The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1911-04-27
DRAWING A TOOTH
T~ushmaker'sP uIIing Machine Was
a Wonderful Invention.
KILLED HIS FIRST PATIENT.
But That Simply Couldn't Be Helped,
and the Autopsy Showed Why the
Victim Lifted His Right Leg Each
Time the Lever Was Turned.

and the autopsy ShoWed why the
Victim Lifted His Right Leg Each
Time the Lever Was Turned.
Mr.. Tushmaker was lever regularly
bred as a physician or surgeon, but he
possessed naturally a strong mechan
ical genius and a fine appetite, and,
finding his teeth Of great service in
gratifying the latter propensity, he
concluded that he could do more good
in the world and create more real hap
piness therein by putting the teeth
Of it's inhabitants in good order than
in any other way, so Tushmaker be
came Il dentist.
He was the man who first invented
the method of placing small cog
wheels i'm the back teeth for the more
perfect mastication of food, and he
claimed TO be the original discOvcrCr
Of that method Of filling cavities with
n kind of putty which, becoming hard
directly, causes the tooth to ache 50
gricvously that it has to be pulled,
thereby giving the dentist two sue
ceasivc fees for the same job.
Tushmaker was one day seated in
his office in the city Of Boston when a
stout old follow named Byles pre-
scented himself to have n back tooth
drawn. The dentist seated his patient
in the chair of torture and, opening
his mouth. discovered there an enor-
nous tooth on the right hand side
about as large, as he afterward cv-
pressed it. 'as a small polyglot Bi-
Bile Il shall have trouble with this
TOOTH thought Tushmakcr, but he
claDped on his heaviest forcCps and
pulled. 1t didn't come. Then he tried
the turnscrcw, eXcrting his utmost
strength. but the tooth wouldn't stir.
go away from here" said Tush-
maker to Bylcs, and return in a week
and I'll draw that tooth for you or
know the reason why" Byles got up,
clapped a handkerchief to his jaw and
put forth.
Then the dentist went to work, and
in three days he invented 'an instru-
mcut which he was confident would
pull ANYTHING. 1t was a combination
Of the lever pulley. wheel and axle,
inclined plane. wedge and screw. The
castinrs wore made and the Tiachiup
put up in the office over an iron chair
rendered perfectly stationary by iron
o going down into the foundations
Of the granite building.
In n week old Byles returned. He
vas claimed into the iron chair. the
forccDs connected with the machine
attached firmly to the tooth. and Tush-
maker, s~tationing himself in the rear.
took hold of n lever four feet in
length He turned if slightly. Old
RvIns rayo = groan and lifted his
right leg. Another turn. another
groan. and ND went the leg again.
"What do you raise your leg for:"
asked the doctor.
"T can't helm IT," said the patient.
"WeIL" rcioined Tushmakcr. that
tooth is bound TO come out now"
He turned the lever clear round with
y sudden Jerk and snapped old ByleS'
head clean and clear from his shout
ders. leaving a space of four inches
between the severed parts. They had
a postmortem examination. The roots
Of the tooth were found extending
down the right side, through the right
leg and turning up in two prongs UNI
der the sole of the right foot.
mo wonder said Tushmaker. "he
raised his right leg"
The jury thought so, too. but they
found the roots much d~ecayed, and.
five surgeons swearing that mortiica-
ton would have. ensued in a few
months, Tushmaker was cleared ON a
verdict Of 'justifiable homicide"
He was a little shy of that instru.
ment for some time afterward, but
one day an old lady. feeble and taccid'
came in to have a tooth drawn. and,
thinking that 1t would come GU very
easy, Tushmaker concluded, just by
way of variety. to try h machine
He did SO and Mt the hrSt turn drew