Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1912-08-28
4! LOST BOTTLE OF RADIUNI.
extraordinary Possibilities of Crime
And Accident
New York American.)

A tiny tube Of radium from the
laboratory of Madame Curie has
been lost in Paris. Inconvenience
terrors and dangers surround this
apparently trifng occurrence.
The tube Of radium may cause
death or mutilation to innocent and
ignorant persons, or, in the hands OF
criminals, 1t may become an instru-
ment for committing crimes that will
defy detection.
This tube Of radium Is shooting
out rays at the speed of $4,000
miles a second. The powers of those
rays are only partly understood, but
1t is known that they can cause ter
rible injury and death, according to
the length Of exposure.
The lost tube was given to a mes
senger for conveyance to an Ameri-
can doctor In Paris, On arriving AT
hig destination thc messenger found
that he had drop2cd the tube OF had
been robbad o. il,
Already the suggestion has been
widely spread hat radium might be
used In crime, and has certainly been
acted upon in some instances.
The police are Investigating a
series Of crimes believed to have
been committed by a gang moving
in fashionable society in Paris. The
criminals are Of good education and
nOSSpS n rpcnIrnnc al
kinds. One Of their number is a
brilliant and beautiful woman Of
noble birth, who has played the part
OF a social hostess with great success.
They plotted to get possession of
the fortune Of a millionaire named
Count de Castillon. Having made
MS acquaintance, they invited him
to stay at a handsome chateau they
rented in the country. The woman
criminal and one of the men posed
as host and hostess. With them was
their beautiful young daughter.
After a week in this house the
count was stricken with an attack If
general paralysis. A doctor was
promptly called in and failed to give
the sick man any relief. He was
greatly puzzled by the case, for he
was unable to find any explanation
or the disease or any history which
might have led up to it.
The count gradually grew worse
and died in the co~nspirators' house.
The woman expressed the deepest
grief at this event, and explained
that the dead man had been engage
cd to her young daughter.
The doctors suspicious had been
slightly aroused by the behavior of
the people in the house. A strange
circumstance suddenly strengthened
these suspicious.
While attending the dying man
the doctor had accidentally carried
with his instruments an or
dlhar collar button belonging to the
patient. When he discovered It he
paced 1t on a glass dish in his Of
flee and forgot it for some DAVIS
Ihen he sufferer died.
Inc doctor picked up the glass
uish ana was %astounded to find that
IL mad assumed a strong, violet tint.
ms as nearly everybody knows, IS
the invariable effect of radium on
glass The doctor Immediately car
ried the button and dish to n la
bOratory.
There 1T was found that the shaft
of the button contained a tiny sneck
radium of high power, so pIaccd
that tht.c was only n partition OF a
siSty-second of an inch between it
and the outside Of the button which
would rest against the wearer'e neck.
The medical men informed the DO
lice of the circumstances. The latter
found that the deceased had left a
will leaving all his fortune o the