Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-09

+ ~. cuficieut TO accomplish TINS
,,,rnose The government has determined
that a supply of this strange ma'eria'
rnust he developed It's proven power 10
heal the otherwise incurable diseases VI
the world. it's promise of banishing pam
from countless bodies that are never WITH
out it, is a spur to herculean effort. Anu
Uncle SAM ever humane. is aroused.
\ radium bureau has been established
bv the government at Denver. in the cen
ter of what there is reason TO beheNe
will become tire greatest producing re-
rion for that precious material that there
is in the world. r. b. Moore. physicai
chemist of the bureau of mines, has been
placed in charge, and around MN are
beine gathered a number of the greatest
experts on radium and the rare metals
that can be found in the United States
These scientists are going into the land
Of pitchblende and carnotite, the ores
from which radium comes. They are
uoing to wrest the radium from these
ores according to the methods pursued
i'm Europe They are going to apply the
faIlow minds of western scientists. TO
this thing upon which few men have
worked and attempt to find new ways of
refinement that are as yet unknown.
They are going to tell the American pros
pector and mine worker of the earmarks
OF radium-producing ore, that every man
who gees afield with pick may keep a
weather eye out for new sources
For some years past the representatives
of certain indefinite interests in Vienna
Paris and London have been Journeyln8
to such points as Central City. Col, and
there purchasing what few tons OF pltch-
bIende and carnotite that the gold and
silver mines whereabouts incidentally pro-
duced 1t was given out that these pur-
cnases were because of the uranium that
these ores contained. Uranium is a rare
metal and OF rather great value. But 1t
has become well known scientific fact
that wherever there is uranium there Is
radium and that the two occur in very
definite proportions. The known produc-
ton of radium from other fields. as COM
pared with the world production, leans
to the conclusion that these western ship
ments of considerable Importance in
the world production of radium.
in a ton of this best ore of carnotite
there is radium to an amount about as
great as a pin head In a ton of pitch
blende, If such an amount is ever gotten
together, there is piece of radium as
big as grain of wheat. The shipment
TO Vienna or Paris is expensive and the
refinement of the particle out of the mass
is still more expensive. Only the best
grade of these ores may be SO handled.
No ore containing less than per cent
uranium oxide can be marketed. There
is very little of ii. There remains In
Colorado and Utah on the dumps of
many of their mines 1 per cent carnotite
ore and ores that are little better and
a little worse than these. Were Ii pos
sible to work these lower grade ores the
radium production would increase by
leaps and bounds. The radium bureau at
Denver expects to learn how to work
these ores
There sits in Washington DIR. Charles
L. Parsons chief OF the division of min
eral technology OF the bureau OF mines.
The radium experimentation Is under his
guidance He has made a survey OF the
sources of materials that yield 1t In the
United sStatess4 Pitchblende is the sub