The Washington herald., 1914-05-17

the miner on tine docks of Hamburg or
LiN erpool is 5000 a ton II the miner
prefers he can sell his per cent ore
for $50 a ton, loaded on cars, at Placer
Vile, Colo. Prices for radium ores de-
pend on the amount of uranium they
contain. Two per cent carnotite means
that the ore will yield that quantity of
little more than twice the price Of !
per cent ore.
The Miner Does Not Get Rich.
1T is impossible to tell what high
grade ores Will fetch in a market filled
with bidders. A recent sale<of 10 per
cent carnotite was at the rate of sS1s a
ton. But even at $50 ton at the point
of shipment In Colorado the miner will
fall far short of becoming a millionaire.
His ore. as have described. Is found
in small quantities. It must be slowly
sorted by hand. Often II Is sent by
pack train to the nearest wagon road.
Most Of the csrnot.te deposits are from
ten to eighty miles from a railroad and
the ore must be hauled the whole dis
lance by mules. The profit IL not in find.
ing and digging the ore. but in extract
ing the radium contained in the ore.
"A producer Of carnotite may obtain
$6 ton for his ore when 1t reaches
Hamburg. I have shown that the ore
stands him $70.5o ton laid down on the
docks Of that city. margin of SIS looks
big. And 1t would be large were the
miner enabled to load a vessel But his
shipments are small and hts supply is
always uncertain. We have found that
Ss5 ton for Colorado ore in the mar
kets Of Germany or England amounts to
only one-sixth Of the actual value Of the
radium contained in the ore. In other
words. the manufacturer pays sos for
SD worth Of radium.
VIII the price of radium fall? You
ask. No one can answer that question.
The future demand for radium will de-
pend very largely on the successful use
Of the mineral for medical purposes. If
1t can be demonstrated to the satisfac-
ton of the medical profession as a whole
that radium has a decided value in any
one disease. the demand will not only
equal the present supply. but will equal
any supply that Is likely to come into
the markets Of the world.
Can Radism Cure Rheumatism.
Should it be proved. for example, that
treatment with the radium emanation-
with the energy thrown of by the min
eral-is the best for rheumatism-since
one gram of radium chloride Is enough
for treating only 10 persons continuously
1t can be seen that no likely supply in
the immediate. future could equal the
demand. Radium, of course. is not con-
sumed 1t does not wear out. A gram
extracted this year. therefore. Is q perma-
nent addition to the stock on hand
American hospitals have been trying
to buy radium In Europe-radium manu-
featured from our own ores-and have
failed to obtain any, although offers of
100000 a gram have been made in some
instances. A large hospital should have
five grams. So far. American hospitals
and surgeons have only succeeded in pur-
chasing two grams. The indications are
that a radium monopoly has the market
pretty well In hand. l will go further
and say that 1t seems to me, with the
information I possess, that monopolistic
control of the radium industry actually
exists
There are four radium extracting
plants in the world-one in England, one
in France. and two in the United States.
The English company. which began work
in 1910. has a plant in Liverpool and ex-
poets to manufacturs three grams Of