The Washington herald., 1914-01-11
American People Are Indig-
nant Upon Seeing Ore De-
posts Slipping from Their
Hands.

Like the wave of hot indignation which
sometimes sweeps over a nation and leads
irresistibly to war. the realization that
the United States is in danger of losing
one of its choicest possessions has been
suddenly borne to the minds OF the pub
lie In the last few weeks
Radium will cure cancer. And the
American people are on the verge Of al
lowing its precious deposits Of Shrnotite
ore, now the principal source of this
strangest Of metals. to be shipped abroad
for the benefit of foreign institutions.
II ever protection Is needed, 1t is here.
Lane Urge. Quick Action.
Franklin X. Lane. Secretary Of the In
terror, has informed Congress that II
should act and act quickly. The treat
ment Of Representative Bremner, of New
Jersey, who is suffering from a great
diseased mass that surrounds one
shoulder, has enforced the warning.
Fortunately most Of the deposits oil
carnotite are still government property.
Even should the private store OF ores De
sold abroad in the highest market the
people of the United States. of whom one
in every ten over the age of fifty is Cor
vas) doomed 10 die of cancer, have still
an enormous amount of raw material
with which to work. ~
Every bit of radium in the hands OF
physicians in the United states WORKS
twenty-four hours day at saving lie,
but still can only reach one out OF thou-
sands.
probably no medical discovery has ever
SO excited the nation as the recent an
nouncement of certain cancer cures. Even
despite the recent failure OF the mucn
touted turtle serum for tuberculosis tne
public has been ready and eager to De-
iieve. though seeming miracles are re-
lated. =
millions Needed for Plants.
The United States not only needs to
save its public radium treasures from pri-
yate exploitation, but millions OF dollars
are needed to set up plants where the ores
NAV be nut through the. $50 steps neces-
sarv to eliminate the tremendously tiny
nronortion of the healing salts And, too,
money Is needed for experimentation.
Some of the best processes for extract
ing the radium are secrets, 1eaiousiy
guarded, withheld as water might oe kept
from a tortured Indian captive. new
processes of extraction MUST De pertect-
ed Inc cost Ol fduiuhh iaNs~ -. - -
down from its present attitude Oh ss'oO0'V0'
an ounce.
The man who brought us to our senses
on radium more than any other one per-
son is DIR. Howard A. Kelly, the ceie-
brated Baltimore surgeon. To him. aiter
Nine. Curie, the woman discoverer. Is
due the credit for the marvellous cures
by radium recently effected and those to
come.
For ten years DR.. Kelly has been care
fully experimenting on radium.. For ten
wears he and his associates have care
fully refrained from public utterance OF
sensational nature. But now he is con-
vinced OF the power of radium in disease.
Moreover. he sees great emergency.
work. for Public Good.
IT is to save patients by the thousand.
wh.re he Is able to save them singly In
nj. nr;vate hospital ht Baltimore. that
he has now come forward. He tells Of
his repeated cures simply to impress the
public with the greatness Of the emer-
gency.
of being gobbIed up by trust: It's price
has already been raised by MONOPOLY
methods. Recently a group Of Germans
invaded England and bought up all the
radium they could fnd with q price ON
it. Those well-informed are. warning
against q European monopoly which viii
mean a most unfair division Of the worlds
tiny store Of radium.
DIR. Kelly and his associate. DR.. Rob
art Abbe. Of New York, told the Phila-