THE VOLGA GERMANS IN PORTLAND
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People > Stories > Lost Radium Plaque Tracked to Pile of Garbage

Lost Radium Plaque Tracked to Pile of Garbage

A front page story in The Oregonian on October 5, 1938 recounts the story of Reed College physicists who made the old needle in a haystack problem look simple when they located $800 worth of radium in a mountain of garbage in 20 minutes flat.
Ed Weber 1938
Dr. Thomas Ross had placed a radium plaque three-quarters of an inch square on a malignant infection of Mr. G. McDowell. Mr. McDowell  took the bandage plaque off after the prescribed hours and threw it in the garbage can. When he appeared at Dr. Ross's several days later without the radium plaque, a frantic search started.

Mrs. Elsie Higgs, daughter of Mr. McDowell, related that garbageman Edward (Ed) Weber had departed that day with their refuse.

Dr. Ross' assistants telephoned the city garbage department and learned that Weber was due at the Guild's Lake incinerator at noon. The doctors assistants also contacted the company that had insured the radium plaque as Dr. A.A. Knowlton and Dr. Marcus O'Day of the Reed College physics faculty for expert assistance.

Dr. Knowlton, two Reed students and a representative of the insurance company waited at the incinerator for hours and finally asked the police to broadcast a city-wide order to "find garbage truck No. 39."

Weber, still unaware of his cargo, reached the incinerator about 3 p.m.

Dr. Knowlton climbed into the truckload of garbage "with scientific zeal and detachment" and squinted through an electronic scope.

"It's in the front end," he announced.

The load was dumped and the garbage was segregated into piles.

"It's in this pile," Dr. Knowlton said, after some time. The student began filling boxes.

"There it is!" shouted Mrs. Riggs, who had worried more than the insurance adjuster. She dived into the pile and held the soiled plaque triumphantly.

No mention is made in the story about Ed Weber's reaction to this most unusual day as a garbage hauler.

Source

"Lost $800 Radium Plaque Tracked to Pile of Garbage." The Oregonian [Portland] 5 Oct. 1938, p. 1.
Last updated November 12, 2016.
Copyright © 1998-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
    • About This Website
    • Reviews
  • History
    • Historical Timeline
    • Migration to Russia
    • Emigration from Russia
    • Settlement in America
    • Migration to Portland
    • Little Russia
    • A Short History of Albina
    • World War I
    • The Volga Relief Society >
      • Portland Volga Relief Society Subscribers 1921
    • World War II
    • Assimilation and Dispersion
  • Beliefs
    • Churches >
      • Albina Seventh-day Adventist Church
      • First United Mennonite Baptist Church
      • Ebenezer German Congregational Church
      • Free Evangelical Brethren Church >
        • German Evangelical Congregational Brethren Church
      • Second German Baptist Church
      • St. Pauls Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • Second German Congregational Church >
        • Evangelical Congregational Church
      • Zion German Congregational Church >
        • Rivercrest Community Church
    • Pastors
    • The Brethren
    • Denominations >
      • German Reformed Church
      • German Evangelical Synod of North America
      • Evangelical and Reformed Church
      • German Congregational Church
      • Seventh-day Adventists
      • United Church of Christ
  • People
    • Our People
    • Notables
    • Pioneers 1881-1892
    • Stories
    • Photographs
    • Help Identify These People
  • Community
    • Characteristics
    • Businesses >
      • Bakeries Retailers and Services
      • Garbage Haulers
      • Grocery and Meat Markets
      • Restaurants >
        • Helsers on Alberta
        • McCormick & Schmicks
        • Wildwood
      • Saloons and Taverns
      • Suppliers and Manufacturers
    • Employers
    • Education
    • Sports
    • Maps
    • Documentary
  • Traditions
    • Foods
    • Folk Medicine
    • Expressions
    • Weddings
    • Holidays
    • Folk Music
    • Funerals and Burial Sites
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Books and Video
    • Works Cited