The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-04-29
WOMEN The BRAVER
Before the Dentist Men Howl;
Not So Their Sisters. :. :.

IN no one way does woman show

TN no one way does woman show
to greater degree her superior
physical endurance Of pain over
= man than i'm the dentists chair.
Where is the man, however physically
brave In other particulars, who will not
pause and hesitate before visiting the
dentists with an aching tooth? He
will postpone the visit and compromise
with an offending tooth, meanwhile
making a general nuisance of himself
with his meanings and lugubrious
howllngs, slashed with profanity, be-
fore his final and compulsory appear
ance in the dentists chair.
The fragile and delicate mite OF a
sister, or the aged and feeble mother
will. without fuss or hesitation. delib-
erately put on her street wraps, and
calmly remarking, 81 will be back pres
entity" proceed to her favorite dentist
and have the tooth extracted.
Another difference between the sexes
observable In this matter of teeth ex-
traction and toothaches is the penchant
Of the male to inform friends and ac-
quaintances OF his own sex Of the va
rlatloDs of his ailment, all Of whom
courageously advise him TO shave the
thing pulled out" and not one of whom
but would hesitate and compromise
with an aching tooth himself. The
lady, as rule, conceals from her
friends and from her sex the fact of
her afiilction, and neither moan or
complaint is uttered in their presence,
however much pain she endures.
1t is more than probable that woman
ly superiority of courage In the tooth
ache and extracting line would have
been overlooked as matter of record
by the writer but that the contrast was
forced upon his observant faculties
by the visitation of a toothache so
active and energetic that all other sub
jects and studies were abandoned dur
ing the Intermittent periods of the visi-
tation.
There has been no form of agony
ever invented that could compete In
hideousness with toothache that un-
derstands its business and throws all
its energies into the work before 1t.
There Is only one form Of pain that
equals the toothache in intensity, and
that is the old style of yanklng the
molars out, and even that was tenn
porary in duration, while the ache It.
self represented an infinity of suffer
ing, for each moment of the jumping
bounding pain is equal to month OF
ordinary time.
In the old days, when tooth pulling
was n good deal like murder in the
first degree, and when the tools used
in the homicide were about as big and
awkward as a blacksmth's tongs, II
is no wonder the people bore the evils
they already had rather than fly tC
those they knew not Of, but which they
had q faint idea consisted of a broken
Jaw and n mouthful of blood and
splintered enamel; but in these days OF
anaesthetlcs and painless" dentistry
It seems strange that person will ell
| dure the tortures of the damned fol
weeks when relief can be secured sc
speedily.
1t is a fact, however, that tooth pull
ing is not much more popular or fash
ionable now than 1t was when the
Kings of England, who were the first
| dentists, by the way, used to yani
out the teeth of the Jews who would
not come down with the cash so sorely
needed in the royal exchequer. The
loss of an aching tooth at the hands
of a smiling dentist is an awful ordeal
largely because the imiganition of the
sufferer has made It so. He suffers
the operation many times in anticipa
tion before the forceps grapple will
the offending molar.
Newspaper men, however humillat
ing the confession, are not any freel
from this superstition than common
mortals, as It is proven by an expert
ence during the past week. The re
porter had tooth that had been will
him so long a time that n sort Of
friendly intimacy had sprung up be
| tween the two. The tooth, however
had recently got tired of its job, ant
kicked so vigorously to get out int
the wide world and seek its fortun,
| that he finally concluded to let 1t go
before he came to this conclusion, III
temporarized with 1t for some tlmt
In the hope that 1t would change iti
mind and conclude to remain, but tC
no purpose.
Its demands for release became 81
importunate that its objection to re
naming sent thrills of pain cleal
through the reportorial anatomy whicl
ended in his surrender. He became {
close student of the dentists cards II
the newspapers in his endeavor to FIND
one who could perform the operation
without pain. "and finally made Sc
lection of dentist on the avenue. Tn,
selection was made on Monday. HI
met the dentist on the street and dis
cussed the weather and other toplcl
of interest with him, and finally In
quired IL he would be in his Office mex
day, and was told that he would
Tuesday he passed the stairway lead
ing to the office, but didn't think thu
| dentist was in He didn't know ius