-06-23

loSt lHeiI lives WuiiG experimenting III
the effort to make gold Charles
Johnson and George Minear, both Of
Fairfield, Iowa, experimental with
process which they had invented after
great labor. Just what the process
was has never been certainly known,
and never will be. 1t is known, how
ever, that it involved in some way the
use Of the then novel X-rays. At last
success seemed to them sure. They
dreamed of wonderful wealth, of lives
of luxury and leisure.
Death in Horrible Form.
The laughter of incredulous friends
only made them smile to themselves,
SO sure were they that they had dis
covered the magic secret They spent
their money to build laboratory at
Fairfield and there they melted their
metals in crucible behind locked
doors. 1t was while carrying the cru
chile filed with the molten metal into
the chamber where they were to ap-
ply the X-rays that one Of them Stun
b'ed. Both fell. The liquid poured
over them. Fortunately, death came
soon and relieved them from the ter
rife torture.
"Faking' in the olden days was
dangerous business. Histories of
alchemy relate the execution of more
than one alchemist who boosted that
he had discovered the great secret.
One of the most interesting stories
of alchemy, perhaps, is that of Sir
William Ramsey Sir William thought
he had discovered a process for chang
Ing lithium into copper by the use of
radium. So certain was he that he
had succeeded that he announced his
discovery" Ito the scientific world
He had rightly won a great reputation
as chemist and scientist, and so the
world of science accepted his state
ment and began to wonder if, after all,
there was not something in the theory
of transmutation.
Could Not "Make Good"
Alas! for the hope of the "discov-
erer." All too soon it was proved
that there had been a great mistake.
Yet no one ever questioned that Sir
William was ANYTHING but sincere in
his belief that he had learned the
secret.
Paracelsus, the great philosopher,
charlatan and alchemist, labored for
years and finally convinced himself
that he had discovered the elixir Of
life. This concoction he was sure
would insure eternal youth to any one
who drank it, He was sincere in his
conviction. He took drink of his
wonderful concoction and straightway
died.
In England, soon after the Norman
conquest, Jew announced that he
could convert iron into gold and sill
yer. He traded his secret with a
Norman baron, in whose castle he was
| sncarcerated, for his life. So eloquent
| must he have been in his description
Gof his discovery that the stern noble
/ man believed him and actually al.
lowed him to go his way before trying
the process. When he did try it and
found that the lump Of iron remained
/ iron and did not turn into the longed
for gold, old narratives relate that he
later organized an expedition to go
to Palestine, whittier the Jew had
fed, to wreak vengeance on the pris.
oner who had fooled him. u
Most famous of gold makers" per
haps in history, or at least compare
lively modern history. was Dubois, al
u one time monk He deceived Louis
XIII. of France and Cardinal Richelieu
il into believing that he had solved the
~ great MYSTERY 0f n1rharou KS