New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-02
AFOOT IN NEW-ENGLAND.
w.
pA,,RIJNG NOTES OF A WEEKS WALK UP
CONSEQUENTLY prvEp VALLEY.

| son,o,biro old 70 carry away with pe. l decided
IN an old cJoclone of those great, old-fashioned
| seven-foot clocks that beam down on you win
| cor4lv natronizjng air and keep very poor time
They can be bought in New-York, of course. but
| T am ALWAYS afraid that these are made in
| Rleecker-st.. or thereabouts. What wanted was
| n genuine old timepiece, hundred years ola aV
| least with solemn, dignified tick and deep
| bass voice when it struck so began early "
make inquiries for such one
| One day, several miles west OF Deerheid, Mass
in a region far from the haunts OF railroad trains
| and among the hills, came to little OLD soohe
house close to the road with dentists sign on ohe
door II was half q dozen miles from even
small village and it struck me as being strange
n,ace for dentists office. But it appeared that
no was M ordinary dentist not il his signs went
for ANYTHING. At one side of the door was large
Gilt sirn with this on it Teeth Cleaned, Filled,
Inserted. Extracted, Treated Repaired. Gas and
Ether Given On the other side of the door
was this: Carious Teeth Filled with Ni-ko-li-um
Sensitive Teeth Treated with Os-s-cu-ra.' They
wero tle most elaborate signs / had seen since
,ooving Neriden where | encountred thls
.Winthrop Square Hair Cutting Emporium Cozy'
o,oar comfortablel Sklful Artists. kazors
Keen-Shears Bright. Hank Ferguson Prop
/ instantly decided to go in ana see the hnan vi
ni-ko-li-um and os-si-cu-ra Repeated KNOCKING
h,ounb, no resnonse but | found him in the
back ward at work an improved arrahgenehV
for watering hens. 1t was SO constructed ui''U
when the hen or other fowl leaned over the edge
Of the dish the pressure OF her neck "ouiu
cause small quantity of water W ITO" uo"n
from reservoir at one side. ms ohe oiiio'S
hen took in her mouth, elevated her heau' anu
allowed the attraction of gravitaton TO 10 inc
atari al
the apparatus was intended for high priced fowls
kept rather for pleasure than for proh'' IL
hon got over into the dish with her ieet,
as hons only too often will, spring was released
which b'isted her ten feet up into the air lie
called IL the Ne Plus Ultra Chicken and Turkey
Drinking Fountain. / went down 10 tne Darn
with him and we drove up couple OF hens 10
rive il q first trial but they did not seem 10 De
thirsty. They put their heads on ore Sue ana
looked at 1t with eye, and the large spechleu
hen became alarmed, or pretended TO al least, anu
made noise down In her throat as IL sue Sd"
hawk. and then they both ran back TO the Oaih'
NV friend did not seem to be discouraged, now
ever and said that they would come 10 10 yeb
lie showed me an improved trough Tor his pig
which was so arranged that If the ill-mannered
beast put his feet into it sort Of an iron clamp
came down and closed his mouth till he took
them out and behaved himself. He limited about
other improvements that he could show me, out
said that we would go up to the house and have
q look at my teeth nrst
His office was in the front room. The Moor
was covered with apples with the exception OF a
small space about the operating chair There
were large bottles of ni-ko-li-um the window
stills and on little old melodeon was a box OF
os-s-cu-ra. l climbed into the chair and he
and He nut
mirror in my mouth and all sorts of odd instru-
ments, including one that was shaped exactly like
the clamp which came down the unsuspectng
pigs nose when he put his feet in One trough.
Then he shook his head and said that he was
sorry to say that my teeth did not seem TO need
any attention. There was one place that he had
hopes of-there would be a cavity that would
need ni-ko-li-um soon, but not now. / asked him
if ni-ko-li-lm was very durable, and he replied
that it was as indesructible as the law of gravi-
tation. He gave me a succinct account OF his
life and learned that he had practised his pro-
fession in Boston for upward of forty years. lie
had come out TO the place where had found him
last spring. determined for the future to live in
peace and quiet. He had put out his signs not
that he expected much business, but it seemed
pleasant to have them around. His daughter had
been with him during the summer, but for the
winter he proposed 10 i've alOne IHere WAS an
other man named Corbett living near who was
also alone, and they visited together good deal
Corbetts wife was minister in the Spritualistic
denomination and was away in New-York eleven
months of the year preaching l asked him what
Corbett thought about this. Corbett he replied
wasn't saying a word. Mrs. Corbett was
brainy woman who couldn't help preaching any
more than she could help breathing, and
it stood to reason that if 81 I'D preach eleven
months in the year that Corbett would rather
have her do it in New-IOrS than at home. New
York was large and could stand it-C0rbett was
small STILL it was the generally received Opin-
ion around the neighborhood that he did get a
little lonesome sometimes Corbett didn't go in
much on Spiritualism himself having at
tended a seance in South Iladley incOgnito and
asked for the spirit of William X. Corbett, late
of Ashfeld, and got long communication through
the unsuspecting medium from himself in the
spirit land. Corbett had been good deal OF
infdel since that, and frequently heard TO
say that Robert IngersOll had a great many Of
his ideas
The crafty reader may perhaps notice that
| am drifting far away from the subject on which
| began-tlat of old clocks But it really makes
| no difference. The fact is that my friend the
| dentist This name was Hobbs had no old clock,
reason began to talk about him. Hobbs in his
| day had been an industrious worker. In back
room he had several large glass cases filed with
| teeth which he had extracted. There could not
! have been less than two bushels of them. He
estimated that the force used in extracting them,
if it could all be exerted at once would be suil-
| cient to raise the Bunker Hill Monument twenty
| two feet 1t was very pleasant he said, to be
thus surrounded by evidences of his past tiumpls.
| He was working plan for extracting teeth by
| electricity. The dentist would put the apparatus
in position, turn Oh the electricity, and the pa
TENTS teeth would pop up like the little felt
! hammers in piano when you run the scale But
with ni-ko-l-um and os-si-cu-ra there was really
| little need OF pulling a tooth. Hobbs was bit
| of a scientist. lie had chemical chart which
| nearly covered one of the kitchen walls and made
a great many dark points in chemistry very clear.
| He took pair of forceps and pointed out TO me