The Red Cloud chief., 1885-07-10
a QUEER OPERATION.
How . New York Man Managed . Jack
Screw la His Noath.


A slender man Of quiet and respect
able appearance. sitting in a Sixth ave
II elevated train las; evening. drew
from his inner coat poke; n narrow
steel rod about SIX inches IN length.
The rod was Hat ani the width Of an
ordinary lead-pencil At one end there
WAS a small slot IN IL So curious IN
implement AMI the p~reoceupied manne
Of the man attracted the attention OF
the other passengers in the ear. A Lads
opposite, accompanied BY n little boz.
glanced with alarm toward the con-
ductor, who was ~iniently watching the
man, AS the latter put the slotted end of
the steel rod in his mouth. The man
shut hs teeth together and his face IN
derwent a series of conior;ions n he
worked his hand with a motion as il he
were Tightening up a loose nu, on a
bolt The lady became 50 agitated that
she left her seat and took one nearer
the door.
You needn't be frightened. marln."
said the conductor. Il guess that's only
the circus man with the iron jaw"
what in the world the matter with
him. asked the lady.
Il guess he is only tightening up his
jaw. marm," replied the conductor. on
solingly.
The man had now finished the opera
ton. and he restored the steel rod {
his pocket Then he took out n memo
randum-book aud made some entries in
it carefully. and. having finished these
entries. h remarked to his neighbor in
the adjoining seat. rs he closed the
book:
Science does remarkable things IN
these DAYS" The neighbor nodded.
Now. | don't suppose YOU would
have the least idea that | had . jack
screw between two Of my teeth"
"A jack-screw?' inquired his neigh
Dor.
Yes" returned the man. smiling.
I'm undergoing a dental operation
One of nv teeth had been extracted.
and one Of those adjoining il began TO
grow over in the vacant space. IL was
a good tooth. and | didn't want it
pulled. but the dentist couldn't get it
back TO its place. until one day an idea
struck him and he said he'd put n Jack
screw in there. So he made d II is
less than = quarter Of an ioch long. but
il is on he same principle as the other
jack-screws-just Ike those used IN
lifting up Cooper Institute. only on u
small scale. you see"
is there no danger of its slipping
out?"
.'Oh. not at all. my dear sir. II is o
very ingenious little conirivance. The
whole thing is made Of gold and the nut
by which il is turned is next To the face;
YOU saw me turn i, just now? Well. l
turn it once around every twenty-four
hours. and that turn is equal to about
q two hundred and iifiieth part IF an
inch. Then. YOU see. ! make q mem
orandum of each turn. Generally l
turn it twice a day. but only halfway
round each time. expect that il will
take two or three weeks to straiyh,en
the tooth.
'.Is it uncomfortable? No. not espe-
cially. A little unpleasant when ! an
turning it. Makes me grit nv teeth
some. bat | soon get used TO having il
there. The onlv objection is tsat gold
is a little too soft u metal where there
is % much pressure brough; 10 bear.
You see. the screw is n very slender
wire and the thread on j; is very deli
cate. though il feels a though the
whole thing was a foot long and as Big
As those used under n building A day
or two after ! began % Use il toe threat
snapped under the strain. Then /
thought there was \ dynamite cartridge
in my mouth and the whole top of nv
head was coming OF. Blu; il did not
hurt me. The dentist Is gong 20 make
one OF platinum in case this should give
out. That is a harder metal. This is
NV station Good n CHIT" and the man
with the jack-screw between his teeth
left the train-E. y. Tritune.