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RE: Information on lamp mantle on "THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003"



Tosh and other radsafers



Somemore background on the subject.



Thorium in mantles is well known. It used to be in all mantles produced in

North America, and radioactive mantles can still be purchased in some

countries.



I assisted in cleaning up the Coleman Mantle Facility in Toronto several

decades ago when thoriated mantles could no longer be sold in Canada.



I know HP's who have kept a supply of thoriated mantles to use as "check"

sources.



John

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-----Original Message-----

From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of Tosh Ushino

Sent: December 5, 2003 9:39 AM

To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

Subject: Information on lamp mantle on "THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003"





Radsafers,



I just received this issue of "THE STRAIGHT DOPE

12/05/2003." There is a discussion of lamp mantle you

might find interesting.



Have a nice weekend.



Tosh Ushino

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.



------------------

THE STRAIGHT DOPE 12/05/2003



Dear Cecil:



My wife is about to take a group of Girl Scouts

camping and needed a propane lantern. When I went to

install the wicks, a warning label informed me that

the wicks were radioactive. Being a nuclear medicine

tech, I had access to a Geiger counter, and brother,

they weren't kidding. Is Saddam taking his vengeance

by slowly wiping out campers in this country? What

gives? --Rick Stobaugh, Memphis, Tennessee



~~~~~~

Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding,

birthday, or bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the

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Cecil replies:



Life is full of little surprises, isn't it? Your wife

was probably looking forward to a night under the

stars, far from the worries and threats of modern

society. Now she finds out that the camp lantern

hissing cheerfully on the picnic table is pumping out

alpha particles. Makes one long for the good old days,

when all a Girl Scout had to worry about was poison

ivy and curious bears.



But you know what? Radioactive lantern wicks aren't a

modern threat.



For more, see:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/031205.html



STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 05/05/1978



Dear Straight Dope:



On a recent pilgrimage to Troy Grove, Illinois to

visit the home of Wild Bill Hickok, one of our company

happened to mention that according to legend Wild Bill

was shot while holding "black aces and eights." This

hand has come to be known as the "dead man's hand." Is

the story apocryphal, and if it is true, what was the

fifth card in Wild Bill's hand? --Larry N., Chicago



Dear Larry:



You've settled on one of the few bits of Western lore

that has some basis in fact. Wild Bill was indeed

holding black aces and eights when he was plugged by

Jack McCall on the fateful day of August 2, 1876, in

the charming suburb of Deadwood, deep in the Dakota

Territory. Bill's fifth card was the deuce of spades,

which must have made for a pretty grim-looking hand.

I'm surprised he didn't commit suicide.



For more, see:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_307.html



STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/28/1979



Dear Cecil:



I'm a rabid baseball fan, and often my friends depend

upon me to provide the wisdom from on high when it

comes to the grand old game. But the one thing people

invariably ask is: "Why is the shortstop called the

shortstop? I get all the other ones, but that's the

weird one!" I've got enough problems with self-esteem

as it is, and I don't need it undercut any further by

not being able to answer that question. I look to you

for the answer. I promise to credit you every time I

repeat your reply. --Curt L., Los Angeles



Dear Curt:



That's the spirit. The origin of the word "shortstop"

appears to have been lost in the mists of antiquity,

but the absence of the facts has never prevented me

from making something up, and the present case is no

exception. I have here a Currier & Ives lithograph

that purports to depict the first officially recorded

baseball game, which occurred on or about June 19,

1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey, between the

Knickerbockers and the New York Nine. Notwithstanding

the fact that the Knickerbockers had made up the

rules, they lost. Not what you would call a team of

destiny.



For more, see:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_299b.html

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