An antique device

["Sue M. Dupre" <dupre@arundel.Princeton.EDU>]

Good afternoon, all!  Recently I was at an estate auction and came
across a curious electrical device.  It consisted of a small wooden 
cabinet, about 9" high x 9" deep x 15-16" long, with a slit in the 
lower front out of which came wires connected to two squarish black 
paddles.  The only other feature of the front was a translucent glass 
panel set in the center prominently labelled "RADON"; a fuse and a 
unlabelled red button were set into the glass panel.

The panel on the back of the cabinet said "Radon Co., Cleveland, 
Ohio" and "Model 1957."   It had the look of something made in the 
30s or 40s.  

I bid on it but wasn't willing to go too high on something that 
conceivably might not have had anything to do with radiation.  A 
local high school science teacher bought it to show off to his 
classes but I promised to tell him what it was if I found out.  And 
that's where you all come in.  Any idea what this curiosity was?

Regards,

Sue M. Dupre, Health Physicist

Office of Environmental Health and Safety       
Chemical Sciences Building/Forrestal Campus    
Princeton University                           
Princeton, NJ  08544-0710

E-mail: dupre@princeton.edu
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