Eben Byers

Eben Byers
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name	Eben McBurney Byers
Born	(1880-04-12)April 12, 1880 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	March 31, 1932(1932-03-31) (aged 51) Manhattan, New York
Nationality	United States
Career
Status	Amateur
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
U.S. Open	CUT: 1908
The Open Championship	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Amateur	Won: 1906
British Amateur	T17: 1904

Eben McBurney Byers (April 12, 1880 – March 31, 1932) was a wealthy American socialite, athlete, and industrialist. He won the 1906 U.S. Amateur in golf. He earned notoriety in the early 1930s when he died from multiple radiation-induced cancers after consuming a popular patent medicine made from radium dissolved in water.

Biography

The son of industrialist Alexander Byers, Eben Byers was educated at St. Paul's School and Yale College,^[1] where he earned a reputation as an athlete and ladies' man. He was the U.S. Amateur golf champion of 1906, after finishing runner-up in 1902^[2] and 1903.^[3] Byers eventually became the chairman of the Girard Iron Company, which had been created by his father.^[1]

In 1927, while returning via chartered train from the annual Harvard–Yale football game, Byers fell from his berth and injured his arm. He complained of persistent pain and a doctor suggested that he take Radithor, a patent medicine manufactured by William J. A. Bailey.^[4] Bailey was a Harvard University dropout who falsely claimed to be a doctor of medicine and became rich from the sale of Radithor. Bailey created Radithor by dissolving radium in water to high concentrations, claiming it could cure many ailments by stimulating the endocrine system. He offered physicians a 17% rebate on the prescription of each dose of Radithor.^[5]

Byers began taking enormous doses of Radithor, which he believed had greatly improved his health, drinking nearly 1,400 bottles.^[6] By 1930, when Byers stopped taking the remedy, he had accumulated significant amounts of radium in his bones resulting in the loss of most of his jaw. Byers' brain was also abscessed, and holes were forming in his skull. His death on March 31, 1932, was attributed to "radiation poisoning" using the terminology of the time, but it was due to cancers, not acute radiation syndrome.^[4]^[7] He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a lead-lined coffin.^[5]

Legacy

Due to Byers' prominence, his death received much publicity. The Wall Street Journal ran a headline reading "The Radium Water Worked Fine until His Jaw Came Off" after his death.^[8]^[9] His illness and eventual death also led to a heightened awareness of the dangers of ingesting radioactive materials, and to the adoption of laws that increased the powers of the FDA.^[3]

William Bailey was never tried for Byers' death, although the Federal Trade Commission issued an order against his business. However this did not stop Bailey from trading in radioactive products. He later founded a new company – "Radium Institute", in New York – and marketed a radioactive belt-clip, a radioactive paperweight, and a mechanism which made water radioactive.^[10]

Major championships

Amateur wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning score	Runner-up
1906	U.S. Amateur	2 up	George Lyon

Results timeline

Tournament	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP
U.S. Amateur	R16	R16	2	2	R16	QF	1	SF	QF	DNP
The Amateur Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	R32	DNP	DNP	R128	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
U.S. Amateur	R32	R32	R32	R16	R16	R32	R32	NT	NT	DNQ
The Amateur Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT

Tournament	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926
U.S. Amateur	DNQ	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNQ
The Amateur Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Note: Byers died before the founding of the Masters Tournament, and never played in The Open Championship. As an amateur, he could not play in the PGA Championship.
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source for U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Source for 1904 British Amateur: Golf, July 1904, pg. 6.

Source for 1907 British Amateur: The Glascow Herald, May 29, 1907, pg. 12.

References

1 2 Leonard, John William (1922). Who's Who in Finance and Banking. Who's Who in Finance Inc. p. 110.
↑ "Travis Out Of The Race". New York Tribune. July 18, 1902. p. 5. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
1 2 Wade, Don; McCord, Gary. And Then Arnie Told Chi Chi... McGraw-Hill Professional. pp. 33–4. ISBN 0-8092-3549-8.
1 2 "Radium Drinks". Time. April 11, 1932. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
1 2 "Eben M. Byers: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Amateur Golf, Modern Medicine and the FDA" (PDF). Allegheny Cemetery Heritage. Fall 2004. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
↑ "Radium Cures". museumofquackery.com.
↑ "Death Stirs Action on Radium 'Cures'. Trade Commission Speeds Its Inquiry. Health Department Checks Drug Wholesalers. Autopsy Shows Symptoms. Maker of "Radithor" Denies It Killed Byers, as Does Victim's Physician in Pittsburgh. Walker Uses Apparatus. Friends Alarmed to Find Mayor Has Been Drinking Radium-Charged Water for Last Six Months.". The New York Times. April 2, 1932. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Federal and local agencies, as well as medical authorities in various parts of the country, were stirred to action yesterday as a result of the death of Eben M. Byers, wealthy Pittsburgh steel manufacturer and sportsman, who died here Wednesday at the Doctors' Hospital from causes attributed to radium poisoning resulting from the drinking of water containing radium in solution. ...
↑ Stipp, David (June 9, 2003). "A Little Poison Can Be Good For You The received wisdom about toxins and radiation may be all wet". Fortune. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
↑ Evans, Robley D. (1933). "Radium Poisoning a Review of Present Knowledge *". American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health 23 (10): 1017. doi:10.2105/AJPH.23.10.1017-b.
↑ Harvie, David I. (2005). Deadly Sunshine: The History and Fatal Legacy of Radium (1 ed.). Tempus Publishing Limited. pp. 160–161. ISBN 0-7524-3395-4.

U.S. Amateur champions

1895 Charles B. Macdonald 1896 H. J. Whigham 1897 H. J. Whigham 1898 Findlay S. Douglas 1899 Herbert M. Harriman 1900 Walter Travis 1901 Walter Travis 1902 Louis N. James 1903 Walter Travis 1904 Chandler Egan 1905 Chandler Egan 1906 Eben Byers 1907 Jerome Travers 1908 Jerome Travers 1909 Robert A. Gardner 1910 William C. Fownes Jr. 1911 Harold Hilton† 1912 Jerome Travers 1913 Jerome Travers 1914 Francis Ouimet 1915 Robert A. Gardner 1916 Chick Evans 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I 1919 S. Davidson Herron 1920 Chick Evans 1921 Jesse P. Guilford 1922 Jess Sweetser 1923 Max R. Marston† 1924 Bobby Jones 1925 Bobby Jones 1926 George Von Elm 1927 Bobby Jones 1928 Bobby Jones 1929 Harrison R. Johnston 1930 Bobby Jones 1931 Francis Ouimet 1932 Ross Somerville 1933 George Dunlap 1934 Lawson Little 1935 Lawson Little 1936 John Fischer† 1937 Johnny Goodman 1938 Willie Turnesa 1939 Bud Ward 1940 Dick Chapman 1941 Bud Ward 1942–45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Ted Bishop† 1947 Skee Riegel 1948 Willie Turnesa 1949 Charles Coe 1950 Sam Urzetta† 1951 Billy Maxwell 1952 Jack Westland 1953 Gene Littler 1954 Arnold Palmer 1955 Harvie Ward 1956 Harvie Ward 1957 Hillman Robbins 1958 Charles Coe 1959 Jack Nicklaus 1960 Deane Beman 1961 Jack Nicklaus 1962 Labron Harris, Jr. 1963 Deane Beman 1964 William C. Campbell 1965 Bob Murphy 1966 Gary Cowan† 1967 Bob Dickson 1968 Bruce Fleisher 1969 Steve Melnyk 1970 Lanny Wadkins 1971 Gary Cowan 1972 Vinny Giles 1973 Craig Stadler 1974 Jerry Pate 1975 Fred Ridley 1976 Bill Sander 1977 John Fought 1978 John Cook 1979 Mark O'Meara 1980 Hal Sutton 1981 Nathaniel Crosby 1982 Jay Sigel 1983 Jay Sigel 1984 Scott Verplank 1985 Sam Randolph 1986 Buddy Alexander 1987 Billy Mayfair 1988 Eric Meeks 1989 Chris Patton 1990 Phil Mickelson 1991 Mitch Voges 1992 Justin Leonard 1993 John Harris 1994 Tiger Woods 1995 Tiger Woods 1996 Tiger Woods† 1997 Matt Kuchar 1998 Hank Kuehne 1999 David Gossett 2000 Jeff Quinney† 2001 Bubba Dickerson 2002 Ricky Barnes 2003 Nick Flanagan† 2004 Ryan Moore 2005 Edoardo Molinari 2006 Richie Ramsay 2007 Colt Knost 2008 Danny Lee 2009 An Byeong-hun 2010 Peter Uihlein 2011 Kelly Kraft 2012 Steven Fox† 2013 Matthew Fitzpatrick 2014 Gunn Yang 2015 Bryson DeChambeau

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

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