RADIUM PLANT

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1924, Page 8

RADIUM PLANT

THE HOSPITAL

AGREEMENT TO BE ENTERED '^W) INTO ' '..' .

E^ERyTHLNG N0W T DEPENDS ON 'iv y subsidy.

■ 'A . ■ ■ ■ ' • On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Hospital Board yesterday afternoon decided ;thafc au agreement be entjsred'into between the chairman of, • the! board (Mr.. F. Castle), Mr. J. W. | Butler, "s.nd the Medical Superintendent (Dif -D.t.^lacdonald "Wilson) on behalf of ther-boarH, and the British General Electric^ Co.^i Ltd., for the purchase of radiwn^The Medical Superintendent had repprtedj: that from his investigations abroad'; regarding the price and source of jj^diiini the board should contract with thKHiraKj There was no other source and the^pricS^to-day. was favourable, whereas it }SfraEU,n>ore likely to rise in the future. • Th^j: agreement would be conditional upon the>amofiht of purchase^, money being pro-■vidSH'-iVSy! public subscription a^d Govergmen^ .subsidy; and also the approval ' of 'vexrjenditure for the purpose by the Government. ,v, : 1 ThsQijqmmittee reported that £5000 from Colonel Mitchell, thev'JKoSiorary secretary of the Radium Fi\Sd^pmmittee; and that this amount , hadV'bfeen placed on deposit" for six months', -the interest being added to the fund:;■';.. Application had been made to thj;;Pnblic Health Department for payment of the Government subsidy. ■ CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE THANKED The chairman announced that the following letter -of appreciation had been forwarde^ to Colonel G. Mitchell by theisecre'tary of the board {Mr. J. Coyle): '3 have much pleasure in acknowledging'the receipt of your letter of the 16th insi., addressed to the chairman, with cheque enclosed for £5000 from the Radium' Fund Committee. ; *;'ln reply I have, by direction of the ehairman| to inform you that the amount haX^ been placed on deposit for six mCmths "-and, as requested, the interest •wiji be added to' the fund. An applicatio'ri for payment of the Government subsidy has been forwarded to the Department of' Health. •J-A recommendation submitted to the Finance and Policy Committee of my board by the Medical that the* agreement must be entered into regarding the purchase of radium is being;; forwarded to the board for adoption. The agreement is conditional upon the arnountiof purchase money being providfed by:public subscription and'Governmebt subsidy, and provides for the sup,plyi of one gramme of.-Radium and installation of a. complete emanation apparatus at the Wellington Hospital at a cost of £16,000. This will probably be available within six of eight months. h'Slnquiries are. ~ being :made into the coifc^t-deep/therapy;, machines, and apr praciniately '£3000-will be required' for thig"'rpufpose. With the added .cost of providm;* some special accommodation f"ift.R>dium and this special. X-ray ap- .: patatus-the .total • amount will be about is£ooo,H which was the original estimate" o!:,ihe cost. Of this amount the Mjijw'trcojnmittee set out to raise £10,----000; arid; n-is : anticipated-they will besuccessful ■,in;>aising.;"the,. total amount aimed1 at^w|t;hjn';a.<shprf;,peTipd,^ 'i; ■ Mr. Castle'said that it was satisfactory to find • that the Radium Fund Canujftitteeu-WAS^likelv to meet. with auc- ' -se«B in its appeal. The British General ■Electric Company was the agent of the Belgian firni from which the radium waß ,to bje obtained. : Shortly put, the, agreement • cbmmit'ted the' board 'to the pur- • ihase of a gramme of radium, plus the Emanation outfit, at a total cost of ;£16,000, but the whole agreement was dependent on a subsidy from the-Gov-ernment, and the money from the public. JThere'waS no'reason why the contract ehould"nbt; be'entered into. The expert who would: instil the apparatus would be J)r. Marsden, Assistant^Director of Education, who was an eminent physicist, (.whose services on the 6pot the board ' Jvas fortunate to have. The agreement provided that the seller of the apparatus •had to employ the expert sto instal it. The board would have the benefit of Dr. Marsden's responsibility for three, month's ; ofter the installation was put in. ;, In answer to Mr. W. Cole, who asked jvhat; t,he cost would be, the Medical Superintendent said that £1000 would be well outside the mark in estimating wJvat^expense was likelyto.be incurred in the upkeep of the department. It would cost about £150 to prepare aToom. Then there would be,; the services of a physicist Jo provide for. Dr. Marsden had suggested that a Victoria- College, student couldf spend part time at. the .hospital, jfeach day. In addition to the physicist there would be just a small upkeep in material and preparation. A3 far as emanation VW33 concerned he did not think the cost would be very much. ji'HEARTSHpF^PEOPLE ARE RIGHT." I Mr. J.;/W. Butler said the chairman was to be* congratulated, on the success he had achieved* in the raising of the jnoneyjfor 'the, .installation. The' chairrnaiit hsicl Jshpwii great enthusiasm in the mattery-..That; £10,000 could be raised pefore.f s i;H^ ,:end of the month showed thatjthejh'earts or ttie people of Wellington w^rgin the right place, and that they 9 jvere evetre^dy ,t.o help the afflicted.- It was EODjetimes sMid that Wellington jacked civic pride'f; but the response to the radium appefilfshowed that that assertion was unfounded. The contract peed not be gone «n with if the Government did nptf pay the subsidy 3 I-n reply: to-Mr. C. A. Williamson, the chairman said he felt sure the £20,000 aimed 'at.uWQuld be sufficient for the Jadium and' a special X-ray plant. The radium requirements would be met first, and if sufficient money" was not available for the X-ray plant then the cost ■would have to be borne from contributions. Mr. W. Appleton paid a compliment to the medical staff and the Press for the assistance they had given the compaign. J.Mr. Castle said, every, thanks was due t6 the Mayors-committee for the work it had done. ■"How long will that radium last?" inquired Mr. A. JR... Hornblow. ; "Thousands of years," replied the Medical Superintendent, amidst the smiles of members.