The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-29
Kids. Arc Yea Bitinei


II I had a regular kid-I'm an
unlucky man. for / have nothing
but children-but il, l had a kid Of
my own I'd train him to bite we'll.
I've pretty Arm conviction that
The kid who can bite perfectly can
fight his own way in life. Theodore
Roosevelt knew how to bite we'll,
end what great fighter he was!
General Pershing isn't weak about
the jaws, and he can fight some! l
could if I would name some people
who had q wonderful start and q
great opportunity but failed ito put
1t over"-people who didn't bite
well, some defect Of the teeth and
jaw development.
I'd want my kid to crack nuts
with his teeth. I'd want him to
take his Eaters with the hides On.
I'd want him to spread plenty Of
crude brown sugar on his bread
and butter, and for breakfast I'd
want him to put the kibosh on a
generous dish of plain undoctored
wheat, cooked from twenty minutes
to three hours, with plenty Of fresh
milk or cream, and brown sugar Oh.
And il my kid hankered after raw
potato. or raw carrots, or green
apples, I'd pat him on the back and
say: "Son, it's your tummy-go to
it," Likewise if my regular kid
wanted to go in swimming three
times hand running on hot, dry,
cold or moist day in June, April,
October or August, or if he wanted
tc leave off his wooden underwear
or his shoes and stockings or his
overcoat in March or December or
May or October. I'd say: Sure"
OF course, that wouldn't be on &C
count of his biting, but Just to keep
the kid from becoming a molly
coddlc.
But it isn't just what a kid eats
or how he eats it that determines
how well he shall bite. The other
dey l saw a child nineteen years
old who had started in when she
was baby sucking her thumb and
kept it up all her life. Her thumb
was badly deformed, but that was
Of no serious Importance. The seri-
Gus deformity was in her jaws. The
upper front teeth were pushed for
ward and separated; the lower
teeth were pushed inward and over
tapped; so when the poor child
tried to bite, her teeth were still
about three-quarters of an inch
apart in front. whereas the upper
front teeth should just overlap the
lower front ones with practically
no space between them when the
jaws are closed. OF course the
child was sickly, poorly developed
specimen, although the teeth may
still be brought into fair position
ty the skill OF modern dentistry.
If such a slight force or pressure
as that Of a thumb in the mouth can
push the teeth and jaws out of po-
sition like that. an equally slight
force or pressure can push them
back into proper position when they
are detormed, though it takes one
or two years to accomplish this in
most cases between the ages OF
eight and eighteen.
Certainly every kid is born with
a fair to middling tooth and Jaw
foundation. and it is his own fauit
or his parents or his teachers OF
his doctors, or his dentists, if mis-
teeth and jaws are permitted to
go wrong.
The Way to keep Teeth Clean.
am not saying word about the
toothbrush or cleaning the teeth
That isn't of much importance, in
my judgment. I wouldn't care
whether my kid ever brushed his
teeth or not. Brushing isn't neces-
sary for the perfect preservation
of the teeth, know, for r once had