Dentist Used Fear of Tuberculosis to Attract Customers, 1910

I've had a request for more science and/or pseudo-science type articles, so here we go. This is a dentist's advertisement from the Tacoma Times of Tacoma, Washington on January 24, 1910:

TUBERCULOSIS

THE WHITE PLAGUE 

The war is on.  Are you in the fight? 

The scientists tell us that fresh air, pure food and rest are the most essential factors in combating this dread disease.  There can be no doubt but that the scientists are right, but there is something else that must be taken into consideration first.  It is a disease which affects ninety per cent of the population of the United States.  Caries, or decay of the teeth, is the disease referred to. 

The first step in digestion takes place in the mouth, and unless your teeth are in good condition the food will not be masticated properly, and no matter how pure it may be when it enters the mouth it will soon be contaminated; therefore, in order to get pure food into the stomach you must have a clean mouth.  Pure air! Would air be pure after passing through a sewer?  Hardly.  Look at your teeth.  Smell your own breath.  Some people would have to take air through a tube if they expected to get it into the lungs pure.

We must have rest.  Did you ever have an aching molar or an abscessed bicuspid?  Could you rest?  Not very long at a time.  If we are going to fight the white plague successfully we must also fight this most prevalent of diseases, decay of the teeth.  Children should be taken to the dentist as soon as the first teeth begin to erupt.  It is criminal negligence on the part of the parents to allow the baby teeth to decay.  On their proper care and attention depends the future health and happiness of the child. 

Yours for health and happiness, 

HUTCHINSON

Dentist

Law and Order Excerpts from the Mt. Vernon Signal (15 Dec 1922)

Previously:

Click here for a list of my other Pulaski/Rockcastle/Laurel County KY articles

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This is the first post in what I hope will be a series of posts containing crime/law related articles from my favorite historical newspaper, the Mount Vernon Signal of Mt. Vernon, Rockcastle County, Kentucky.

I'm going to begin with the last issues available for the Signal and work backwards.  So these first articles come from the December 15, 1922 issue.  (Remember, Prohibition in the United States lasted from 1920-1933.)

COUNTY COURT NEWS.

Elijah Hines was fined $15 and cost for failing to work county road.  He was sent to jail to pay the fine.  Mont Owens of Pulaski county, was fined $10 and cost for drunkness.  He was also fined $50 and 10 days in jail for carrying a pistol and to top the whole thing off he was fined $100 and cost and 30 days in jail for transporting liquor.  Owens' total fined $184.50.  He is now rooming at "Hotel Miller."  Bill Perciful was taken in tow on the streets this week and fined $10 and cost for being drunk.

On last Thursday night Sheriff D. G. Clark, Judge S. F. Bowman, Deputies Bill Anglin and Isom Saylor left here about midnight and went to the Crooked Creek section near the spot where Abe Chasteen was killed some years ago.  Continuing they arrived at a large moonshine still at the head of Lost Hollow, watching this until about noon next day.  No shiners showed up and they considered the 200 gallons of beer too far gone to make whiskey and they destroyed the outfit which was an eighty gallon capacity with all the trimmings except the worm.

CIRCUIT COURT

The regular December term of Circuit Court opened Monday.  The following named men were selected to serve as Grand and Petit jurors:

GRAND JURY

Foreman, Sollie Griffin, W. A. Owens, R. G. Lutes, W. M. Manus, James Thomas, David Webb, D. L. Bryant, S. Overbey, D. M. Cummins, W. M. McHargue, G. P. Burdette and Grant Banks

PETIT JURY, PANEL NO. 1.  Artie Burk, R. L. Bray, W. D. Payne, T. R. Mullins, M. G. Kirby, Beecher Smith, P. C. Lair, J. W. Mink, J. H. Doan, G. R. Evans, J. J. Cummins, J. H. Doan, Jonas McKenzie.

PANEL NO. 2.  W. S. Branaman, Tom Kirby, G. M. Sigmon, S. A. Drew, Geo. Long, Sam Fields, Josiah Cummins, W. D. Potts, C. G. McKinney, C. L. McKinney, Zeb Hall.

Those who had drawn verdicts of guilty up to Thursday morning are Bill and John Croucher $100 and 30 days each for selling liquor, Booge Gadd $125 and 30 days same offense.  Booge Gadd $100 and 30 days for having liquor in possession, Cood Croucher $100 and 30 days for selling liquor.  Geo. Dickerson 2 yrs. in State Reformatory on a charge of grand larceny, Jim French $50 and cost moonshining.  Henry Hale $10 and cost in three cases drunk, $50 and cost for shooting on public highway and $20 and cost for disturbing public schools.  John Brummett $10 and cost for being drunk.  Bradley Legeer 2 yrs, in the State Reformatory for house breaking, Harve Mink Jr., $100 and 30 days for transporting liquor.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT.

Wm. Gillis, Marshall of the good town of Livingston and Harrison Ponder, constable, made a raid in the Engle Creek section of this county near Rockcastle river, yesterday and captured four moonshiners right in the act of making the damnable stuff.  The captured men are Oscar Rice, Sam Waddle, Fount Phelps and Doc Waddle.  They were running a copper outfit which was pronounced one of the best ever captured in this county.  All four of these men have a reputation as being experts in this line of work.  They were lodged in jail.  If the good people of the county will co-operate with the officers in locating these stills the day will come before long when they will be a thing of the past in this county.

Out-of-county news reported in this issue of the Mount Vernon Signal:

ASSASSINATION OF DRY AGENTS

Robert E. Duff and David Treadway Killed by Moonshiners in Menifee County.  In an effort to break into a cavern, barricaded with logs, rocks and brush, in which the Ballard Gang was operating a moonshine still, Robt. E Duff federal prohibition agent under Sam Collins and one of the gamest and best men in the service was shot and killed December 9.  It is said that Bob Ballard, noted moonshiner, did the shooting.  On December 10th, while a posse was attempting to capture the Ballard gang, David Treadway was shot an instantly killed near the scene of the shooting of Duff on Saturday.  He was shot from ambush.

BRIEFEST KENTUCKY COURT

Circuit court convened at Mt. Olivet, Robertson county, last week, was the shortest session ever held in the State.  The petit jury was selected, but as there was only one case to be tried and that was compromised after the jury was sworn they were immediately dismissed.  The grand jury adjourned after a brief session of a few hours without returning any indictments.  Only one person has been sent to penitentiary from Robertson county in several years.

MURDER WILL OUT

It seems now that the murderers of Lura Parsons, the Pine Mountain school teacher, victim of a brutal crime more than two years ago, may have to face trial in a court of justice.  Last week indictments were returned in the Harlan circuit court against Jerry Reed and James Robinson, negro convicts who were at work in that section of the state when Miss Parsons was murdered, and John Marcum, of Clay county, a camp guard at the time of the killing.

The indictments are the result of a secret investigation conducted by the local authorities, resulting in the finding of Miss Parsons' pocket-book, which one of the convicts had sold to another, after the camp was closed and the men taken back to Frankfort, and of the blood stained underwear of one of the convicts, which was found in a hollow tree on the mountain trail.

It is reported in the press that one of these convicts is "out on parole," and it is likely he still will be out on parole, if he reads the papers or hears of his indictment.

Reports from Frankfort that the news indictments are the result of an attempt to "frame" the men accused in order to claim the reward of $1,500 also are to be taken into consideration, an it may be true that the hopes of the people of the state for an early conviction and just punishment of the slayers of Miss Parsons will again be disappointed.

As Daniel Webster once said, "Murder will out."  That used to be a great deal truer than it is nowadays, for in recent years this country has had a number of murders for which no man ever has been arrested and punished.

We hope the Harlan grand jury is not on a cold trail this time, as it was in former trials, growing out of this abominable murder.--Interior Journal.

19th Century Recycling: The Utility of Refuse Things

From the Gazette Sentinel of Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville, Louisiana on April 20, 1861:

The Utility of Refuse Things

The prussiate of potash is made in large quantities in Cincinnati from the hoofs, horns and other refuse of slaughtered cattle. 

Cow-hair, taken from the hides in tanneries, is employed in making plastering-mortar, to give it a fibrous quality. 

Sawdust is sold for sprinkling the floors of markets.  It is also used for packing ice for shipping.

The rags of old worn out skirting, calico dresses, and the waste of cotton factories, are employed to make the paper upon which these lines are printed. 

Old ropes are converted into fine note paper, and the waste paper itself, which is picked up in the gutter, is again reconverted into broad, white sheets, and thus does duty in revolving stages.

The parings of skins and hides, and the ears of cows, calves, and sheep, are carefully collected and converted into glue. 

The finer qualities of gelatine are made from ivory raspings and the bones and tendons of animals. 

Bones converted into charcoal, by roasting in retorts, are afterwards employed for purifying the white sugar with which we sweeten our coffee. 

The ammonia obtained from the distillation of coal in making gas, is employed for saturating orchil and cudbear, in making the beautiful lilac colors that are dyed on silk and the fine woolen goods. 

Carbonic acid, obtained in the distillation of coal tar, is employed with other acids to produce beautiful yellow colors on silk and wool. 

The shavings of cedar wood, used in making pencils, are distilled to obtain the otto of cedar wood. 

Brass filings and old brass kettles are remelted, and employed to make the brass-work of printing presses and pumps. 

Old copper scraps are used in the construction of splendid bronze chandeliers, for illuminating our churches and the mansions of the wealthy. 

Old horseshoe nails are employed to make the famous steel and twist barrels of fowling-pieces.

U.S. Federal Govt Investment in Horse Breeding, 1921

"Motive power has not killed the horse and mule industry.  Every member of the species has a valuable and important place to fill, motive power to the contrary not withstanding.  The latter and the horses will go along together, each filling an important and useful sphere."

From the Mt. Vernon Signal of Mount Vernon, Rockcastle County, Kentucky on July 22, 1921:

Congress Appropriates A Quarter Million Dollars For Horse Breeding. 

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Money To Be Spent Under Supervision of Army Officers To Raise More Thoroughbred Horses for Cavalry Purposes. 

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Other Governments Spend Much More. 

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Realizing the necessity of government interest, supervision and participation in breeding of thoroughbred horses, if the United States is to take her rightful position with the other countries of the world, the United States Congress has made an appropriation of a quarter of a million dollars to be expended in horse breeding. 

click to enlarge

While this is a very small amount when compared with the millions of expenditure made by the governments of England, France, Italy and Spain in this work, it is being effectively used to enlarge the number of thoroughbred horses suitable for cavalry mounts. 

In explaining the plans of the United States government for the breeding of more or better horses.  Col. C. E. Hawkins, Quartermaster's Corps, United States Remount Service, says:

"The world war brought out the fact that the National Defense demands, not only thousands upon thousands of horses and mules, but horses and mules of good breeding.  Quality and breeding in the horse and mule is what gives them the staying power in danger and emergency, as well as for the less spectacular, but not less important, service in connection with our agricultural and commercial pursuits.  What is true in the man is true in the beast.  Courage in the soldier we call morale.  In either case the quality is that of the will to stay when threatened by the common instinct to falter which means failure and defeat. 

"The United States is the great horse and mule market of the world.  Our allies depended on us for the major supply of their war horses and mules.  Thousands upon thousands were sold to the British, French, Italian, Belgian, Greek and other governments.  The supply that could be sold was limited only by the ships available for their transportation abroad, and by the fact that rations were naturally of the first import. 

"The first cry from abroad was for men, then for foodstuffs to feed their millions of soldiers and our own men; next came the demand for ammunitions--the stuff that made the hellish fire that raked the enemy; his theatre of operations and his lines of communication.  On the heels of the call for theses [sic] necessities we had the one for the war horse and the war mule, in quantities never before approached. 

"Automobile vehicles were used in great numbers.  yes, that is true, and it will be true in the future.  But war and the horse and the mule continue to be inseparable.  The great military migrations of the past--those, indeed of civilization, itself--are so linked with the horse that his production and improvement may be said to have been co-incident with them.  Motive power has not killed the horse and mule industry.  Every member of the species has a valuable and important place to fill, motive power to the contrary not withstanding.  The latter and the horses will go along together, each filling an important and useful sphere. 

"The breeding of horses and mules, far from being abated, should be practiced in the spirit of the utmost optimism and confidence.  True, the horse and mule market is upset.  The demand, however, for every class will come again before the colts now bred mature.  All our best informed horsemen, breeders and farmers recognize this fact and advise doubling our attention to the work of breeding. 

"Meanwhile better horses and mules should be the aim of every breeder.  We need better blood, more quality; hence, a more valuable animal.  A well bred, sound animal, of good conformation and quality of any class, will always bring a high price and a handsome profit to the breeder.  It is the scrub or ordinary animal that loses the breeder and farmer money.  The scrub eats as much forage and takes as much care as the high class animal; and one has nothing at maturity.  The progeny of high class, pure bred stallions, that have proved their courage, endurance and speed in competition, and selected farm mares, will bring the breeder an increasing profit as time goes on. 

Scientist Says Only Nose Intended for Breathing, 1861

From the Baltimore Sun on July 20, 1861:

"Shut Your Mouth."

This is the advice of Mr. George Catlin, who is so thoroughly convinced that most of the ills of our humanity are caused by open mouths, that he has written an amusing little volume to prove his case and urge his point upon the men and women of America.

"If I were to endeavor to bequeath to posterity the most important motto which human language can convey," (says Mr. Catlin,) "it should be in three words--Shut--your--Mouth."

Mr. Catlin addresses himself chiefly to mothers.  He urges them to keep tightly closed not only their own mouths, but their children's, of both sexes and all ages.  he assures them that out of the mouth, or through it--when it is open--proceeds consumption, dyspepsia, rotten teeth, a crooked spine, ill temper, snoring; and if there be any other diseases which men fear, they too assail man's vital parts by way of the mouth.

If you want to catch a contagious disease, sleep with your moth open.  If you want to have disagreeable dreams, sleep with your mouth open.  If you want to spoil your teeth, your good looks and your temper, sleep with your mouth open.

"Bronchitis, quinsey, croup, asthma and other diseases of the respiratory organs, as well as dyspepsia, gout of the stomach, rickets, diarrhea, diseases of the liver, the heart, the spine and the whole of the nervous system, from the brain to the toes, may chiefly be attributed to this deadly and unnatural habit" of sleeping with the mouth agape, like an oyster in his last agonies.  "When a man lies down at night to rest from the fatigues of the day, and yields his system and all his energies to the repose of sleep, and his volition and all his powers of resistance are giving way to its quieting influence, if he gradually opens his mouth to its widest strain, he lets the enemy in that chills his lungs, that racks his brain, that paralyses his stomach, that gives him the nightmare, brings imps and fairies that dance before him during the night; and during the following day, headache, toothache, rheumatism, dyspepsia, and the gout."

Mr. Catlin believes that the nose was intended to be breathed through. He believes air should reach the lungs only through the nose, and never through the mouth; and to prove the correctness of his theory he cites a number of curious facts and experiences of his own.

He remarks that in times when cholera or yellow fever are prevalent, persons who habitually breathe through their mouth are most subject to these infections.  And here we may bring in the general voice of seamen to co[r]roborate his statement.  All experienced sailors sleep, habitually, with closely shut mouths.  One reason for this may be that roaches, which are very large and extremely abundant on board ship, are apt to crawl into an open mouth to investigate its contents--the large East Indian roach being, as is well known, an animal of highly inquisitive character.  But another and equally powerful reason is the general belief, among seamen, that the air laden with miasmatic poison is more or less purified by being inhaled through the nostrils.  They believe with Mr. Catlin, that--

"The air which enters the lungs is as different from that which enters the nostrils as distilled water is different from the water in an ordinary cistern or a frog-pond.  The arresting and purifying process of the nose, upon the atmosphere with its poisonous ingredients, passing through it, though less perceptible, is not less distinct nor less important than that of the mouth which stops cherry-stones and fish-bones from entering the stomach.