1:07:01
They were that kind of people.
1:07:03
At first
it was sheer physical labor
1:07:05
beyond the strength
of either of them.
1:07:08
During those winter days
1:07:09
they carried on between them
1:07:11
the work of
the entire chemical plant.
1:07:14
The raw material was pitch blende
1:07:16
from the mines of
Bohemia tons of it
1:07:18
from which they plan to
extract all the known elements
1:07:22
until only a few ounces remain.
1:07:24
From this few ounces, radium
1:07:27
their precious element
was eventually to be isolated.
1:07:31
In the beginning
in spite of the bitter cold
1:07:34
the work had to be done
out of doors
1:07:36
because of the fire and fumes.
1:07:38
The first step was to
melt the crude ore
1:07:41
on a large oblong tank
1:07:43
till it was boiling like lava.
1:07:45
Then acid was poured in.
1:07:47
This was to
dissolve out the salts.
1:07:56
When this was done
the next stage was to melt down
1:07:58
the residue in separate cordon
1:08:01
another back breaking job
for the fire must not go out.
1:08:04
Night or day
1:08:05
either Pierre or Marie
had to be on hand all the time.
1:08:09
Dogged determination
kept them going
1:08:11
through month after month of
such arduous dangerous work
1:08:15
but even so
it began at last to tear on
1:08:18
both Pierre and Marie.
1:08:30
This was something they had to
fight continually
1:08:32
the gas fumes.
1:08:37
Eventually, months run into years
1:08:40
The kind of works changed
1:08:42
but Pierre had to build
1:08:43
or assemble their equipment
and with any material
1:08:46
that lay at hand.
1:08:48
What was left of
the original pitch blende
1:08:50
had now to be filtered and
1:08:52
re-filtered to
remove other elements.
1:08:55
And this work were not
quite so physically strenuous
1:08:58
was hard enough
1:08:59
specially during
the hot summer days.