Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-06-22
The rastness OF the dental-snnnlr ,naustrr

The vastness of the deutai-supply industry
In this country Ia realized in some small degree
when one learns that ten manufacturers devote
their exclusive attention to the making of gold
foil for plugging and gold plates for false
teeth. The foil 4 the best gold-bes,ers leaf.
"a carats or loo fne-which means that il is
absolutely pure gold, without a particle Of
alloy. Even the film Of gold which covers Bos-
tons famous state-house dome is only 70 carats.
forsooth! Two manufacturers make nothing
but rubber for plates. Others make a specially
OF dement's, amalgams, &C., for tooth-hlling.
These anialgams are composed chiefly Of silver
tin and gold, so that il Is Eot strange that they
cost about S6 an ounce. Also they invariably
contain mercury, and for this reason are OBJ
tected 10 by the best dental surgeons NOWADAYS.
IL you have tooth plugged with amalgam ex-
anime II IN mirror and you will find blackness
all around the filing produced by the oxida-
ton OF mercury. This little bit of quicksilver
VIII go on contributing .ts poison 70 your sys-
TEN for wears and years, and NAV sooner or
Later bring on all sorts Of undesirable COM
plants. The furniture and engines dentists
use are entirely controlled by one great dental
supply house, which has an establishment in
Boston as well as in all other important cities
of the world This concern is as big as All the
other manufacturing firms put together, and is
backed by capital of so. 000. 900. In fact il
rams the monopoly that grinds the dentist that
handles he forceps that jerks the tooth that
aches in the Jaw of the luckless patient And
u Is the last-named who is the real victim of
the trust.
POKER WITH FRENCH VARIATIONS
Those who ought to know declare that the
soui-destroying game Of poker is more danger
ously prevalent just now in Boston's clubs then
ever before. For obvious reasons. the somer-
set, which represents the gilt-edged idleness of
the town, goes in for this sort of Amusement
most extensively. There has always been a
great deal of gambling in this club. Its men,
bers are mostly rich young men, who find an
agreeable employment for their leisure in
green-baize exercises Next to the Somerset
In point OF addiction TO such designations il is
SAID. Is the Algonquin, a comparatively new
social organization with a very large and some
what indlscrlminate membership. Many of the
merchant princes who belong to il are fond of
a little game, and jackpots run high there
Also there are several small and very
exclusive gentlemen's clubs here which
nave no object of existence worth men,
tioning save pokor. The pastime. even
Tor those who can afford it, is of course de-
moralizlng. Nothing can be introduced into
CLUB SO likely to produce discord as poker
table. Besides, the game, though commonly
supposed to be all luck, is essentially one of
skill. and in club where il is played there are
almost sure to be men who, by means techni-
eaiiy fair, actually make their living out of
their winnings. As for the pastime's demoral-
lzing influence ii is already beginning TO be
complained Of in the French clubs where the
game has been domesticated. The Partisan
CLUB, as everybody knows, is a proprietary
gambling hell pure and simple, and the adop-
ton CT poker has seriously reduced the re-
ceipts OF the croupier; for the percentage ac-
crulng to the 'house" from the American
form OF the card-vice is much less
than that obtained from baccarat, and
the loss thus involved has necessarily
occasioned no little disgust with comparatively
harmless draw" In the latest number of the
Paris Iaastre this feeling is editorially voiced
by sympathetic leader writer. who says that
the innovation actually threatens the clubs
with bankruptcy. Save for the abstraction of
an occasional chip" by way of contribution,
he adds, the banker has nothing to do but to
look at the 'pokerites,' who remain seated for
hours, speaking a language unintelligible to
most people, as, 'Je suis blind 0 am blind).
.vous m'avez bluffe' (You have bluffed me),
Falsons-nous un pot Get us make pot), and
SO on" These phrases will be familiar TO every
experienced poker player who reads this letter,
however mysterious they may appear to the
unlnltlated- RENE BAcHf.