Bisbee daily review., 1914-01-04
RAD|UM |S ID
 BE KEPT HERE
Government Awakens to Large Interest in This Most
 Precious Metal-Steps To- ward Conservation Taken


 
 WASHINGTON, Jan. 3.-There are i only two grams of radium at present i in the Jnited States. It IS valued at | Si2o. 900 a grain. All of it has been | procured from Europe.
 As a result of this, Secretary of tho Interior Lane proposes to with. | draw all lands of tho public domain i, suspected of containing radium, that l these precious deposits may be SC. , cured for the general good and not be- como the subject of private specula- ton.
 Mir. Lane outlined his plan in letter to Chairman Foster. of the house mines committee. urging i'm. mediate passage of joint congress sional resolution to empower Presi- dent Wilson to make the withdrawals Investigations of the geological sur vey have located public lands be- lieved to contain the precious sub stance, now SO invaluable in medi- cine.
 By the terms of 'he proposed reso- hutton. the secretary of the interior would be authorized "to conduct ex- plorations and researches with v;ov to determining the practcability of dsv"lrDing flcm suol ores iarply of radium and 10 provide for the min. ing and treatment of radium bearing oes in such manner as would best secure a supply of radium for the use
 of the government of the United
 States and the hospitals of this coun. try"
 America Supplies the World "Three-fourths of the radium pro-
 duced in the world during the year 1912" says Secretary Lane. "came from American ores. yet we have ID , to this time. taken no steps whatever , to preserve for our own people this , invaluable metal. and our phy sicians and hospitals are dependent on Euro. , pean laboratories for such supply as they can procure and are subject to whatever monopoly charge the Eu. f ropean laboratories demand for their products"
 [ In view of the known effectiveness , of radium in the treatment of can
 cer and the difficulty now experi.
 enced in obtaining 1t, Secretary Lane
 says that as one person in every 10
 in this country more than 60 years
 of age suffer frcm cancer. Tt is diff. tcult to over-estimate the necessity for securing as large supply as pos sible of this mysterious remedy" Laboratory in Denver.
 Continuing the secretary says: "Radium is found in ores carrying uranium and vanadium, which arc F used extensively in the arts. and pro | oesses by which it Is extracted arc .- secret process has been invented n by the chemists in our bureau Of h mines which promises. from the lab ,. oratory experiments thus far mad,
 to be successful Cndor the endow e lnont of two Americans building f. q now being erected in Denver. (whicl n with its equipment will be opened foi s work this year. in which an effor if will le made tO prove the commercial P. possibility of this American process :, If successful, this process will be giv en to the world and all of the radiun
 secured over and above a small mini :" mum will be property of the Unite,
 States and will be put into the hand U of the United States public health ser
 vice for public use.
 h' U. s. 10 Control Output. h "Under all these circumstances. | h seems to me that the only pruden C. course that the United States can fol is low is to withdraw such of its land le as are supposed to contain radiun Id from public entry This will guar
 against these lands being taken up b re those who would not put them ( ,s their highest and most beneficial use Is, lt would be inhuman to deprive otl st CT nations of access to our radiur Il. deposits II they alone are masters c ,g the secret by which this minera ,d could be secured, and it is believe ,r. there is sufficient amount Of carnS ,r. tite and pitch blende already in pr
 vate ownership in this country { n permit of continued European exper " mentation and production. The pc, " pie of the United States. howeye '' should be entitled to protectio oi against the exhaustion of this r, la- source and its exclusive control h n | fl...s s.tg t.s. ..f.. .l..