The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1918-09-14
SHORTAGE
FORECAST BY J.. S.
MINE BUREAU MAN

cripple creek. Colo. sept IA
shortage Ut radlum was forecast boy
l'r Richard Is. Moore Of the United
states bureau of mines 30 au address
~" delivered here recently before the
annual meeting of the American lusti-
tut, of Mining Engineers. Hadium ~
largely Gin used On the faces Of
watches and clocks ana other similar
PURPOSES. the speaker said
II Is Il great pity that our supply
~ I1dlum N being disseminated m
thi6 manner" said Dr Moore hut -
The PHYSICIANS and surgeons ut the
country are not purchasing "uuuL va
dunn 20 MAX" the Industry "a financial
success. q g. natural that the mann
ttCturcrs should take other means of
creating e demand The day is not
fa~ f' 'o my Judgment. when We
.N1n greatly regret tho r1dium that
ias boon lost 300 this way
.Hadium has "A most d,oidcd usc-
tulucs- at the present Time nine I'M
a~trulutnts used uu a.rplanua have dtala
ultd" luminous with radiu.u paint u
o. employed tu the sHutr manner for
coupus-"s ana guusiEhts. The eff
cheney ug uight iifiubt with both ma
"tuD guns and artill'ft, has been
greatly increased ny IA, usc ui tnos"
luminous stEht. uthcr uses cIuUpt
De- specified at thD present tlu', in %
.ulllr paper.
en- b. iitlicul, o. estimate tho cNuct
mount VI rtdtum Zoo existence" az the
prcsrut time probably ~ is sumc-
whore around thIu, uuuDr@ ui rtdium
element Considerably more than half
the amount ~ rtdiur now iu exit
cuc' .lus come from Colorado and
tab t,ruuttt, ores.
"SiN years ago the engineers 1f tic
bureau Cd. miUes estimated that az the
current rate OF production th" de
puslts might last, commercially. ten
ur tVcly" years. At the present Time.
u is yer, difficult fee obtain urr. Most
uf the deposits are owned hy iIv OPP
Grating rudiuU companies tn, pro
ducttou has increased very greatly
during the war and ! am very uouht-
Iul whether "" can depend upon u
CaIuutttv jcpusIt- 90 Yield commercial
quantities uf ore tur more than siN
ur seven Years longer u is my judy
m"nt that the fields viii not produce
more han 100 additional grams Of ra-
diun element at the mosf-If that
much This would about double the
worlds present supply. but. ON ace
count 90 the large use 81 radium in
rau,or treatment. such au amount, al
though large scientifically. would hc
small lu proportion tu the probable
demand
"Oue way of preventing the dissim-
nation aud lo-s 81 radium rs TO- pro-
via q substitute Mcsothurium iv an
excellent Substitute IN mann ways It's
half lfs~ pcriod ~ much shorter than
that Of rllium. when first prepared.
u gradually increases Ia activity.
comes to a maximum, and then bogpls
20 lose ms activity. After '%ripcniuE'
for about 10 g after hcinE prepared.
n can hc used Tor luminous paint lust
us efficiently az radium. It's useful
mes, for such purposes VIII last for
four or five years. which rs a5 long
as IS required tui cheap watches, push
buttons etc.
"Mcsothurium can be obtained as a
10y product lu h treatment Of mona
litc sand for tho manufacture 81
thurium nitrHt, used In i-ucandrscrut
NANTES During the last year. the
United states bureau 81 mines has
been experimenting along these lines
and ms developed a pro rsy which h
being put into the largest thorium
plunt In Tho country at the present
time. and 10 is hoped that before long
u,suthurium can bc substituted Ton
somc Of the r,dium hat w nov being
used In luminous products
NcsothoIlum can also De used Tor
cancer treatment although i's short
NE makes II much less desirable for
this purpose than radiuu'