Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-05-06
MADAME r

The laborer is worthy of his hire. To the workers
belong the products of their industry. These two declara-
lions OF principles, the one scriptural, and the other ia
miliar in modern social literature, are often quoted, and
var1ously interpreted. 1t is a striking commentary on
the lmposeibiity of estimating the value of labor, and the
apparent lack OF ratio between achievement and enjoy
ment, that a public subscription has been-taken by means
Of which to present to Madame Curie a minute fragment
OF the precious substance of which she is the sole living
discovcrer, and whose discovery has already been of
immense practical value in tho arts and sciences, and has
led to an entirely new knowledge of some OF the impor-
tant laws which govern our being. 4.
Madame Curie and her husband, now deceased, were
people of little note and small means. They were engaged
in teaching in a school of physics and chemistry, and as
z SIDE issue from their regular occupation they conducted
experimental work in fields of study entirely apart from
their teaching. Theirs was a hard struggle. Discovering
the certain properties in matter WHICH was unfamiliar and
which interested them, they wished to trace the phc-
nomena which they had noticed to their source, and in
doing so, they were hard pressed to overcome the OBJ
staoles presented by lack of money, for their own MAIN
tenance and for the purchase Of materials which they
needed in their work. Their quarters were crude and
comfortless, and they were obliged to improvise many of
the methods and much OF the equipment with which to
conduct their work. After years of study and expert
mentation. they succeeded in identifying the new SUBJ
stance of which science had had no knowledge, and Of
analyzing and describing some of its remarkable prop
critics. -. .
Scientists believe now that the quantity of radium
IN existence on this globe is infinitesmal. There are no
mines of radium, and we are told that such things would
be impossible. They would be self destructive and de-
structive of all their surroundings. The one form in
which radium can exist SO that it may be captured Is in
minute quantities in certain very refractory ores, and
investigators tell us that the properties of the substance
are such that it cannot be found in any other form or in
any form in a very large quantity in one place. The
search for this substance by this brilliant woman and her
husband, surrounded as they were by difficult conditions.
was one compared with which the search for the pro-
verbal needle in the haystack would seem an easy one.
From all the vast quantity of material in the world they
sought for a few precious grains of this strange substance,
and by combining, analyzing. and eliminating, they finally
succeeded. Madame Curie is not a social lioness or a
woman Of wealth. She is a modest, hard working in
vestigator, and just as it would be impossible to weigh
in current terms the value of her discovery to the world,
so 1t would be impossible to state in similar terms the
reward to which she is entitled. In her case as in thou
sands Of others, the great measure of her reward must
liesi the satisfaction which she deivcs from the knowl-
edge OF achievement and the consciousness Of having. per-
formed a valuable service. - 4