The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1905-08-31
GOLD FROM CORPSES
IS PUT INTO TEETH
Precious Metal Is Sold by
Ghouls and Used by
Dentists.
MILLION BURIED YEARLY
q Requires an Immense Amount
Of Geld Each Year 10 Repair
Rsvsses Of Time Upon
Teeth.
MILLION BURIED YEARLY

II was between the ~deadening thuds
Of the dental instrument that the
tooth carpenter propounded the aues-
tion to the suffering patient that
nearly made him jump from the chair
as a feeling OF horror ran down his
backbone. The little amount OF nerve
that had been left him after he had
undergone the tortures OF the grinding
machine was not sufficient To enable
him to refrain from n cry of dismay at
the thought the question suggested.
The dentist. I'm that calm and DELHI
crate manner which all dentists ~ read
iiy acquire. was hammering In the little
pellets OF gold. loosened the rubber
dam. an n 10 known In dental p~arlance.
or damned rubber. m Il Ia called by
the patient after he gets through. Tbs
damned rubber slid against he ham
u,er. and as the little foot was pushed
down IL slipped In between a couple or
tender teeth, which brought the patient
up with q remark unit Tor p~ubiication.
Lord. man, what are you trying to
do With me- groaned h patient as ne
grabbed his bleeding mouth with ~
hand and shook his other Mt the tooth
carpenter. Trying TO put me I'm ms
xrave yard where some grave robber
can haul me out and dig the gold from
my teeth AZ YOU suggested a minute
ago."
founded rubber dam"
ussd Geld from . cerpss.
Damned rubber" corrected the suf-
f~rinw patient as he chung Wildly To the
dental hammer. He was thinking some
thing about the dentist. but couldn't say
n.
.'once IN a while an accident will hap
Der. III put II on a little better THIS
time" soothingiy said the dentist.
The rubber adjusted again. u as the
against a tooth the poor patient settled
back In his chair. momentariiy expect
ing II To- 60 clear through into the
-Yes. SIR" gossiped the dentist: II
have no other idea but that this very
piece Of gold which 1 am hammerinx
Into YOU tooth has been In the mouth
was dug up By a ghoul and the gold
extracted from his teeth and sold"
sYou can't mean a." gasped the
patient nj the thought OF tuberculosis.
smallpox and other horrible things.
-Have you got gold that you are sure
has never been used before
Il don't very often tell my patients
this calmly continued the dentist. as
he roli.sd another pellet OF gold in a
napkin. tossed IL around a moment.
and then laid Il out on the tray. ready
for use. But the fact Is, g~raveyards
are gold mines these days. and 1
wouldn't be surprised IL "A class OF
criminals would spring up who would
dig the gold out OF teeth and sell IL TO
dentists for use ON their patients.
Nearly All Die with Gold.
Il can taste Il now" said the patient.
as h showed his ongue M against the
dam In a vain effort to feel the Milling.
lis there really much value Ia the gold
tina Is I'm the teeth OF c~orpses"
why. proably a million dollars
worth IL buried annually with dead
people said the dentist. as he began
his hammering process again, This is
especially true of the American people.
because we take better care of our
teeth than any other nation. I'll guess
that scarcely a person dies who has
not So worth OF gold In his teeth. Some
haze $500.
Il know OF one fellow for whom I
crowned sixteen teeth. Those CROWN
were worth Mt least s. each. which
would make a total value OF $50. Now.
that would max a pretty good Ind.
wouldn't it," coolly asked the dentist.
The patient admitted that he would
MT pass up an opportunity or picking
ar ihat mount In case II came TO him.
The dentist rolled up another pellet
az gold and continued:
Il woulcn't be surprised TO n that
the profession OF opening graves. which
81 seldom heard Of nowadays. would be
revived again. II certainly would pay
better now than IL used to. Formerly
only the Jewels and ornaments that
r... t.,ekaH s.lsA shA lamA sas.t. saNas.
Now several dollars worth OF nllings
could be extracted from nearly every
dead person.
$4,000 for Teeth Gold Here.
do you know that annually dem
tists throughout the country use near
~ $1,000. 900 worth of gold filings and
crowns. and that the demand IN on
stautiy incrs asing2 Why every yea I
use over $500 worth myself.
The patient Was getting interested
by his time and began wondering
whether the profession Of robbing
graves wouldn't pay better than that
of u pencil pusher. He was suddenly
Drought back To earth. however. by a
rap on y sore tooth. which made him
with lie We're n pre- fighter. and was
biz trough To wallop the dentist.
Coed HEAVIER man. ! thought you
TOLL me you would BE- careful" mum
blr6 the patient q he wet rubber
dar,.
"E.-x-c-u-s-e me-" apologctically re-
yii.d The dentist. That hammer slip
ped again
The patient sank bach again. as
suicd by the dentist that u wouldn't
take much longer.
A Chance for q Harvest.
Il was reading GA a paper the other
DAY about ~ bone yard in Havana.
Cuba." went on the dentist. as he put
IN polishing wheel on the filling.
''Rignt close la Havana IN "a peculiar
circular pit. a long time age IL was
- custom Of the Spaniards u Cubans
90 inter their dead here. The bodies
We're sent TO the ead house. where the
flesh was stripped from their bones by
sprinkiing lime over the corpses.
After this process the kcls-
tons We're tossed ~ the wall
where thousands OF other whitening.
bieached skeletons had bee thrown
before. This practice has been kept up
for years. aud u "a been estimated
that 900. coo skeletons are whitening un-
der the rays OF the Cuban sun. since
the United States took charge of the
stand. thos. skeletons nave been COW
cred to o depth Of four feet. and the
place H. no longer used as a grave
yard.
Now have often wondered why