Two physicians and a clerk were arrested at 136 West Thirty-fourth Street yesterday afternoon charged with engineering a radium cure swindle which Champe S. Andrews, attorney for the County Medical Society, says has netted them $10,000 from one victim alone. The prisoners are Dr. Henry H. Kane, fifty-one years old, of the West Thirty-fourth Street address, formerly a well-known horseman and President of the Road Drivers' Association; his consulting physician, Dr. William H. Hale, fifty-two years old, of 240 West Thirty-fourth Street, and his clerk or manager, William F. Horton, fifty-seven years old, of 8 Morningside Avenue.

The arrests were made at Kane's place by Mr. Andrews and Detective Sergeants O'Connell and Price of the District Attorney's office. Indictments have been returned against the prisoners, charging grand larceny.

The detectives and Mr. Andrews found Kane occupying the sumptuous offices which he has maintained for years. Everything was furnished in a manner to impress the patient with the wealth of the owners. There were thirty-five patients, among them several handsomely dressed women, in the rooms, and a line of carriages was drawn up at the door. Dr. Kane asked that he be allowed to dismiss his patients before a disturbance was raised and permission was granted. Then the trio were taken to the Tombs.

The complainant in the case is John McCallum, a carpenter, of 21 North High Street, Mount Vernon. He says the physicians got his $10,000, all he had, in $100, $1,000, $1,500, and $2,000 lots, for which they gave him vials of alleged radium, which they said would cure his kidney trouble. Before the exposure came McCallum had saved a quart of the stuff. In talking about the case Mr. Andrews said:

"In November, 1903, McCallum lost his wife. He was left with one child, a boy ten years of age. Thinking that he would protect this boy in the event of his own death, he applied for life insurance. He was told that the medical examination developed a slight tendency toward Bright's disease. This frightened the man very much, and the agent of the company suggested that he call on Dr. Kane, whom he described as a celebrated specialist. A day or two afterward McCallum received through the mail several circulars setting forth Kane's skill as a doctor. McCallum called on Dr. Kane, and was shortly afterward operated upon. He paid $100 for this. He was then put under so-called treatment, for which he paid by the month.

"Kane soon discovered that McCallum had considerable money, and shortly after his discovery said to McCallum that he (Kane) was becoming very much worried about his case and that he feared death would ensue unless vigorous remedies were taken. He then introduced him to William Henry Hale, a physician in his employ, who, he said, was one of the greatest specialists in the world. Hale confirmed Kane's diagnosis, and emphasized that McCallum was at the point of death. They then proceeded to administer to him hypodermic injections until McCallum became frightfully ill, and in this condition they told him the only hope for his recovery lay in a very expensive drug called radium. They explained to him that radium was such an expensive drug that they could make no money out of the case, but they were so greatly interested in science and in curing McCallum that they were willing to do the work for cost. McCallum, believing he was in the face of certain death, paid over to these men in the space of a few weeks $9,870, in the belief that he was taking radium.

"Purely by accident McCallum mentioned his case and the method in which he was being treated to an officer of the County Medical Society. the matter was referred to me, and I began an investigation.

"Kane and Hale were both pressing McCallum for more money, saying that they had used $13,000 worth of radium in all, and that McCallum was in their debt to the extent of $3,000. Using this as a starting point, under my instruction, McCallum invented the story of a rich woman who had become greatly interested in his case, and who, McCallum told Kane, had agreed to supply the funds necessary for the additional treatment. Hale and Kane were greatly pleased at this and made an appointment to have an interview with the rich woman. I then appealed to Commissioner McAdoo for an experienced woman detective, who could impersonate the woman.

"By appointment she and McCallum called at the office of Dr. Kane, where they met Dr. Hale. Hale at great length explained to her the use of radium. He and his assistant, Horton, produced an alleged tube of radium, which he said contained many hundred dollars' worth of the precious drug. The woman agreed to pay the money, but said it would not be convenient for her to do so until after the new year. By means of several letters between the rich lady and Dr. Hale complete corroborative evidence has been obtained against Kane, Hale, and Horton. In the meantime McCallum began to save the drug prescribed by these physicians and which they insisted contained radium.

"Dr. Ernest Lederle and Dr. Joseph Jeghuee conducted a series of exhaustive experiments and showed that there was not the slightest trace of the precious drug, but as a matter of fact the only ingredients were jentin, iron, and a few simple drugs ordinarily used in a tonic preparation."

[HITS research note ... Ernest Lederle ... NYC Health Commissioner (1902-1903). He bought a farm in Pearl River, NY that evolved into Lederle Laboratories, now part of Pfizer. The antibiotic Aureomycin was discovered and developed there, as well as the manufacture of other drugs. ]

Dr. Kane, to whom McCollum says the insurance agent referred him, for a while cut quite a dash on the Speedway. He was a persuasive talker and was known among horsemen as a man who bought much champagne for his friends. He was one of the organizers of the Road Drivers' Association and afterward became President of that organization. His stable of trotting horses was one of the best in New York. When he purchased the famous pacer Dariel, with a record of 2:07½, he succeeded in attracting attention from horsemen all over the country. Later Dariel made a record of 2:02¼ and was pitted against George Huber's pacer Maud Moller. Three heats were trotted. Dr. Kane's Dariel winning two of them and defeating Maud Moller. Then Dr. Kane purchased other pacers and won prizes at the Horse Show. At one time he tried to launch a scheme to establish a trotting track near Long Branch.

Dr. Kane sold his stable about five years ago and has not been seen on the Speedway since. His concern, known as the Dr. Kane Medical Company, was dissolved, and his friends thought he had fallen into financial difficulties. The company kept a sanitarium at 136 West Thirty-fourth Street.