St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-02-18
''Dr. Gillyfiower's Pill"
BY ELIZABETH CUMMINGS.

Ever since | began studying medi
cine with DR.. Oleander Sawens hav,
been planning n house. Not an alb
stract house, but the house | hOpeC
some day to build and live in. | useC
to make sketches of doors, windows
and verandahs on the margins of my An
atomy and the old Doctor, who wa:
very short-sighted, thought | was de-
velOping remarkable talent for draw
ing boues. ! recOllect making what
thought was very fine picture of Z
| COrinthian column, which | hoped one
day would support my back stOop
when the Doctor, coming up behind
me. slapped me on the back and cried
"Well done, my boy Well done!
never saw the femuI better represented
in my life"
| had plenty of time for my planning
When | was young physic was not the
profitable profession it now is. Nerves
were better strung and stomachs were
deal tougher. Scammony, gamboge
mercury and opium, with the lancet
and the blister, either killed or cured
the patient quickly, and the pay was
small.
At the age of twenty-five / married
Phila Ann ButteTfOss, only child of Ezra
Butterfoss, NJ. D., deceased. We set up
housekeeping in the Butterfoss man
sion, and moved my specimens my
pills and my powders into my dead fa-
ther-in-law's office, which stood quite
10y itself among the elms in the spacious
yard.
Although was now provided with a
home, my desire to plan and build a
house increased rather than diminished.
The ButteTtOss mansion was over fifty
years old. a wide hall ran through
the center of it, the rooms were large
and high, and there were plenty of
them but the whole place lacked pie
turesqueness and what is called. in col
loquial slang, style. BY the provisions
of my father-in-la will, the house
could be sold only by my wife, and as
Phila Ann fatty refused to part with it,
and was imperviOus to argument OF
persuasion, | soon gave up all thoughts
of building my ideal house until
should be able to save the money nee
esSary for the work out of my own earn
ings. But three years after my mar
rage a great change occurred in my for
tunes.
l had always had great regard for
the honor of my profession. Patents
taken out for happy combinations of
drugs and all advertising had always
dcspiSed. But | was called To treat Il
peculiar case of wiud-cOlic, and tried
almost everything in the pharmaco-
pGia, without success. The patient
grew restless, and as he was one of my
best patients (Some of his family being
sick nearly all the while), | did not
relax my efforts, but kept on mixing
pills and powders for him. until hit
upon pill that seemed really the re-
suit of inspiration. SO wonderful was
its effect | tiled it upon all my patients,
not even excepting old Jabez Sprat,
who was laid up with Il broken leg.
The result was happy in every case tor
though it did not always benefit, it
never injured anybody, which is saying
a great deal FOR one pill.
| struggled with my preiudices and
my pride for some time but at last
applied for Il patent, and soon my pill
DIR. Gillytiower'S FavOrite PHI
packed i'll neat tin boxes, graced every
drug store in the country.
In six months made fifteen thousand
dollars out of my pill, and then began
talking about Il new house in earnest.
discussed the merits of square lot and
a deep lot. and exposures north, south,
east and west, and had the refusal of
all the unOccupied land in the corpora
ton. My friends sent me books on the
domestic architecture of all countries,
Patagonia not excepted, and every 9th
er day Mr.. Plummet invited me into
his Office to see a plan. After much
deliberation | purchased corner lot
that faced two of the finest streets in
our town.
My tastes are cosmopolitan IAN Amer
leans should bc), and decided to unite
in my house the simplicity OF Greek
temple and the elegance of an Italian
villa. Plummet seized my idea and
worked it up into something that look
ed on paper very recherchG indeed. The
main part of the house was as purely
Greek as Girard College. The wing
was in the most forid Italian style,
and at the extreme end of it was Il
square tower, capped with one of those
peaked roofs, which have the general
effect of a half-shut umbrella. 1t was,
as Joe, the blacksmith said of London,
every architectcralooral."
! 1t was a trying time for me while the
plans were discussed. | am somewhat
absent-minded, and such phrases as
"hard finish," "butter not oiled" ap-
peared in my prescriptions, and | told
the Rev. Paul Pumpkin, who was suffer
ing from poor appetite, induced 10y a
| disappointment in love, that | thought
a verandah in the japanese style and
| Venetian blinds would cure him.
The internal arrangements of the
] house | left entirely to Plummet. Mrs
| GillyflOwer demonstrated, and declared
that at least the plan of the kitchen
and pantry must be submitted to her
but | commanded her TO he silent and
attend to her sphere, as thought il
probable that Plummet knew better
than she did what was convenient and
suitable for kitchen.
As soon as the walls were up, the
wags about town called the house Gil
| lyflOwer's Pill" a name in which | have
since seen a sad significance. About
this time the agents for Wallpaper
houses began to visit me. DadO X Co
sent a man with large wagOn-load Of
books full of samples, and for two days
the fellow eXpatiated on the beautie,
of each particular pattern; and W,
grew so tired and confused | agreed t,
allow the firm n certain amount of mon
ey and let them fix the rooms to sui