FILE: C:\UserNathan\Data\WP Documents\NateBio Part II Chapter VIII.wpd
Chapter VIII Family and Jobs: February 1951 through August 1956
Alexandria, Virginia: February 1951 through December 1952
It is probable that my interview at Fort Belvoir was set for a day toward the end of January. Before proceeding to Alexandria, I checked in at the personnel offices of the National Institutes of Health and the National Bureau of Standards. I left without the hope of getting a job at either institute, at least not quickly. The sequence of events until February 12 are difficult to ascertain, however, there is a high degree of probability that our activities described below did occur in this time interval..
Alexandria is located on the west bank of the Potomac River, six miles below Washington, D.C. and nine miles north of Mount Vernon. After checking into a hotel in Alexandria, Galla and I decided that we should drive to Fort Belvoir to see where I will be going the next morning. Fort Belvoir is south of Alexandria and the entrance was off U.S. Route 1. The event that followed is memorable. I turned into the entry to Fort Belvoir and seeing that there were with Military Police (MPs) at a guardhouse and gate, I tried to turn the Crosley around. I swung onto the shoulder of the road and the Crosley sank hub-deep in the mud. Two MPs came over. After telling them why I was there, they lifted and turned the Crosley around so that I could drive out of the entry road. That was an auspicious beginning of my employment at Fortbelvoir.
From its establishment until 1989, Fort Belvoir was home to the Army's Engineer School and the Engineering & Research Development Laboratories. The next morning I drove to the fort and this time I was directed how to drive to the laboratories. I found my way to the Technical Service Department, Chemistry Section, Materials Branch. Once in the building I met the one who called me about a job, Mr. B. All I can remember over fifty years later is that I was offered a job at the GS-9 level, $4,600.00 per annum. I was given several program options and without really knowing much about each one, I selected one which involved the growing of crystals. I was asked if I could begin working the next day. I suggested that it would take some time to get settled in the area, so February 12 was selected as my first day of work. I have dim memories of introductions to some of the Materials Branch staff. Off course I met the Colonel who was the head honcho of the branch and his civilian executive director, Mr. G. Mr. B would be my immediate supervisor. It is probable that I also spent time in a personnel office.
Our first priority was to find an apartment. We did find a two-bedroom apartment in a community of two- and/or 3-story buildings. Our new address would be 618 Belle View Blvd., Alexandria, Virginia. From Old Town Alexandria (Washington Street), Belle View Boulevard was 1.5 miles south off Mount Vernon Highway (now George Washington Parkway). We had to contend with a flight of stairs to get to our second story apartment. At the top of the stairway the door to our left was the entry to the apartment. We now had a definite address for the moving company in West Lafayette to transport our bed and boxes.
As I recall it today, we headed for New York to spend several days with Galla’s parents. I would imagine that we also stopped to see my father and Mary. What is definite is that we borrowed some money from Galla’s parents. I am not sure how much we borrowed, but it may have been anywhere up to $5,000. In particular, we needed a new car as the Crosley was not a reliable mode of transportation. Also, we had to furnish the apartment to make it livable. I was mindful of my father’s lesson that sank in, and that was bills are to be paid on time before spending money on anything else. Galla and I were compatible in that we never would buy anything unless we could afford to do so. The borrowing of the money in this case was a necessity as we left Purdue University with barely enough money to keep us going until regular pay checks began to come in. The upcoming salary of $4,600 a year was a good income in 1951.
An example of some prices in 1951 are as follows: Average Income $3,515, House $16,009, Ford Car $1424 -$2253, 8.3 cu. ft. GE Refrigerator $330, Milk $0.92, Gas $0.20, Bread $0.16, Postage Stamp $.03, Sliced Bacon $.63 per lb. Coca Cola, 6 bottles: $0.37.
As a matter of act, we paid back the money we borrowed very quickly. And one year .
On our return to the Washington, DC area, I called my old high school friend Joe Romm and asked if perchance he had a couple of cots that we could borrow. The answer was affirmative and we stopped at Joe’s house to pick the cots up. While at Joe’s house we met his wife. We were able to return the cots several days later. When things settled down we tried to invite Joe and his wife to visit us. After Joe’s wife made excuses not to meet with us, we lost all contact with my very good friend of the past.
There was a lot to do before I would be going to work on February 12. We had to get Virginia drivers licences. I believe that there was a reciprocal arrangement with Indiana, so we did not have to take a driving test. Galla got an appointment with an obstetrician. I believe that the obstetrician Galla was seeing in West Lafayette recommended a Dr. Donald McCullum. I think that Galla did connect with Dr. McCullum’s partner, Dr. Charles Latven.
We shopped for a car and we bought a brown four-door Ford sedan. We would be able to pick-up this car February 12. We certainly went shopping for furniture. We purchased a studio couch (or a day bed), which is a couch without arms and a back and it can be opened to become a double bed. We bought a dining table with a light tan plastic top and iron legs, dining chairs, and a grayish molded chair with iron legs for the living room. This chair was pattered after a molded plywood chair by a designed Eames. We also purchased unpainted chests of drawers and we either painted or put clear finishes on them. We made a bookcase in the dining room by using red bricks as uprights and placing boards about 12 inches above each other. I think that in the kitchen I screwed brackets into wall studs and placed a wide board on top to make a useful shelf. I am quite sure that we gradually bought items such as lamps, end tables, and so on. We now also could afford to have a telephone in the apartment.
Although our furniture shopping was done in Washington, DC, our grocery shopping was done across the street on Belle View Blvd. It was on weekends that we would do most of our grocery shopping. One incident that neither of us has forgotten is that outside of the grocery we were approached by a young man who engaged us in conversation. This young man had been at Purdue University when we were there. I tried to think of where we had contact at Purdue; I suspected that this person might have been in one of my classes when I was a teaching assistant. I asked, “Where did I know you at Purdue/” The answer was, “You didn’t, I used to see you and your wife in the cafeteria.” Both Galla and I only wish that we had the memory of this young man as we are bad on remembering names and faces.
On February 12, I began a routine which lasted until December, 1952. I left the apartment early in the morning and drove south on the Mount Vernon Highway, which stretched along the west bank of the Potomac River, turned west at the traffic circle , which was at the entry to the Mount Vernon home of George Washington, then I turned left at U.S. Route 1, and then at a short distance, turned left into the entry to Fort Belvoir. My first day of work was one in which I met various staff members with whom I would be working. I do not recall being given any office space. Most of my work would be in a large laboratory room where I was assigned bench space.
At the end of my first day, I drove home bu using the same route as in the morning, only in reverse. Galla and I drove to the auto dealer to pick up our new Ford. When we entered the driveway of the auto dealer, the Crosley engine stalled and it would not start again. However, we were done with the Crosley which had only 20,000 miles on the odometer. We paid cash for the Ford and the cost probably was a bit less than $2,000. The Ford had automatic transmission and to us, it felt very large after the cramped seats in the Crosley. The next day when I drove our new Ford to work, some of the people in the Materials Branch came out to inspect it.
Between February 12 and May 7, we were spending our time in getting settled into a new lifeatyle. I do not think that we had any social contact with anyone, except parents and relatives, during this period of time. Sunday was a day for the local newspaper and the Sunday New York Times. I had subscriptions to The American Chemical Society (ACS) journals, Chemical Abstracts, The Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Analytical Chemistry. I also received the ACS weekly Chemical & Engineering News . For many years, I went through each journal when it was received and I kept a card file of articles that be useful in the future Galla purchased a sewing machine and I believe that she took some classes that were part of the Singer deal. And of course, Galla’s pregnancy became more and more apparent during this time interval.
In May, we were waiting for labor to start any day. After a visit to her obstetrician, Galla received a telephone call from him on either Friday, May 4 or Saturday, May 5. It probably was on Saturday as I was home when Galla received the phone call. I had never seen Galla rattled before, but she turned pale, or even greenish, while on the telephone. Apparently the baby had turned around in a bad position for a normal delivery, so Galla was told to sign in at Arlington Hospital the next day, and a Caesarian surgery would take place on Monday morning, May 7. Galla regained her equilibrium quickly and called her mother. Ruby Solomon came to our apartment the next day. So Galla was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, May 6. On Monday morning, I am not sure who was more excited, but Galla’s mother tried to make some toast without plugging in the toaster to an electrical outlet. What I recall about the morning of May 7 was that Dr. Latven took me to the hospital laboratory where they were having trouble with one of their instruments. I am not sure as to where Galla’s mother went, but being a registered nurse, I think Dr. Latven had her waiting in a semi-private room to be with Galla until surgery would take place. I was able to make the instrument operational in the laboratory for which I got a nice thank you. K then went back to a waiting room where I would be notified about the delivery. As I sat in this room for a short while I remembered the days at the beginning of Galla’s pregnancy when spent mornings in bed looking at name dictionaries. We eventually selected names for a boy and a girl. Back in this time sex was determined after the baby was born and in a way this suspense was a good thing. A nurse came through the room holding a crying baby and I was told it was ours and it was a by. I just had a glimpse of a crying Jared Paul Radin before he was placed in a bed in a nursery. After that I only saw him through a window until Galla came home on Saturday, May 12. I was not allowed to see Galla for quite a while that day. Galla’s mother spent time at the hospital with Galla that week while I went to work. Of course, as the custom was for the times, I brought a box of cigars for the staff at work.
For those reading the saga of my life, it certainly will be of interest to know the cost of the medical services received by Galla in Virginia. The statement by Drs. McCullum and Latven called for $125 for the prenatal care and delivery (Caesarian section) and $10 for a circumcision. The hospital bill for six nights, laboratory, nursing and baby care, and operating room was $130. . The daily charge for a semi-private room was $10.
Galla’s father joined us at the end of the week. On Saturday, May12, Galla and Jared were discharged from the hospital. We had to adapt a new lifestyle now that we had a baby and it was good to have Galla’s mother present as she helped us through the learning period in dealing with the care of a baby. Galla elected to breast-feed the baby and continued to do sofor about a half-year. At home, we had a crib, a playpen, and other equipment needed for the care of Jared. Gala and I think that her parents bought the necessary furnishings. The memory of that Saturday eveing will last as long as we live. Galla’s parents went out to visit friends and here we were home alone with Jared. Late in the evening Galla went into the bathroom and I was standing near Jared who was crying. I was not sure what I could do, but before I could lift Jared from his crib, I heard a scream from the bathroom. I left Jared and took a look. What I saw was Galla,s abdomen covered with blood. I was not sure as to what i could do, but I headed for the telephone to call the obstetrician. I still reember the horrible thought which was what did I get myself into and why don’t I just walk out and forget the whole thing. Thank goodness, it was only a thought that passed and it was never to return again. As I lifted the telephone, Galla’s parents walked into the apartment. Glla’s mother took charge. It turns out that surgical stitch had broken and all it took was to pull the skin together and use adhesive tape to close the wound.
As the time passed, we watched Jared develop. There were happy days and unhappy days. There was illness occasionally which of course kept us on our toes. There was a time when we were driving north for a weekend that we stopped at a restaurant for dinner on a Friday evening and Jared began screaming. Everyone in the restaurant looked at us, so we left. Although we had some food served, we were not charged. The restaurant employees were glad to get rid of us. Once outside of the restaurant, Jared suddenly quieted down.
It was at the begiining of October that I was sent to the New York City area to gather some data related to my job. Since I had permission to drive to New York on this trip, I was able to take Galla and Jared. On this trip a friend from my workplace took advantage of my trip and he came along so that he could spend some time with relatives. On our return trip on Wednesday, October 3, 1951, I had the car radio tuned into the last playoff game between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The winner of this last game would win the National League Pennant and play the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series. My friend was sitting on the frant seat and Galla and Jared were sitting in back. My friend was a Brooklyn Dodger fan and I was a rabid New York Giant fan. The interborough rivalry of the two teams is historic. Both teams had won one game. In the last of the 9th, with the Giants down 4-1, they rallied back, and on Bobby Thomson's home run, called the "Shot Heard Round the World." wrested the Pennant from the stunned Dodgers. I was so excited that I think the car swerved, but I had full control instantly. My friend turned the radio off. I turned it back on. We did get home safely.
I should ay that when we did drive north to the New York City area we usually stayed with Galla’s parents in Staten Island. We usually visited relatives on these trips and of course, we would stop to see my father and Mary on their farm in Lakewood, new Jersey. Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha also had a chicken farm in the Lakewood area and we would stop to see them.
George Orloff, mary’s nephew, also had a farm in lakewood. We occasionally would stop to visit George and Ethel and their two young sons. I will admit that we did not pay much attention to the children. However, at the time I am writing this, we have a good relationship with Richard Orloff, one of George and Ethel’s sons. Richard and I have a common interest in seeking family roots
As we felt ourselves tied down at home by a baby, we purchased a televison (TV) set sometime in the fall of 1951. TV was actually in its infancy, but it was becoming a good entertainment medium for the home. Some of the TV shows that we watched were as follows: .
The Texaco Star Theatre with Mr. Television, Milton Berle (popularly known as Uncle Milty). Milton Berle's show was characterized by rapid-fire, racous, brash and rowdy humor, where anything could and often did happen.
Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar. Sid Caesar did not dominate his show as did Milton Berle. He and his regular cast, Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, and Howard Morris, created situations and characters every week, in which Caesar was often, but not necessarily the leading character. They did a wide variety of comedy sketches, doing everything from take-offs on popular television shows and movies, audience participation games, blackouts, monologues, and silent sketches.
The Burns and Allen Show, starring George Burns and Gracie Allen, was a situation comedy. ther than a star-based comedy show. The situation always remained the same--the Burns' at home, with the situations arising from this basis. Each episode was devoted to one situation and not a series of short disconnected sketches.
There were other shows, but those mentioned above are the MOST MEMORABLE. Then of course there were news and sports programs.
It was in the fall of 1951 that we got a telephone call from my friend from Columbia University, Adolph Amster (Dolph). Dolph, who got married while at Columbia, left with his wife to enroll in Ohio State University (OSU). While at OSU Dolph’s wife died. Dolph stayed on to earn his Ph.D. with a physical chemistry major. When Dolph called, he told us that he was now employed at the National Bureau of Standards and he was living in Washington, DC. We invited Dolph to come and have dinner with us on the next Saturday. When it was to late, I relaized that as a rabid college football fan, there would be two good games on TV that day. Dolph did come and let me watch one game as he fell asleep on our studio couch. Dolph eventually did get married again. We did attend one of his wedding parties, but neither of us are sure whether it was his first or second marriage.
I had a pleasant surprise when I somehow learned that Mickey and Justin Shapiro were now living in Silver Springs, Maryland, which is just north of Washington, DC. Of course, we were in touch quickly and we went to visit them on a Sunday. Justin was now working for the American Instrument Company. This is the first time that Galla met Mickey and Justin. We became close friends after this first meeting. Mickey and Justin now had two daughters, Dana and Tobie. When we visited the Shapiros, Dana and Tobie were entranced with Jared.. I still remember when we were driving back from Silver Springs through Washington on a Sunday night that Jared was not asleep in his car bed; he lifted his head and seemed to be looking out through the windshield.
It was during my first day at work that I had a formal introduction to the project involving the growing of KRS-5 crystals. I met Dr. S, who was a scientist that came to the U.S. from Germany after the end of World War II. I found later that there were quite a few ex-German scientists working at Fort Belvoir. I did not have a wonderful feeling of welcome as I suspected these scientists fully cooperated with Adolph Hitler and were ex-Nazis. Of course, I could have been wrong, but I just don’t know. I found that in my relationship with Dr. S that he was cordial, friendly, and loved classical music. Dr. S took me into a large room which was set-up to grow KRS-5 crystals. In the middle of the room there was a large metal cylinder, which may have been about two to thee feet in diameter and about eight feet in height. My memory tells me that there was a stairway or a sort of ladder to get up to a platform beside this cylinder. There were all kinds of wires attached to this cylinder and a means of getting inside of this contraption. Along one wall there were many automatic temperature recorders. I was shown a glass crucible in which the KRS-5 crystals were grown. While the dimensions of this crucible are long forgotten, I estimate that the body of the glass crucible had a diameter of 4 to 5 inches and a height of about 12 to 18 inches. On one side of this crucible the body decreased in size until a sharp point was reached, perhaps four inches from the main body. The other side of the crucible tapered to a long neck of cylindrical shape and perhaps 2 inches in diameter and 12 inches in height. I was told that about 13 pounds of a thallium bromide-thallium iodide mixture was loaded into this crucible. The air in the crucible was replaced with an inert gas, such as nitrogen, and the neck was sealed. with an oxygen-acetylene torch. The crucible was placed on an elevator in the contraption I tried to decribe and the temperature was brought up to the melting point of this mixture. The melting point was in excess of 900 0C. After the thallium bromide-iodide mixture became molten, the elevator decended very slowly for about 30 days. Somewhere in the middle of this oven, within one centimeter, there was a drop in the temperature by 100 0C. It was at this point of the drop in temperature that the molten material would begin to crystallize. Thirty days would pass before one would know that a crystal was grown successfully.
KRS-5 is used for attenuated total reflection prisms, windows and lenses where transmission of electromagnetic radiation in the 0.6 µ - 40 µ range is desired. Specifically, the interest by the army engineers in this crystal was for optics in snooper-scopes. A human body emits heat, or electromagnetic radiation, in the infrared region of the spectrum with a wavelength of 40 µ (µ is a micron which is one-millionth of a meter). The KRS-5 optics in a snooper-scope will focus the heat of a body through infrared imaging techniques to show the body of a man in the sights of a rifle. Of course this kind of rifle can be used when it is dark.
I was shown several crystals that had been removed from the crucible and of course they were cylindrical (about 4 - 5 inches in height and then tapered to a point (the shape of the bottom of the crucible). The color was red and the crystals appeared to be opaque. The top of the crystal was black to a depth of about one inch. When a crystal grows slowly, impurities are rejected from the molecular structure. The black material indicated that the starting material was impure/
I would now take over the synthesis of thallium bromide and thallium iodide. Up to now, Dr. A, a microbiologist had been in charge of synthesizing the chemical compounds. Large quantities of the starting material was thallium sulfate and this chemical compound, which is a rat poison, was obtained from the U.S. Army quartermasters. Needless to say, this starting material was not very pure. As a matter of fact, I was told that one shipment of thallium sulfate had a boot in it. Dr. A would disolve thallium sulfate in an acid solution and bubble hydrogen sulfide through this solution. Hydrogen sulfide does cause the precipitation of some of the metallic impurities, but it is not entirely effective. When I took over, I tried some modifications of the method, but the outcome was not known until about a month later as it took that long to grow a crystal. I found thatthere was no problem in sending samples to a firm in New York City that did emission spectrographic analyses, so I did take advantage of that by gathering data about the impurities in the starting material and the synthesized material. In the hot and humid summer weather of the Washington DC area there were many thunderstorms during the late afternoons. So more than once, the power lines were hit by lightning which disabled the crystal growing oven. If a cystal was being formed in the oven and the electricity was turned off, the process was interrupted enough that one had to start all over again.
About a week after I started working at the Materials Branch, there was conference on thallium and the effect on the laboratory personnel. Knowing that thallium compounds were toxic, I suggested that production of more material should be stopped until the laboratory workers who came into contact with thallium should be tested. This was agreed upon and we found an outside laboratory which would test urine samples for thallium. When it was found that no one had any signs of toxicity, the project was restarted. Apparently, I made a good impression by my adressing this problem. We instituted periodic testing as long as thallium salts would be present in the laboratory.
As of March 5, 1951, I was granted clearance for classified material up to and including secret as pertaining to my work only. I must say that I saw some documents that were classified as secret, but in reality the subject matter was well known. Apparently some people who had the power were quick to use the secret stamp. The crystal growing project was not my only assignment. I was requested to do some analyses of some materials that were of interest to other staff members of the branch. At one time I even synthesized some kind of polymer. That was messy, but I was able to do it. I experienced how money was spent by the Federal agencies. The Federal fiscal year began on July 1 back when I was an employee in 1951. Toward the end of the fiscal year it became evident that lots of money that was allotted to the Materials Branch in the U.S. budget was not used. Mr. B, my section head, came to me and said that if the excess money was not spent it would go back to the U.S. Treasury, so why don’t I order some equipment for the laboratory. The inference was order something even if it is not needed. So I ordered an automatic recording polarograph with all the accessories that went along with this technique. After I received this instrumment, I do not recall if it was ever used.
After about six months or so, it came to me that the best way to synthesize thallium bromide and thallium iodide would be to start with pore thallium. This is why I was sent to the New York City at the beginning of October. I visited The American Smelting and Refining Company, Barber,New Jersey, that produced thallium metal. On my return to the branch we put in an order for the metal. After synthesizing thallium bromide and thallium iodide after dissolving the metal in acid solution, I sent samples of the material for emission spectrographic analysis. I asked to do a semi-quantitative estimate of any impurities, The answer that came was the material was so pure that it could serve as a standard for the analysis of other batches of thallium salts. With the newly synthesized material there were no layers at the top of the crystals and the crystals were now translucent. I was given an assignment to take two of theolder crystals and two of the newer crystals to Massachusetts for testing purposes. I got permission to drive, so I took Galla and Jared to leave them off in Staten islabd. I then continued on to Boston. There I stayed overnight and in the morning I went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to meet with Dr. S, who left Fort Belvoir and now was on the faculty. Dr. S took me down to a basement area and there introduced me to Dr. Lord, who was a well-known reputation in infrared research. I was taken on a tour of the infrared instrumentation. Taking Dr. S, I drove to a farm area where there was a company which grew crystals and carved them into prisms and lenses. I left the four KRS-5 crystals at this place and then drove back to Boston. I drove back to Staten Island that night. The disappointing outcome was that at 40 µ, it did not make much difference as to which crystal was the starting material for prisms and lenses.
After being on the job for a year, I was promoted to the GS-11 level and this gave me an income of $5940 a year. Sometime in the spring of 1952, the crystal growing project ended. I was transferred to another section and I was made the head of a laboratory to be set up for studies using radioactive material. A Mr. M was the head of this section and I rarely saw him. I found that the laboratory room designated for this project was empty until it was outfitted with a desk, some chairs and a filing cabinet. There was a lead-lined room next to the laboratory and I found that lead-lined boxes containing such materials as radioactive phosphorus and iodine were already stored in this room. I was told that I would be sent to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a month-long course on handling radioactive chemicals. Then I was told that there was no money for this at the end of this fiscal year so I would not be going to Oak Ridge. As a reminder for my readers, Oak Ridge was one of the important secret sites when the atomic bomb was developed during World War II. I was also told that there was no money to set-up the laboratory for work in which radioactive compounds would be used to solve some problems.
I spent the summer of 1952 in the empty laboratory. I read a lot of material on the use of radioactive materials for tracer work and I looked a t documents pertaining to upcoming projects. I also played a lot of chess during lunch hours. Then there were conferences with people who were foing to use my services in solving their problems. It was those people that prematurely ordered the radioactive phosphorus and iodine.
Sometime during the summer of 1952, which now had funds as it was the beginning of a new fiscal year, I was informed that I would be attending a radiological health training course at the U.S. Public Health Environmental Health Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. My section head, Mr. M would also be attending the course. The length of the course would be two weeks. On Sunday, October 5, I headed for the train depot in Washington, DC for the overnight ride to Cincinnati. I had a lower berth in the Pullman car and Mr. M had a berth across the aisle. In the morning after arrival in Cincinnati we took a taxi toa hotel where we would share a room. As rooms were not ready in the morning we checked our luggage and went into the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Mr. M was acting rather strangly. He spoke very loudly, and he kept praising my abilities. I got a whiff of his breath. He was drunk. We took a taxi to the center and there we registered. Mr. M was loud and inane. He disappeared after registration and he was not to be seen at the frst class. When I returned to the hotel that late afternoon, I went up to our room and I found that Mr. M had a suitcase full of liquor bottles and he was placing the bottles on a dresser. I took my suitcase and checked out of the hotel after I made reservations at the same hotel Galla and I stayed in when we stopped in Cincinnati after leaving Purdue university. Mr. M was nowhere to be seen until the last day of thecourse and that was on Friday, October 17, 1952. I still have a certificate that I attended the course. I rode back on the train to Washington DC without talking to Mr. M. I now understood the times that Mr. M disappeared from his office for long periods of time during the day and he was observed sleeping in his car. He was an alcoholic. I did not report his behavior as I had decided quite a while ago to find another position.
In spite of not having laboratory facilities for the projects that were being assigned, I was sent to the annual 1952 fall national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) interview a candidate to be my assistant.
Inasmuch as the meeting was being held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Galla and I arranged to leave Jared with his grandparents. By now Jared, at about the age of 16 or 17 months, was walking. It was a very nice day on a Friday that we made several trips between the apartment and the car to stow luggage and needs for Jared. On the last trip toward the car, I twisted my left ankle. Being that the car had an automatic shift, I was able to drive. Of course, as I was driving, the ankle swelled quite a bit. We did not stop until we arrived in Staten Island. I believe that we managed to see a physician and the severely sprained ankle was strapped with adhesive tape. Galla’s parents were able to provide a cane as I was limping rather badly. On Sunday, cane and all, Galla and drove to Atlantic City.
While at the employment area I not only interviewed candidates but I started to look for another position for myself. I was interviewed by a Dr. Cavenaugh (Dr. C) , who was the head of an analytical development group at Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River, New York. Dr. C was encouraging as he thought my background was the kind needed for the position. After our return to Alexandria, I did receive a letter from Dr. C that didn’t really say yes or no. I replied and sometime late i the fall I was asked to come to be interviewed at Lederle Laboratories. I was to report to the parent corporation offices of American Cyanimid at one of the buildings in the Radio City complex in Manhattan. Galla and I drove to New York where again we stayed with her parents in Staten Island. After reporting to the American Cyanimid offices, I was transported in a limousine to the laboratories. I spent the day meeting people and discussing the position requirements. I then had a ride back to Manhattan in the limousine. I believe that it was at the beginning of December, 1952 that I received a job offer at $6,500 a year. There eventually would be fringe benefits such as health insurance and a retirement plan. In my civil service jo, I was considered an indefinite employee, so I did not have any fringe benefits. Also Lederle would pay our transportation and moving expenses.
Needless to say, I accepted the offer and I would start working at Lederle Laboratories the beginning of January, 1953. My resignation at Fort Belvoir was effective December 14, 1952.
Pearl River, New York: January 1953 through July 31 1955
Pearl River, is a small town, which is west of the Hudson River and just a bit north of the New York-New Jersey border. I must say here that this community has not left a lasting impression. The address of our rented apartment was 208 Holt Drive. Holt Drive (right side and near top of the map) came off N. Middletown Road. Driving north on N. Middletown Road one would pass Lederle on the left and would come to a major east-west raod at Nanuet. If one turned left at Nanuet, one would come to Nyack which was at the west side of the Hudson River, To the left of Nanuet there was the town Spring Valley. One of the main streets of Pearl River was E. Central Avenue. I have a hazy memory of shops and a hill on E. Central Avenue.
There were several apartment buildings on Holt Drive. Our apartment was on the gound floor of the building on the corner of Holt Drive and N. Middletown Road. After walking up several steps on the outside of the building, there was a hallway at the entry. The entry to our apartment was on the left. On entering the apartment there was a L-spaped space with the living room on the left and a dining area straight ahead. The kitchen entry was on the left wall of the dining area. The living room and kitchen had windows through which the view was of Holt Drive. At the entry to the apartment, on the right, there was an open doorway beyond which was a bathroom and two bedrooms. The bedrooms had windows on the back wall and the view was of a concrete space.
It was at the beginning of January 1953, that we moved into our new apartment. I had to start working immediately, so there was a burden on Galla to take care of Jared (now about one year and 8 months old) and to get settled. Of course I was involved in the settling process, but I had to start working days after we moved, so I was very busy Monday through Friday with my new job. Being relatively close to Staten Island, Galla’s mother and father became frequent visitors and were quite helpful when needed.
Galla was also pregnant and we had to locate an obstetrician as she was expecting fairly soon. We did connect with an obstetrician in Nyack. As Galla would have a C-section again , the date for the birth of our second child would be on Thursday, March 5, 1953. Here again, Galla’s parents were helpful. Galla’s father took care of Jared while Galla’s mother and I were at the Good Samaritan Hospital, in Suffern, New York (a bit north of Spring Valley) on the big day. After seeing our new daughter, Rachel Anne Radin, brought to the nursery, I went back to work. Galla’s mother stayed most of the day at the hospital with Galla for the next few days At work, I brought a ox of cigars and there were the usual congratulations and kidding. However, I was struck by the fact that my immediate supervisor, Dr. C, seemed befuddled by the lev ity.
Memories about our every day lives in Pearl River seem to be irretrievable. Where we shopped is a mystery to us. I remember painting some of our rooms in the apartment. Perhaps we left Jared with his grandparents in Staten Island when we moved into our new apartment. We did buy a washing machine, but there is no memory of how washed clothes and diapers were dried. I do not recall any friendships developing in Pearl River; our families and the raising of our two children were at the center of our activities.
The physical development of Jared was normal, however, we became concerned that speech was not developing normally. Jared communicated fairly well by pointing and vocalizing, that is, spoken gibberish. There apparently was a Solomon family trait that related to slowness in speech development and possibly inability to pronounce words clearly. Rachel developed fairly rapidly. She was standing by herself in her crib by the age of six months. At one year old, I found Rachel wandering into the kitchen one late afternoon. I thought that she had been in the playpen in the living room. So I picked Rachel up and put her into the playpen. A few minutes later, Rachel appeared in the kitchen. We found later that we had to be very careful as Rachel had a tendency to wander into the street when we would be unaware of where she was. While Jared’s food habits were normal, Rachel had definite likes and dislikes which did not meet the family cuisine. This peculiarity persists in her adult life. There was a playground on Holt Drive and it was at that area that the children would intteract with other children of the neighborhood.
The proximity of Pearl River to New York City enabled us to visit members of both our families fairly easily. Having a car, we were able to visit my father and Mary on their farm in Lakewood, New Jersey. At the same time we were in Lakewood, we would visit Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha as they also bought a farm. A third visit would be with George and Ethel Orloff on their Lakewood farm. I admit that we did not pay much attention to their two young boys; It is during the recent past that one of the boys, Richard, and ourselves have been in contact because of a mutual interest in finding our family roots. The farms in the Lakewood area were mainly sources of eggs from chickens. I know that my father and Mary found the necessity to feed chickens daily for seven days a week becoming difficult physically and that the profit from selling the eggs produced was going down because of corporate farms. Both my father and Uncle Joe sold the farms. My father and Mary went to live in Miami Beach, Florida. Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha returned to live in New York City; Brooklyn, I believe.
Having a car and the proximity to New York City enabled us to resume family social life more easily than when we were a long way from this area. Catching up on family relations, I need to mention events not previously stated and some that occurred in the decade of the 1950s. I will always remember the birth date of Harvey Radin Kalish as he was born the day before my army stint began . However, the birthday of Arthur Kalish is not as well ingrained in my memory as he was born in April 11, 1945 and it was by a letter from cousin Ruth that I learned about this event when I was New Guinea. Even though letters were welcome at the time I was in New Guinea, the environment and war life were not conducive to record permanently into memory events from home. We certainly had visits with Ruth, Sam and the two boys. Of course we also visited with Aunt Bertha and Uncle Joe.
Long Beach is situated on a long island which is south and parallel to Long Island. Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny sold the farm (825 Merrick Road) and bought another house. The address was 875 W. Park Avenue, Long Beach, Long Island, Nassau County, New York. The House was white and it was situated on a narrow lot. Park Avenue is on the northern side of this island and the back yard of the house ended at the waterway, Reynolds Channel. There was a pier jutting into the channel. On our first visits, tTo our surprise there was a boat with a cabin tied to the pier. Apparently, Uncle Max purchased this boat, but we never were invited to take a ride on it. Eventually this boat was sold as Uncle Max’s health began to deteriorate.
The company was founded by Ernst Lederle, who served as New York City Commissioner of Health from 1902 03. After leaving the health department, Lederle set out to refine an antitoxin to treat diphtheria. He tinkered in a laboratory he created in a loft, but he soon outgrew the space. The old Turfler farm on Middletown Road offered plenty of room and Lederle bought the 99 acre property for $4,500 and incorporated the Lederle Antitoxin Laboratory on Feb. 6, 1906.
Lederle's first product was the diphtheria antitoxin. The business soon expanded to veterinary medications. World War I gave the fledgling company new opportunity to develop and sell its products. The company was the sole producer of the gas gangrene antitoxin. It also made small pox vaccinations and tetanus antitoxins. In the 1920s, Lederle expanded from vaccines to pharmaceuticals, producing pituitary extract, epinephrine and thyroid tablets.
In the 1930s, American Cyanamid Co. bought the Lederle Antitoxin Laboratories and changed the name to Lederle Laboratories. Working with scientists from American Cyanimide, researchers developed antibiotics. It was in 1948 when Benjamin M. Duggar, Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Wisconsin and a consultant to Lederle, first isolated a tetracycline in quite particular circumstances. Dr. Duggar extracted aureomycin from a type of soil found particularly in the vicinity of cemeteries. This special soil contained a unique fungi which had the annihilating effect upon disease bacteria. The substance isolated by Duggar (7 chlorotetracycline) was named aureomycin1 after its yellowish color. Aureomycin differed much from the other antibiotics known until then, mainly because of its broad spectrum of antimicrobial properties and a relatively low toxicity. Production of the parent tetracycline itself by catalytic hydrogenolysis of aureomycin was reported in 1953, subsequently, this compound was prepared by cultivation of certain strains of Streptomyces albo niger.
The entrance to Lederle Labs was several miles from our apartment on North Middleton Road. The quality control laboratories were in a building with huge tanks in which Aureomycin®, or chlor-tetracycline, was produced by a patented fermentation process. An extraction and purification process was necessary to isolate Aureomycin. As organic solvents were used in this process, a solvent recovery plant was built next to the Aureomycin production building. The plants operated 24-hours a day and seven days a week. The routine quality control laboratories also were in operation continuously. Samples from the fermentation, extraction, and purification processes were tested to ensure that a quality product was being produced. The analytical control development group was called upon to solve production problems and develop new analytical tests as needed. A Dr. Babcock was the head of the aureomycin production department. At work some considered Dr. Babcock a tyrant; I understood that Dr. Babcock was a preacher (minister?) at some church on Sundays. A Mr. Norman Kelsey was the head of the quality control labs which included the analytical development group. Dr. C headed the analytical development group.
The quality control laboratory suite was on the second floor of the Aureomycin production building. The suite was windowless. It seems to me that there was a linear set of rooms. Starting with an entry on the right side of the building, I think there was a fairly large space in which there were dispensing machines for buying coffee and soft dinks. Then there was an entry into the first section of the large laboratory and the Analytical Development Group had the first set of laboratory benches and a desk to the left of the entry. On the entry wall, at the left of the laboratory bench and desk there was a door into a small room with two laboratory benches. I found later that I had that small laboratory room for my use. Beyond the space for the group there were laboratory benches for those doing the routine quality control tests. At the far end of this laboratory there was a desk for the routine laboratory supervisor. Beyond this laboratory there was another laboratory with benches for the routine quality control testing. Then at the far end of this laboratory there was an entry into the controlling office. At the far end of this office there was a desk for Norman kelsey and somehow, I think that there was another desk abutting Mr. Kelsey’s desk. I do not remember the function of the person who laid claim to that desk. Then to the left there were two desks also abutting each other. Dr. C had the far end desk and I was given the one facing Dr. C.
My accomplishments at Lederle Laboratories are not memorable, but I came away after two years with practical experience as an analytical chemist that served me well in the future. There was no definite job description so I never had a clear idea of my responsibilities in this job. It wasn’t very long after I started to work that I learned that there was a rapid turn-over of members of the analytical development group. Looking back, it seems that I spent a lot of time writing reports and initiating or revising standard analytical procedures, and working out in the laboratory. There was a list of analytical problems for the group to solve, however, the items on this list were changed frequently as new problems came about. Thus, when some laboratory work was started, one never knew if there would be a reassignment to solve another problem with immediate high priorities.
One study that I conducted had to do with changing the procedure for determination of chlortetracycline in fermentation mash. Samples from the tanks where the fermentation process was taking place were tested to determine the stage of chlortetracycline production. After the quantity of chlortetracycline per milliliter of fermentation mash was at a maximum, the extraction and purification process were initiated. The routine laboratory received samples for each stage of the process. The solid nutrient material from the fermentation process tanks had to be separated from the liquid phase. The liquid phase had the yellow color of chlortetracycline. A fluorescence procedure was used to determine the concentration (weight/volume) of chlortetracycline. The instrument used for this procedure was a Pfaltz & Bauer fluorometer. Chlortetracycline is a substance capable of absorbing a narrow band of electromagnetic radiation (in this case ultraviolet radiation) and radiating electromagnetic radiation at a right angle from the incident beam and another wavelength, in this case in the region of the spectrum which is visible to the human eye. (light). The intensity of the fluorescent beam served as a measure of the concentration of chlortetracycline. My study consisted of working with a Farrand fluorometer, which was a more sensitive instrument than the Pfaltz & Bauer instrument. The conclusion from this study was to stay with the Pfaltz & Bauer instrument as the greater sensitivity of the Farrand instrument resulted in unreliable information. Traces of inert compounds that were not detected with the Pfaltz & Bauer fluorometer but were detected with the Farrand fluorometer did not interfere with the antibiotic properties of chlortetracycline. Also to remove the trace compounds, if possible, would add to the expense of producing the commercial product. Thus, it was better for the quality control testing step to be done with a less sensitive instrument, the Pfaltz & Bauer fluorometer.
One major analytical problem arose at the end of 1953 or the beginning of 1954. Chlortetracycline was hydrogenated to form tetracycline. This process was revealed in letters to the editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The letters came from Pzizer and Lederle. The problem presented to our group was to develop an analytical procedure which would determine the amount of chlortetracycline and tetracycline in a mixture of the two compounds. This was a necessary step so that the production of tetracycline from chlortetracycline was maximized. When Dr. C assigned this problem to me, he brought to my attention a journal article in which a multicomponent spectrophotometric method was used to determine the concentrations of two compounds dissolved in a solution of in concentrated sulfuric acid which also contained boric acid. Concentrated sulfuric acid is viscous and highly corrosive which makes it a difficult solvent to work with. I found that tetracycline itself in a concentrated sulfuric-boric acid solution was blue (or red) and chlortetracycline was red (or blue). The different colors perceived by the human eye indicated that a multicomponent spectrophotometric mthod was feasible, however, spectral curves indicated that it couldn’t be done. At this time, American Cyanamid, the parent corporation of Lederle Laboratories, purchased Hayden Antibiotics. Dr. C went to meeting which included members of the Hayden Antibiotics staff and on his return told me that a consultant, Charles Bricker of the Princeton Chemistry Department, suggested that I should add formaldehyde to the concentrated sulfuric acid-boric acid solution. When I did so I found that one of the solutions was now yellow and the other either red or blue (memory?). I was able to bring this project to a satisfactory conclusion. However, by this time another method which depended on the different rates of degradation by heat of the two compounds of interest had ben developed and was simpler to perform than with nasty solutions. I met Dr. Bricker sometime in the future and I asked why did he add formaldehyde to the solution that I had been working with. A mutual colleague answered, he adds formaldehyde to everything.
Dr. Wilcoxon was a renowned statistician and an excellent chemist (he received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Cornell in 1924). In 1943 he worked as group leader of the insecticide and fungicide laboratory at American Cyanamid, where he contributed to the development of malathion. However, Dr. Wilcoxon’s statistical interests kept growing. His decisive transition from chemistry to statistics occurred in the middle of 1945. In recognition of this work, Wilcoxon was transferred in 1950 to the company's Lederle Laboratories, where he established a statistical consulting group. Members of the statistics group helped us design ex-eriments which result in statistical valid data. It was Dr. Wilcoxon himself who presented a series of lectures on statistical quality control. We used the textbook, by W.J. Youden, of the National Bureau of Standards, Statistical Methods for Chemists, published by John Wiley & Sons, 1951. This exposure to statistics and quality control served me well later on im my career.
All in all, while my job was one that gave me a lot of experience in solving analytical problems quickly, by the end of the summer in 1954, I began to feel as if I was back in graduate school. There was a lot of pressure to perform well and somehow there was no real satisfaction in facing the daily grind. The pay was relatively decent for the time and I believe it was $7,500 or $7,600 annually. Mr. Kelsey approached me and told me that the supervisor of the quality control laboratory was leaving, so would I be interested in that position. It would mean that I would get into the administrative end of industrial life and the pay would be better than for research positions. I felt that a position like this would be very pressure-laden to perform and I wanted more of a research or academic life.
I began to look for a new position again and I gravitated toward civil service opportunities. According to a letter, from E.J. Schantz, Chief, Chemistry Branch, dated, August 20, 1964, I had visited Camp Detrick, Frederick, Maryland, during the summer of 1954. My application to head the Analytical Section of the Chemistry Branch was of interest and the letter suggested dates for further interviews. Camp Detrick (now Fort Detrick) was a center for a military biological research. In my letter of October 24, 1954, to a civilian personnel officer, I noted that I was offered the position in a letter of October 18 and that I accepted the offer.
Sometime early in November, 1954, I notified Lederle Laboratories that I was terminating my employment. Soon after I left Lederle Laboratories, we were shocked when we received a letter (November 30) which notified me that the offer of employment was withdrawn. The reason given was that it was believed that I would not tolerate the immunity shots that I would need to have. Contesting this decision did not change the offer withdrawal.
So, here I was with a family and no job. Our only income for several months was from the New york State unemployment insurance program. This was a meager sum so it became esential to find employment. I found it was not an easy task as I believe at this time jobs for chemists were not plentiful.
Of course I left applications in various places and one place was the central office of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Washington, D.C. I looked at ads in the employment opportunities of the ACS weekly Chemical & Engineering News and I may have placed an ad or two in the Situations Wanted section. I still have in my files letters between myself and an employment officer and the head of the Explosives Properties Division of the Naval Ordnace Laboratory in Silver Springs, Maryland. I went there for an interview and it seemed as if I would have a job their after a security check. It was not until April that I was notified that my security clearance was lagging, so I had better look for something else. I never did find out why the security check was lagging. I had been cleared for secret while at Fort Belvoir and also had a security clearance later in my career in a civil service job.
When I first began to look for a new job, I had been interviewed at the Headquarters Quartermaster Research & Development Command , in Natick, Massachusetts. They found my analytical background did not include working with a mass spectrometer, so this was the end of that path. Westinhouse paid my expenses for an interview in Pittsburgh. I was grilled as if I was back in graduate school and taking my prelinary oral exam. Eventually after meeting people and being dined, I was informed that I certainly would fit into the job however, it had already been offered to someone else and that I was number three on the list. Great! Needless to say that I was very depressed on the long ride home.
I believe that it was sometime in May, that Galla and I began talking about moving from Pearl River to live with Galla’s parents for a while until I found employment. One day I went to the Biochemistry Department at the Columbia University Medical chool and I spent some time with Dr. Rittenberg. Dr. Rittenberg had been one of Norman’s mentors while he was working for his Ph.D. and I had met him previously a number of times. I asked if their was apost-doctoral fellowship available and the answer was negative. But Dr. Rittenberg suggested that I should go see Dr. Warren Sperry. Going back to the summer of 1941, I had worked in Dr. Sperry’s laboratory through the National Youth Administration. I had no problem in having a visit with Dr. Sperry and he recommended that I should go to Mount Sinai Hospital to see Dr. Harry Sobotka, the head of the clinical chemistry laboratories. It was still early enough in the afternoon for me to head for the hospital.. On my way, I remembered Dr. Elving suggesting that I should look into chemistry laboratories in hospital (clinical) settings.
The front entrance to Mount Sinai Hospital was on Fifth Avenue, across the street from Central Park. The hospital complex is between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue and bounded by East 98th and 101st Streets in Manhattan. I found my way to the outer office of Dr. Sobotka and his secretary had no problem in getting me in for an interview. I spent a pleasant hour or so with Dr. Sobotka and I left a curriculum vitae of my career up to that time. On my way home I figured that I would probably never hear from Dr. Sobotka. Well, to our surprise, I received a telephone call two weeks later and I was told that Dr. Lew Wasserman, the head of the Mount Sinai Hospital hematology department, would like me to come in for an interview. Needless to say, I made an appointment to visit Dr. Wasserman and this I did very soon after the telephone notification. Dr. Wasserman described a job. It would entail my setting up a chemistry laboratory to serve the hematology department. This meant doing some routine tests that would be performed in the laboratory instead of Dr. Sobotka’s laboratory. I would also be involved with research projects of some of the physicians in the department. I was told that Dr. Sobotka’s recommendation of myself was good enough for him, so would I be interested in the job. The pay would be about $6,500 annually. I accepted the job and I would start July 01. 1955. Of course I was elated on the way home and I was quite sure Galla would welcome the news.
For the month of July we stayed on in Pearl River as I drove to work and back. I found that there was a monthly pass that could be purchased to cross the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey to Manhattan. I also found very quickly that commuting was time-consuming and tiring. So by the end of July we had located an apartment in Manhattan and we moved in August.
Manhattan, New York City: August 1955 through August 1956
The address of our apartment was 159-00 Riverside Drive West, New York New York. There was a low stone wall across the street from the front entrance of the apartment house. Crossing the street one looked down on Riverside Drive and there was a wonderful view of the Hudson River and the Palisades in New Jersey. In this fairly large building our apartment probably was on the fourth floor and it was in back of the building. As one entered the apartment there was a large foyer. To the immediate left there was a small, narrow kitchen and a doorway from the kitchen opened into a small room meant to serve as a dining room. Behind this apparent dining room there was a hallway with a bathroom on the left and a very large bedroom which had windows on the back wall. Looking ahead from the foyer, and parallel to the bedroom there was a large living room with windows on the back wall. Because of rent control laws in New York City, the rent was something like a little over $100 a month.
The Job: Mount Sinai Hospital Hematology Department
The Mount Sinai Hospital Hematology Department occupied three floors of the Berg Building. This building was in back of the hospital area. On the top floor of the department there were four laboratories and the department office suite. Two laboratories were on one side of the floor and two laboratories plus the department office suite were on the other side of this floor.Dr. Wasserman had a part-time hematology practice office on Park Avenue, so he divided his time between his medical practice and administering the department at the hospital. The laboratories on the third floor were occupied by physicians who conducted research programs and also had part-time medical practices outside of the hospital. One of the physicians was Stan Lee who had an interest in lupus erythematosus (more later). On the floor below the department office floor there were also there were also four laboratories; two laboratories were on one side of this floor and the two were on the other side I was assigned one laboratory and a small room connecting both laboratories on this side of the floor. This small room had doorways to both laboratories and windows which made it possible to observe activities in both laboratories. There was a laboratory bench, a desk, probably a filing cabinet, and bookshelves in this small room. There were laboratory benches on the side walls of the laboratory and a central bench with workspace on both sides. On the wall with a doorway to the hall between laboratories there was a sink and and space for dirty glassware plus a ventilation hood. The laboratory was devoid of glassware and other equipment. The floor below my assigned laboratory also had four laboratories. One of the laboratories was for the study of the role of iron in hematological diseases.
I had two assignments; one was to set up the laboratory for routine chemical tests for such blood constituents as bilirubin and uric acid and the other was to work with some of the research physicians. Of course, my first need was a functional laboratory which meant scrounging for basic equipment. Somehow, I was able to acquire an analytical balance, a Coleman colorimeter and basic glassware. Of course this took a good part of my first month in the job. The next step was to be able to perform a number of clinical tests and both bilirubin and uric acid were high on the list along with fecal urobilinogen.
It wasn’t very long after I started working that I met Julius Carr. Dr. Sobotka had laboratories on two floors; on one floor there was a research laboratory and Dr. Sobotka’s office suite. On the floor below there was a large laboratory in which the chemical determinations were performed on blood and urine samples from patients in the hospital...Julius Carr and Gerda Meyer, both with Ph.D. degrees, were the co-supervisors of the clinical chemistry laboratory. Later on I met Jack who was a research chemist working with Dr. Sobotka. It was of interest to find that Dr. Sobotka had a reclining chair in hisoffice on which he took naps after lunch.
I spent many hours with Julius Carr in his spacious office. He just about came to be my mentor in learning about clinical chemical tests. Julius also suggested that others who spent some time in Dr. Sobotka’s laboratory left to become the head of chemistry laboratories in other hospitals. It wasn’t very long before I began to get blood samples from physicians in the hematology department. I became an expert bilirubin and uric acid tester. At one time Dr. Wasserman came into the laboratory and handed me four tubes of blood with a request to perform uric acid tests. He also predicted what answers I should get. I did not get the expected results, so I was told to bring the remaining blood samples to a uric acid research laboratory in another part of the hospital This laboratory got the same results that I did and they were not the results that Dr. Wasserman predicted. Another rather unpleasant test was for urobilinogen in 72 hour fecal samples. I performed them as quickly as I could when samples arrived.
There was one major project in which I participated and that was a study of the life of red blood cells. Hemoglobin, is an iron protein compound in red blood cells that gives blood its red color and transports oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitric oxide. As adults, we make more than 2 million red blood cells (erythrocytes) in our bone marrow every second to replace those lost through normal attrition. The life of the red blood cell in a normal person is about 120 days. The object of the study was to determine the life of the red blood cell in human beings who have abnormal pathology. In this study, being that nitrogen atoms are part of an hemoglobin molecule, hemoglobin molecules incorporated into newly synthesized red blood cells can be labeled with an isotope of nitrogen. The determination of the presence of the nitrogen-labeled red blood cell hemoglobin over a period of time will provide information about the life of red blood cells in pathological states. .
One patient with polycythemia vera (abnormal increase of the red blood cell mass), one with leukemia (cancer), and one normal person were all fed an amino acid which was labeled with heavy nitrogen (7N15). The labeled amino acid would be incorporated into the hemoglobin moleculed during the syntheses of new red blood cells. Lena, who was on the staff of the hematology department, designed the experiment. After the feeding of the amino acid blood was drawn every hour for 48 hours from the participants in this project. After the first two days blood was drawn at less frequent intervals over the next four months. The blood specimens were sent to the iron studies laboratory. Larry Schwartz, M.D., was in charge of this laboratory and the task of crystallizing hemoglobin from each blood specimen occurred under his direction. The next step was assigned to me and that was to convert the crystallized hemoglobin into ammonia and finally into gaseous nitrogen. A mass spectrometer would be used to separate the isotopic nitrogen from the normally occurring natural nitrogen (7N14) and thus a pilot of 7N15 vs time would show the length of the life of the red blood cells.in the project participants.
To convert the protein hemoglobin to ammonia is done by digesting the compound in concentrated sulfuric acid and this is done in long-necked rounded-bottom Pyrex Kjeldahl flasks. I had an ancient digestion rack for six Kjeldahl flasks The heat applied to the bottoms of the flasks was through gas burners. Here I ran into trouble. The gas burners were set for the gas which had been supplied to the residents in New York City when the digestion rack was purchased. However, now New York City was getting natural gas. The old burners could not be adjusted for this change, so there was not enough heat to digest the proteins in a reasonable time period such as about two to three hours. I found that would take at least 24 hours to digest the hemoglobin in a flask. I was under pressure by Lena to get the job done quickly. I kept telling Dr. Wasserman that I needed a new electric digestion rack, however, I did not get one. The reason for the pressure Lena, a large Russian-born woman with an accent, was going on vacation and she was the one operating the mass spectrometer. Well, I got 13 specimens out of about a hundred digested. I put the digested solutions into test tubes left them in a test-tube rack on a lab bench. I told the diener (someone hired to do menial tasks), a black young man assigned to my laboratory, to wash some used glassware. I left the lab for some chore or other and when I came back I found that the diener had also washed the test tubes with the 13 digested labeled hemoglobin samples. Of course I was angry but there was nothing I could do about it. I went down to the iron studies lab and Larry Schwartz was there. I told him about my problem. Larry checked and found that there were enough blood specimens to replace t 12 of the 13 lost samples. Larry told me to go up and tell Dr. Wasserman about it, however As Larry put it, “let me get away from the hospital before you tell him.” Dr. Wasserman had quite a temper. I went up to face the music and after I told Dr. Wasserman about the spilling of the digested samples he advanced toward me and I turned and walked down the stairs to my lab. Dr. Waserman tore his stethoscope apart as he followed me and kept shouting thatI should be fired. The diener, hearing the shouting ran out of the lab and we necer saw him again. He never came back to at least collect what was due. Finally in my small ofice Dr. Wasserman calmed down and as he left he muttered that I should be fired. When I came in the next morning, sitting on one of my lab benches was a brand new electric digestion rack. The rest of the my participation in this experiment went smoothly. Lena lamented that on a plot one point was missing. Considering the large number of specimens we had, in my opinion, one missing point did not invalidate the data.
Some time during the year Dr. Wasserman brought in a reprint of an article which described a procedure for determining ths concentration of iron in serum. Dr. Wasserman had been at ameeting in Boston and that is where he heard about the method. One of the authors of the papaer was ted peters, a clinical chemist I was to meet later in my career. The concentration of iron in serum in a normal adult is roughly between 50-170 ?g/dL (0.000,050 to 0.000,170 grams per 100 milliliter of serum). I found that some of the reagents in this lab test had impurities which included relatively large amounts of iron relative to the concentration of serum iron. To set up this analytical method I had to purify the reagents I needed and that was time consuming. Eventually, the serum iron procedure was added to the analytical procedures requested by members of the Hematology Department staff.
Dr. Wasserman and Stan Lee, M.D., were interested in developing a laboratory test for lupus erythematosus, a collagen disease. At this time, it was believed that the isolation of a particular protein in serum was necessary as a component for a lab test. We learned that the laboratory of Dr. Henry Kunkel, at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical research, New York City, was engaged in separating serum proteins by starch block electrophoresis.
Blood plasma, the liquid portion of whole blood, contains countless different proteins. The similarity of protein structures make the separation of a specific protein a difficult task. Electrophoresis is one method for separating proteins. It is a technique in which charged plasma protein particles migrate in a liquid or other porous media under the influence of an electrical field.
Stan Lee and I visited Dr. Kunkel and we were shown the process of separating plasma proteins by starch block electrophoresis plus the extraction of separated protein particle from slices of the starch block medium. I was assigned by Dr. Wasserman to set up starch block electrophoresis in my lab. This meant ordering a power supply along with other other equipment and reagents. On reading the literature I found that proteins were being separated by other techniques at the national institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Wasserman suggested that I should visit that laboratory to observe and learn the techniques. It was sometime early in the summer of 1956 that I drove to the Washington, D.C. area. I took Ruth’s son Harvey Radin Kalish, who was 14 plus years old, with me. I arranged to visit Dolph Amster and family on this trip and we were able to spend the night at my friend’s house. I might add here that was the last time I saw Dolph. We did correspond many years later when Dolph was working at a Navy installation in China Lake, California but we could not arrange to get together when Galla and I were passing through Los Angeles. In the morning I dropped Harvey somewhere in Washington and I went on to NIH. I learned a lot about protein separations that day and I was awed by the large refrigerated rooms in which separations in long vertical columns with various solid media took place. After I left I felt depressed as my facilities back at Mount Sinai Hospital certainly could not match those at NIH. I picked harvey up and we drove back to New York City that evening. I think that Harvey went home by subway.
It was not long after I returned from my NIH visit that I asked for vacation time. I thought that I had four weeks of vacation coming such as other members of the Hematology Department staff, but I was told that I only get two weeks as I was on grant money. This did surprise me as I thought I was on a regular hospital payroll.
When I took my vacation, I had been at the Mount Sinai Hospital for over a year. After having been at the Hospital for several months, Harry Sobotka came into my lab and handed me an application for joining the AACC (then the American Association of Clinical Chemists and later the American Association for Clinical Chemistry). On filling out the application, I found that one requirement was that the applicant should have five years experience as a clinical chemist. When I took the completed application to Dr. Sobotka, I pointed out that I did not meet the applicant’s requirement, Dr. Sobotka said, “Forget it, you are one of us.” Dr. Sobotka then signed the application as my sponsor. ( Today as I write in the year 2005, I am a 50 year member of the AACC).
I would have ,unch in the hospital cafeteria. I became acquainted with a number of interns and resident physicians. One resident in internal medicine was Milton Brothers. His wife, Joyce Brothers, gained fame at that time by winning a large prize of money in a TV quiz program (The $64,000 Question) and her category for this prize was boxing.
There was a cell research laboratory in the Pathology Department and I became acquainted with two of the researchers, B.J. Davis, M.D. and Len Ornstein. At that time Len was too busy to finish his Ph.D. thesis at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. It was later during the decade of the 1960s that a visit with two researchers enabled me to try a new electrophoresis technic using a polyacrylamide gel.
At work, I became acquainted with Sandy Oxenhorn who was finishing his residency in internal medicine and hematology. For a while Sandy worked with Larry Schwartz in the iron studies lab. In conversations with Sandy, he often said that he was interested in psychiatry. When Sandy finished his residency requirements, he took a job at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. A number of years after I left Mount Sinai Hospital, I met Sandy for lunch and he told me that he was now a resident again, this time in psychiatry.
Having a car in New York City was a nuisance as there was one could park only on one side of a street. One could not leave the car on one side of a street as the sides in which parking was allowed alternated daily. For a while I got away with parking on Madison Avenue, next to the hospital, where there was a sign, Doctor’s Parking Only. At that time physician’s got license plates designated as MD, however, some interns were not eligible for that privilege and they also parked in front of the doctor’s only sign. One day many of the cars without MD plates were cited by the police. A bunch of us rode to the Manhattan Courthouse to appear in front of a judge in the traffic court. When my turn came, I told the judge that I not only was I on the staff at the hospital, but I did have a legitimate Doctor’s degree, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. I was called a wise guy but I was not fined as the others were not fined. After that day I left home early every morning and drove around to find parking near the hospital and then coming home I had to do a lot of hunting for a parking place.
When we moved to Manhattan, Jared was was a few months past his fourth birthday and Rachel was two years and four months old. There was an area at the back of our apartment building where children were able to play. Galla would take Rachel to that area and we think we had a tricycle for her to ride on. Also that enabled mothers who lived in the building to become acquainted.
Jared was enrolled in a private nursery school near our building. During the next year we became concerned about Jared as distinct speech had not developed. He could vocalize and he had some non-understandable vocabulary of his own. Through my work at the hospital, I got a recommendation for a psychiatrist who had a specialty dealing with children’s speech. The psychiatrist told us that he had a deck of cards with pictures and corresponding words on them. He would show a child cards and say the words on them. After two weeks the child would explode with speech. Somewhat reluctantly brought Jared to this psychiatrist for this therapy. It was after a number of sessions that we learned the psychiatrist was bribing Jared with coins to get him to say words. We withdrew Jared from this therapy.
Of course, living in New York City, it was easy enough to visit and be visited by relatives. Occasionally Galla’s parents would do some baby sitting so that we could go out ourselves. We also could leave the children with Galla’s parents in Staten Island. We would drive out to visit Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny in Long Beach. Of course we visited with Ruth and Sam and family. Several times during the summer of 1956 we drove out to spend a day at Jones Beach State Park, which is on the Atlantic Ocean shore of Long Island.. We were at one of the swimming pools at one of our outings when Harry Sobotka came over and met the family. Through contact in the play area of our apartment building we became acquainted with a family where the husband was a physician working as a resident in a Manhattan hospital. This family had access to a summer place on Fire Island and we visited them there one day during the summer of 1956. We drove out past Jones Beach State Park and we took a ferry to the island. To this day we remember the rough sea and how glad we were to arrive at a dock on the island. The sea was a lot smoother on our return to Long Island, where we had parked our car. We found new friends in Lewis Brooks, M.D., who was a resident in pathology at Mount Sinai Hospital and his wife Natalie.
The exact time frame in which my Father and Mary sold their farm in Lakewood, New Jersey eludes me at this time. My father and Mary went on to live in Miami Beach, Florida. Also, Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha had sold their farm in Lakewood and were now living in Queens (or Brooklyn). When we did drive out to Lakewood to visit my father and Mary, we would also visit Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha as they also had a chicken farm for a short time. We would also stop and visit George and Ethel Orloff and family as they also had a farm in Lakewood.
It was one evening while at home tha I got a telephone call from Ruth. She told me that her mother, Aunt Bertha, had a biopsy at Beth Isreael Hospital in Manhattan and there was a hematological problem. When the physician who ordered the biopsy was identified, I immediately asked if multiple myoloma was diagnosed. From my work in the hematology department I became acquainted with the expertise of this particular physician. The answer was that Aunt Bertha had been diagnosed with multiple myoloma. Norman had apparently found a publication in which multiple myoloma was treated with radioactive iodine and it was believed that this treatment had good results. I was asked if I knew a physician in our departmentwho would use this treatment. Stan Lee saw Aunt Bertha and after having her as a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, his response to the radioactive iodine treatment was that he did not recommend it. As far as I know, Aunt Bertha did get treated with radioactive iodine by another physician, but it did not stop the progress of this fatal disease. While a patient at the hospital I did get to see Rutha lot of times as she visited Aunt Bertha daily.
Also, while we were living in New York City, Galla’s mother had an X-ray series done at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Staten Island. Galla’s mother was a registered nurse and she worked part time at the hospital. As Galla’s mother did not inform us about the results of the X-ray tests, Galla asked me to call her physician, Which I did. I suppose on reaching her physician and being told that I was on the staff of the hematology department at Mount Sinai Hospital, using the legitimate identification as Doctor Radin, and also being the son-in-law, I was told that the sigmoid colon was blocked with a tumor. Galla and I, and the immediate family persuaded Galla’s mother to go to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The surgery was unsuccessful as the tumor was malignant and it had metastasized. Galla’s mother lived for about another year after the surgery.
My two week vacation began on Saturday, July 28 and I was due back at the lab on Monday, August13, 1956. Galla’s parents took Jared and Rachel to Staten Island so that we could have some days for ourselves. Little did we know on that weekend that there would be a hectic rest of the month to follow. Neither Galla and I had any definite plans as what to do and it was on Monday morning , July 30, that I received a telephone call from a Ralph L. Van Peursem, Ph.D Dr. Ralph Van Peursem was calling from the American Chemical Society (ACS) offices in Washington, DC. Apparently, I left an application for employment at the ACS when I was out of work atr the beginning of 1955. Dr. Van Peursem was the Head of the Department of Chemistry at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He asked if I would be interested in a teaching job at RIT. Expenses would be paid for an interview, so I accepted this offer.
We drove to Rochester on Sunday, August 5. We stayed in a hotel a block away from RIT. In this year of 2005, I find it almos unbelievable that the cost of my trip was so small. Four restaurant meals added up to $7.90 and a night at the hotel in a double room was $10.00. On Monday, after I spent some time with Dr. Van Peursem I wa taken out to lunch by a Dr. C. Hess, a physical chemistry instructor. Dr. Hess had retired from DuPont and was spending his older years by teaching at RIT. Dr. Van Peursem took me to the office of Leo Smith, Dean of Instruction, and we talked about a career at RIT. I have the original letter from Dr. Smith, in which I was offered employment at $550 per month for the ten months between September 1, 1956 and June 30, 1957. One hundred and fifty dollars ($150) would be payed to defray our moving expenses. I was also told that if I so wished, I would be employed for the summer quarter at the same rate as in my offer. It was in a letter from Dr. Mark Ellington, President of RIT, dated August 15, 1956 that the offer became official.
At this time (2005) Neither Galla or I can recollect what took place after the offer was made on August 6. I must have discussed the pros and cons of employment at RIT before I accepted the offer. Yet it is the letter of Monday, August 6 that has the offer in writing. Somehow, we managed to lease an apartment, and whether this was done before we left Rochester or that we came back for a few days, we do not recollect. We returned to New York City and I gave notice that I was leaving my job at Mount Sinai Hospital. I have no idea today if I had intentions of leaving the hospital or not. And if I did have intentions of leaving, why did I not confer with Harry Sobotka about a career as a clinical chemist at some other hospital. We advertised that our apartment could be sublet and it wasn’t long before someone claimed the apartment. There was no problem in someone taking over as the owned could raise the rent in this government rent-controlled apartment. We arranged to move and we must have done so by Labor Day in September as I was notified to appear at a faculty meeting on Tuesday, September 4. . .