davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

A patient is quick 10 respond 10 a dentists
mood and II the dentists nerves are tense
his patient Is bound to be affected unfav-
orablv.
AS to her touch ] arr certain that a
woman's hands are far better suited for
dentistry than most mems are. They are
smaller. more sensitive, more supple. They
They have more delicacy Of touch.
"lo my way OF thinking the only thing
which might stand in the way Of a woman's
success ia dentistry is her lack OF the power
Of concentration. The average woman
finds IL almost impossible TO concentrate on
one particular point to the exclusion 81
everything else. Now In dentistry the
operator must first get the confidence OF the
patient. get control Of him or her, so TO
speak, and then concentrate on the point Of
a cavity and be oblivious TO everything but
that point and her instruments until her
work IL done.
Dentistry is a splendid profession for
women, / know Of none better. But il
rests with the student whether she shall be
an artiEt or a plumber, whether she shall
bring 90 her work all her artistic and intel
lectual resources or merely treat II as a
purely mechanical proposition.
After graduation personality has much
TO do with a womanH success. More than
mechanical skill Is required to put patients
at their ease and retain them on ones books
and pleas them to the extent OF having them
recommend you 70 their friends. which after
all is the secret Of any professional woman's
success.
Success doesn't happen. It means that
a first patient Is willing to recommend her
dentist or doctor 10 her friends and the
members Of her family.
81 do not find that a women dentist has
any pref ldice TO combat. IL may have
been different twenty years ago, but to-
day woman comTetcs successfully with
man In almost every line OF work"
why. then" the dentist was asked.
"are there 40 few women dentists In New
York;"
"The chief reasons are these: First.
the conditions under which women students
must work are far from ideal.
Second, the course Is far from easy.
IL mcRnsli ong hours and hard work. Third,
the expense OF the. course and Of fitting
up an once ~ considerable.
There are nd dental schools or dentist
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

clinics for women only, no rooms which
are placed at the disposal OF women workers.
On entering a, dental school or college a
woman is treated precisely as IL she we're a
man. She must do her work surrounded
at all times by m @ many Of whom resent
the presence of woman at their elbow and
don't hesitate to show IL.
Many women of refinement will not
ALLOW their daughters to take up dentistry
for this reason. myself took my course
in the Philadelphia College Of Dentistry.
which admits women. and got my diploma
about five years ago after three years OF as
hard work as any young woman would
want to go through with.
There were five women students to $50
mem just enough women to make trouble
by acting as a handicap on the freedom
OF the men. AT least some OF the men
seemed to think so. An experience like
that takes n good deal 81 the romance out
of a woman.
AT that stage there ia nothing romantic
about the work and the hours are long.
From 3 TO $50 A. NJ. there are lectures,
from that until / o'clock practice, more
lectures and dissecting from 2 to 9, m
qlizzes and laboratory work in the evening.
During the three years there Is little time
for play.
III a womna student makes social ap-
pointments with her men associates In
the college she loses caste at once with the
teachers. and with most OF the students,
too. ] found, as every other serious woman
student finds. that one must refuse all
dinner engagements. all social invitations
from men students and maintain with them
strictly business relations only until tho
courts Is ended " ono would make the most
Of the opportunities ard avoid unpleasant
comments.
While attended the college the usual
yearly average Of graduates was one woman
10 100 men. The expense Of the course
IL from $500 TO 500 a year, and an office
outfit cant be had for less thar $500. Then,
OF course, a practice must be built up be-
fore one begins 10 get any return OF the
money invested; but, then, that is the case
In every profession.
Physicians. ] am inclined 10 think. have
slower returns nj the start than dentists do.
After the first six months j had no anxiety
about money matters. and yet ! was COM
paratively a stranger 20 New York
do you take women patients only7s
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

just as hard work. but they do not demand
so long a preliminary training.
Applicants for admission TO a school Of
dentistry must have finished a four years
high school course and stand the test OF
the Regents examination. The dental
course means three years more OF hard
work Of close application.
Personally l am inclined TO think that
women are not 30 well adapted for this
work as men. In my experience ! have
met few experts among women dentists.
The reason for this ! don't know. They
lack the particular touch, perhaps. neces-
sary to do fine work. some men haven't
this touch either. There are plenty Of
bunglers among men dentists.
As this is the only dental school in this
city which admits women students IL is easy
enough to gauge the enthusiasm Of women
for the profession. ! don't discover any
enthusiasm,
Il have no hesitation in saying that a
skilful woman dentist stands just as good
a chance 10 make money as a man dentist
does. The time has gone by when there
Is a prejudice against women In tho pro-
LESSONS"
On the subject OF touch a leading woman
dentist does not agree with the head Of the
school. This young woman, a Southener
by birth, impresses patients at once with
her knowledge Of her business. Hell Office
is in the Fifth avenue district and her
clientele includes mainly persons who are
amply able 10 pay for the best obtainable
dental work. The dentist herself radiates
prosperity. Hard worker though she is,
her looks indicate perfect health and a de-
lipbfful abaRnpa ~ neTyas
+To be successful a dentist cannot In.
dulgo In nerves during business hours"
she said, Absolute control OF oneself Is
needed or one cannot control q patient.
sometimes after a long days work with
dificult cases / feel az " ! might scream IL
any one touched me, but while I am at work
] am entirely relaxed and perfectly at ease.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09
THE SHORTEST SOLDIER.
How n Young Kansan Under the Required
Height Got Into the Army.
From the Kansas City Journal.

ffpW f"f ~ uHtuo " ~ ~ v
Charles L. Dagan. OF Keats. Kan, a young
army recruit who enlisted in Kansas City
and left with n squad OF recruits for Jefferson
barracks, near st. Louis, is probably the
shortest soldier In the United States Army.
His height is 5 feet > inches. He was accepted
only on the recommendation OF President
Roosevelt, to whom he wrote explaining the
situation after he had been rejected on
account OF his height at the auxiliary recruit
ing station at Topeka early in April.
Dagan had entertained the hope OF becom-
ing a soldier for a number OF years. He IL
now % and. having no one dependent upon
him. he went to the recruiting station to
enter the service. He passed a rigid eNami-
nation save for his height. but the news that
for this reason he could not become a soldier
did not deter him. He had decided to be-
come one. and promptly wrote to President
Roosevelt explaining the situation. He
made an earnest appeal to the Chief Exeou-
tive. and the frank, earnest manner in which
he couched his plea seemed. TO strike the
President, as that OF R man who would make
q good soldier.
This Ia probably the first instance OF an
acceptance OF, an application for enlistment
in the army when a discrepancy Of two inches
tn the required hei ght existed. The minimum
height. as stipulated by the War Department.,
Is feet inches.
DARan is OF almost perfect build. weighs
100 pounds and has a five inch chest expansion.
He oppressed a desire to enlist In the cavalry
and be senJ to the Philippines At Jer erson
barracks he will be assigned TO a regiment OF
cavalry under orders or preparing for orderJ
for Philippine service.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

York, so far as can be learned, have money
returns at the start been as slow as they
generally are in the case Of young physicians.
Therefore the seeming unpopularity of the
dental profession with women can't be
accounted for on this score. II is not easy
10 account for IL on any score.
1T Ia an ideal profession for women
one Of the four star dentists said, with con-
viction.
ITO be successful means hard work"
said another, who admitted hat other lines
Of work followed by women n far more
popular meant work equally hard.
A third suggested that the expense Of a
course in dentistry and OF an Office equip
ment was a discouraging factor. There
are. il appears, no free scholarships in dem
tistry and no free dental colleges or classes.
In fact, in New York there came near being
no place AZ all where women could study
dentistry, and the conditions under which
they 10Y study, either here or in other
cities, are far from ideal.
Under no circumstances will the New
York City Dental College admit women TO
It's lectures. its clinics. It's laboratory. More
than one hundred men. on the other hand,
will be graduated this month from this
institution.
Women are allowed 90 attend a smaller
college or school Of dentistry in this city.
started primarily for men and in which a
large percentage Of the students are for
eigners. Comparatively few American girls
apply for admission here. the majority being
Germans, Russians, Austrians and Hun
garians. This year the school graduates
six women, and only Two OF the six are
Americans.
When surprise was expressed at the small
number Of women graduates the head Of the
school said:
Perhaps the reason NO few women choose
the profession Of dentist Ia that they think
standing all day long bending over patients
ls too hard work. Yes, there are other oc-
equations almost popular which demand
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

anything else. You certainly won't find
out anything about your train.
When you give up all hope the writer
takes w a megaphone and shrieks some
thing through it. Then you realize that
hat you thought were the directions in
regard to he train are not 80 at all but
merely musical notes and the man is singing.
Having learned this you feel much better
and probably go to the bureau Of informa-
ton and ask questions.
If o do this o will get started all
right. for the wizards of that place are
equal TO their work, and that is saying a
great deal.
One OF them speaks fourteen languages
and can tell a Hungarian who has just landed
and has all his worldly goods tied up in a
yellow bandanna how to get to Boston
and meet his brother-in-law at the Union
Station under the clock two weeks from the
following Friday for five dollars and a half.
Another has acquired the accomplishment
of answering four telephones at onoe and
a third can put both hands back OF him and
hand n traveller the local timetable OF the
Putnam division and the girl with the
pink frock who doesn't know what train
she wants a timetable 10 match her frock.
Lose t~rains?' answers one of those
CHEEKY ones why, they don't do any
thing else.
Just a minute ago a woman stopped
and asked me If | could tell her if she could
get a glass Of milk at Woodlawn Cemetery,
and while she was telling me that she could
not drink the usual kind of milk that you
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

a raving maniac and they start of together,
the last audible words being;
We've probably lost the train again IN
account OF your dashed t~omfoolery."
They do lose it and he goes off while she
returns and resumes her powder work.
In the waiting room one of the attaches
tells how they all miss rains. Yesterday. 3
she says, "a woman came in here from
Philadelphia. She was going to take the
6 O'clock train west. For five hours she
just sat here without doing anything and
then il ! hadn't told her she'd have lost her
train after all. People from New Jersey
and Brooklyn come hours before the train
is scheduled. The New York woman only
allows the necessary time and if she lands
here and loses her train she finds out when
the next goes and spends the intervening
hours shopping.
Lots of women fall asleep in their chairs
and when they wake up they are mad as
March hares because we've let them do it.
AS if we knew"
At the bureau Of information again the
CHEEKY Ont is just finishing a long manu-
script. which looks like an embryonic novel.
1t is closely written and is added to here
and there with footrotes as well as other
explanatory matter.
'No; it isn't a novel, " he says, although
I could tell people a good deal about human
nature as I've seen it. These are the in
structions hat l am writing out for a lady
who is going to California at Z O'Clock alone.
She has never travelled before. have told
her the principal cities and towns Of every
State, what TO eat for breakfast and how
much TO tip the porters of the sleeping
cars. j have informed her Of the effect
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

choice, afford every facility to the train
loser. The new terminal marked tenn
porary' receives and discharges all the
trains that you nave been accustomed
10 take at some dear old spot Of blessed
memory. The temporary terminal is
about as convenient from the ticket station
and other facilities of the Grand Central
as it would be if situated next 10 the Aqua
rum. 1t used to be sufficient 10 allow FIVE
minutes to catch your train to Mount YER
non or West Chester. Take half an hour
now, at least!
After looking about for your usual
track you will be informed by the gate
man Of the change. You thank him and
hurry toward the new place. expecting to
find il yawning across the indicated space.
Not at all. You have just started on your
exploring tour. You are directed down.
stairs and across. through corridors that
extend in interminable directions. Signs
for telegraph, telephone and baggage. how
ever, give you confidence. You think
gloomily of the home and friends you have
left and wonder why people shrink from
the mere separation that Europe entails.
At length you arrive near enough to hear
a sound, in fact many sounds. One of
them is of your departing train, which
shorts defiantly, and you are left with a
group, all Of whom, according to statistics
furnished. left the waiting rooms ten or
fifteen minutes before.
Or perhaps you are one of those who
love to disentangle problems and you know
positively the hour that you train starts
as well as its exact location. You are the
born traveller. You allow plenty Of time
aud start for your journey without the
necessity Of hurrying, losing your COM
plexion or your temper.
Having purchased your ticket you in
advertcntly take up a timetable. You
read on and on. Your mind, clear as a crys-
tai half an hour before, becomes hopelessly
mudilcd.
Did you start TO take the train that is
marked with a triangle, three stars and
astopover, which jumps half a column and
Is scheduled TO reach your destination
lalf an hour before you start, or was it the
ono that commences half a column down,
Is marked with a small "v" and has a close
connection with another small mark which
tells you in a footnote that it only goes on
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

got at a railway station. as she had been
terribly troubled with Indigestion on ac-
count Of the late spring. her train went out
and left her, and then she blamed me.
That's the worst Of the train losers.
They're not genuine sports. They just
have to blame somebody, and they take
the nearest. But that's what we're paid
for. that and answering questions, 80 what's
the use, anyhow"
HIS philosophy is interrupted by a Ger
man woman who has a figure that resem-
bles the back of a hack and who has failed
to meet her sister-in-law.
'Iss the information outside Of dis office,
mister, or iss 1t inside of it?'
She Is informed that it is all over the
place.
Then you can tell me why I shall do this.
l a to telegraph on the train that she
has missed me because we took the two
sides Of the room instead of the same side.
You will fix It. You perhaps know the
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

that II l had kept to that she could nave
gone on the train she intended to take.
Last week a young woman very pretty
too, one of the new tan kind, tan shoes, hair,
gloves, dress and veil, found she had lost
her train to Albany. She asked me il there
was a full moon the next night. | told her
| didn't keep tabs, but finally got an almanac
and looked up moons for her. / found the
moon rose at half past 10 the next night.
Too late says she.
Sorry said |.
""Suppose you think it funny my asking
you about the moon says she.
Not at all, says L. When people lose
their trains they usually get ratified and ask
all sorts Of questions
Then she got mad. I'm not ratified
she says. i only wanted to. know because
as I've lost my train l might just as we'll
wait until tomorrow and take the boat,
and if I'm going to take the boat l might
just as well take the night boat, but 1 don't
want to take the night boat unless there's
a moon. l should think you might have
guessed that
Il did feel kind Of cheap"
At the door Of the ladies' waiting room
a man is pacing up and down. Presently
the cause Of the disturbance comes in view.
She is very coquettish and has eyes that she
cannot make behave. She arranges her
skirts and is about to join Weary Waiter
when she catches sight Of herself in the
mirror and stops short.
She feels excitedly in the vanity bag.
Weary moves from one foot to the other.
We'll be late, he threatens.
well, I can't go looking this way"
you look all right as far as l can see,"
and then, with a strain Of old time gallantry,
never saw you looking so fit"
You haven't looked at me at ALL"
She Is not to be moved from her DUR
pose, however, n taking the powder rag
from her bag commences to rub her nose
vigorously.
There is only an angry snort heard out
side.
Having finished, she starts again and Just
as she reaches the door goes back and
sticks her tongue ont. She examines IL
carefully in the mirror, much to the delight
of the onlookers. The survey completed,
she %rejoins what is now TO all appearance
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

thread Of the story, "there are the arguers.
When q man ome and you tell him that
he has lost his train he mods, asks for a
time table, or when the next goes and sdps,
probably to get a CONSIDER. The woman,
however, always argues. She will tell
you the train can't have gone because that
is the train she was going to take
The worst ever came yesterday. She
had intended TO take a train at 1O6 that
vent at 1880. She landed here just as the
clock was o. the stroke of i. I told her
and for fifteen minutes she stood here
showing me time tables, some OF them six
months old, and trying to convince me that
she was right. She'd have lost the next
train il 1 hadn't called her attention to the
fact that it was due and even then she left
the time table with me, telling me il parting
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

Sundays and is marked with a mystic num-
Der which followed to It's legitimate CON-
clusion shows that the train was taken of
the week before? Then you ask one Of the
officials. while you hold your hand to your
head and feel for your smelling salts in the
lower part Of your suit case below seven
stifly starched shirt waists, three cakes Of
soap and the parliamentary rules OF the
Don't Worry Club. The official tells you
that you were perfectly right in the first
place. but it Is doubtful IL you can get the
train now. as 1t was megaphoned two min
utes before.
The official is right. You don't get it.
Or IL these old fashioned ways Of losing
the train seem out Of date how about the
mar who stands on a platform high in the
air and who in a perfectly illegible hand
writes, presumably, not only the number
Of your train, the place where it started
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09

Il do not discriminate. 1t is hardly pos
sible to discriminate Families GO to-
gether. A man is art to go TO his wife's
dentist and to e his children TO the same
place. Then. too, men are profitable pa
tients, less apt TO bubble over the size Of
the bill than women, provided they are salts
fed with the work.
Instead OF showing a prejudice against
woInen dentists the men | have had dealings
with told their women folk that they pre-
ferred them " FOR no other reason than that
they hurt less than men dentists which is
probably quite true. | can imagine that
where one OF his own sex lie concerned a
dentist might not work so cautiously as he
sometimes is obliged to york with q nervous
woman in the chair.
Yes. there is a type Of man who fancies
that going TO a woman dentist may prove TO
be something OF n lark and il rests entirely
with the dentist whether he entertains the
same view after she is through with him.
In her office, as in the dental school. a dem
tist TO be successful must maintain strictly
business relations only with men patients.
Il ave had men patients recommend me
10 their men friends without telling them |
was a woman. A gentleman appeared the
other day 20 have a cavity filled. and l won
dered at the queer expression ~ his face
when he took his seat in the chair.
HE went out with the remark that he
meant 10 send his mother, who needed a lot
Of work done. His mother came, and when
she saw me exclaimed in anna cement:
''My son did not tell me you were a
woman
AT her next visit she explained that her
son appreciated so much the Joke played
on him that he made up his mind TO play il
on his mother.
THE status Of dentistry lie not at all what
IL was half a century or less ago, for which
reason there 10 room for specialists OF all
sorts. ] am sometimes asked In tones Of
horror, DO you really pull teeth as II
nuIIng teath was all there IA 10 dantIstry
No ! answer. i do not pull teeth. In
these days people don't have their teeth
pulled
The Intelligent woman dentist Ia .pro-
perhaps when the dental colleges make
things more agreeable for women students
we shall have more women dentists. More
are needed. I think
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09
WOMEN DENTISTS SCARCE
ONLY ABOUT SEVENTEEN IN
GREATER NEW YORK.
lei Women Are said to he Fitted by Nature
TO Practise Dentistry DETERMINATION
az the Wen One Reason Why There Are
Not More Nomen In the Profession.

UoinVh !" wv tbntbti
Reports Of the invasion by women Of
Industries once followed by men only and
'i the steady increase in the number OF
Si-supporting women nave ceased to sur
prise any one, That all things are possible
" the twentieth century women is generally
admitted.
Therefore nobody had much comment
70 make On a recent report from the census
bureau az Washington which sets forth
That the t,s33.e3O women now at work In
me United States are following. among
others the callings Of pilots. ~baggagemen.
uraEemer. conductors, engine drivers and
nreHen, switchmen, yardmen, hagmen. car
mage and hack drivers. motc.men, ship
carpenters, roofers and skaters, blacksmiths.
mach!Hists, boilermakers, charcoal. coke
Ahh LINE burners and well boreTs. Yet
wen q decade ago most Of these occupa-
nohs had not been entered at all by women.
pul what Il surprising is the statement that
" 'Lls plg city there are not more than
r'eVeh'"en women dentists In good standing;
'"al If dentists who conduct their business
according 70 the ethics Of the profession.
VI he seventeen two live in Brooklyn.
me o't"r- have offices in Manhattan and
I'lf o. least have practices az lucrative as
nose "' -ome Of the most successful men
1'h'l'i. having offices near Fifth avenue
aNl numbering wealthy persons among
'.tlt 'l"nis. so in demand are the services
~ ohe ~ the four, who has been practising
80 u.ah five years, that ahe has been
ou.gel 10 lengthen her once hours,
NJ tAe case Of no woman dentist In New