Gilpin observer., 1914-02-19
ITS VALUE AND USE IN AIDING
SUFFERING HUMANITY
BY Alfred SkeeIs,


manding the attention of the .civiliz-
ed nations today, as the metal radi-
um. The miracles of the past, sink
into insignifitance in comparison
with the wonderful cures that are
now being made with this little
known element. That Gilpin county
chould be the storehouse wherein
has been locked for ages the great
est boon for suffering humanity in
the history of mankind is indeed
marvel. We who have believed in
the vast treasures contained in our
mountains and in that belief have
stood by our county in adversely as
well as in prosperity are about to
receive the reward that is due those
who kept the faith and never falter-
ed.
There are in the United States
200, 900 human beings who are suffer
ers from the dread disease of cancer.
A disease, that so far has been in
durable. Death takes its toll of 75,-
900 each year from this great army
of sufferers, most of them women.
Three to four years of life is all that
can be expected for anyone who is
attacked by the monster. The dis
ease makes itself manifest, general
~ in middle life, when the one WHO
is doomed should be thinking of
making ready for a quiet and peace
fuI Journey down life's pathway to
the great beyond. To Nine. Curie is
due the glory of discovering the ra-
dium element in pitchblende ores,
which is the cure for cancer. This
week has seen a shipment of pitch
blende leave our county to be manu-
factured into radium which was val
ued at $4,000, as stated in the bill
of Iading. Its true value to human
ity cannot be measured in dollars
and cents. To state that the value
OF thfs one shipment is nearer $780,
100000 than the amount stated, is
will so prove it. 1t is but of recent
date that the value of our pitch
blende deposits have been realized
by our own government, while for
eign nations have been supporting
radium institutes for many years in
the past. At the U. S. Bureau of
Mines laboratory in Denver, work has
been progressing for the past year
in the way of solving a cheaper pro-
cess for the extraction of radium
from our ores. How different from
few years ago, when the pioneer
company organized in Telluride in
1906 was practically put out of busi-
ness by the post office authorities
and its officers threatened with ar
rest and charged with misuse of the
mails. stigmatizing the claims then
made for radium as obviously ex-
travagant and false''. Now the gov
ernment in the person of Secretary
Lane. is attempting to monopolize
the discoveries Of our hardy and faith
full prospectors and rob them of their
just reward for their toll and labor
as evidenced in the proposed with
bill now before congress. For con-
gress to enact this bill into a law at
the present time, would be a great
calamity. as II would mean the death
knell to all prospecting on lands that
were not already taken up and locat-
ed. Vast areas Of our own county
would be withdrawn from exploitation
not only for, radioactive ores, but
for gold, silver, lead and copper min
erals.
To obtain radium from uranium
ores requires more than three months
time in which the ore. as it is reduc-
ed in volume, is subjected to a thous-
and treatments to finally reduce 1t
to its metallic element. II is esti-
mated that the direct cost OF produc-
ing one gram of radium is in excess
OF 100000. At Cannonsburg, Penn.
a plant is now producing one gram Of
radium each month. which sells on
open market for $12O,0O0 per gram.
Their product is sold ahead for the
coming year. It cost this concern
$3.50. 900 to successfully produce their
first two grams Of radium. SO that
they practically lost $105.0O0 per
gram on their first sales.
The most important property OF ra-
dium. is its radio.activity, upon which
its curative properties depend. Ra-
dium is a metallic element closely re
lated to barium. 1t is difficult to iso.
late It in its metallic state. and af-
ter isolation to keep It in a pure
state, as It reacts with air, forming
the oxide. nitrate and the carbonite