Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-06
CITY'S AID TO EXTEND
MIRACLES OF RADlUM
Win Authoritative Medical Approval,
Council Should Provide the Money
Necessary to Relieve or Cure
Those Afflicted Win Cancer

Council Should Provide the Money
Necessary to Relieve or Cure
Those Afflicted With Cancer
TT CITY COl'NClL passes the ordinance
L just approved by the health committee
upon the advice Of n group Of physicians
headed by Director Furbush and Surgeons
Of the Philadelphia General Hospital it will
spend almost n quarter of a million dollars
for a tiny rod Of metal resembling n short
l"ngth Of lead from an ordinary pencil. Yet
no ordinance ever presented to the Council
was moro deserving of approval than thnt
which would make this extraordinary pur.
chase possible.
II tho money is made available the city
will soon have in its possession a fragment
Of the Strangcst substance known to man
1t will have something very much like n
key 10 tho door behind which many Of tho
secrets Of life are hidden. together with
mysteries Of magnetic force. of universal
energy and Of the power by which the
planets move Moreover it will obtain 4
means Of relief and comfort for afflicted
thousands who otherwise must face slow
death by cancer.
The city will have two GrnmmcS Of rndiunI.
Pure radium is mctal--anG n great deal
moro. It is pcrprtualy hot. Out of itself
it gives almost iucxhaustibc energy in the
form Of light.
It has been estimated that radium will
continue to give of energy in the form of
light and heat for 1000 years before it
dies. Garry it in your pocket without
proper covering for n fow hours and you
will die. Touch il and your fingers will be
burned 1t is the only substance through
which atomic cnergy--th" energy that holds
steel in masses and preserves life in all Its
i l.. 4 Al. i Nhn tknr
planets togrthpr---is automatically released
in measurable and visible forms
Original energy. as science understands
it. is imprisoned within atoms, the invisib"
moving divisions Of all matter II it could
be released life would be completely r"vO-
utonizpd overnight. 1t is assumed that an
ounce uf iron could be made to release force
equal tu that which is liberated by the ex-
ploSion of a ton of dynamite.
If the power contained in tho two
grammcs Of radium that the city may pur-
chase could BE- released at once instead of
being permitted to cypcnd itself slowly over
n period of thousands of years it would be
sufficient to lift from the bottom Of the ocean
all the warShips sunk in the course Of the
recent war
The glimpse that radium provides OF the
vast universe of power and motion beyond
standing has thrillcd--and even terrified
some Of the wiscst Of men. All the Struc-
turc Of earlier scientific deduction was
badly shaken when the discovery and isola-
tion Of tho mysterious substance was first
announced by Nine. Curie.
Il had been supposed that the atom rep
resented tho ultimate form into which mat
tor was divided Dr. Howard a. Kelly, Of
Johns Hopkins University. who knows as
much about radium as any man alive, IS
authority for tho statement that il all the
implicntiouS of Nine. Curie's discovery are
" be accepted. each atom may be a com
pct" universe in itself. with forms OF con-
>rious life as complicated as those with
which We are familiar.
To isolate the two grammcs ot radium
which City council is asked 10 purchase,
l. would he necessary. according to som"
authorities. to refine about 100000 tons
of ore
pAysirian> and SurGcons--and especially
those who are engaged in the cure or treat.
mrut IT rnurcr--arr interested In radlum
chiefly l"rause Of th" peculiar penetrating
power o' it, light pmanatiOns and their
effect upon diseased human tissues. They
have not accepted tho strange meta! a.
dcp"udabin "rur"" for cancer There is 10
certain eur" for cancer Except early surgical
trratmrI,.. though now and then radium hnS
been Euown to check II" growth and o'imi.
nate ~ a.togrthcr.
Surgeon, rely on radium when cancer DO.
y"lupS In areas where tho knife cannot rNnch
or where cutting would be- fatal. They rely
OH it. tou. rs tho only means Of relief bN.
sides ornrrs for those who have permitted
N" disease :" progress to point beyond
mo powcr of any curative agency or method.
sh,,N IN
rudur onIanations. filtered through ~p".
riu''y prepared coverings, kill diseased coils
aud uS:ou fully check the progress "f can
rnro4- g-uwrn- while having no off"rt what
rH"" oU normal tissues
Living r.i,e when they are normal, Gr''
,p ,ortalr 9rd"rod ways, as tn" continuation
" 'N" normal human typ" and norma.
iI,ar tarar'oriSticE shows. Wn"u f"r
s.u.. -oa,ru not clearly understood. rh">.
reI, gro, suddenly "wild' and dcyrI"I ID
au'orma ways. there is rnn""r.
Nayt g. uIb'rrulosis, cancer is the dead
'.a-' a.r.au affection. it j. durable by ~Irid'
,rrg,.} 10 it, carly stages. RadjuE ,tu,
on.r, only incidental aid to physicians when
.. .. no, accepted MS Il last resort III dos
-, ra'. cases or 20 alluy terrible pain
The city ought to pru'id" IN" suggested
appropriation for radUm # proper medical
.3'' ortv approves Doing thar, It would
..nrinuo ~ a pioneer in medical science aud
81. the work Of hospital ~rNnf. PhUndc.
nuia would BE- the first American city 10
..,abli-h n man,ciraI radjum Installation
i,r the benefit Of suffering people who Apply,
,on.otin.os in hundreds for special treatment
~ the Philadelphia General HoSpitS, and
.vhn nrr too poor. in most instances, 70
Ncrcft by this newest method. But j. voud
no. hr the last