The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-09-15
THE P0IsOM .ORDif1SoE.

y +. ~ u { I E .. - I,
J, Messys. lEaHors: The ordinance 70.
! Gently passed by. the Ceancil in refer7
cnce to- !, the, sale Of. poisonous drugs
and medicines deserves more than i
casual notice, not. only by thoughtful
men, but Especially by those who sell
pr. dispense SUCH powerful agents or
remedies. AS. one Of tho latter class,
7: beg fA state my objections to the
ortlinahce on the following grounds:
/. Its inutility.
3. Its ineflcicucy.
3. Its Inconvenience or impractica-
bility.
D.. That the authorities had in Wow d
comnnendable motive, LIDO not, nor
can any one, doubt but that tho mode
AND manner by .wbich they may ,hopo
to diminish tho hazafd is h,iliian iit5,
will ever exercise ono iota toward the
safety of the same, must be candid
enough to say l disbclicvc. -.
l show its inutility by simply saying
that tiils old thing of tho rcd iibbon
Cor red tape, If proferable,) has nearly
n quarter of century ago yielded to
better suggestions, and in fact to
patents for tho same purpose, which
almost speak to the novi,iatc or care
less handler Of loisons, and say to
linn, II Iold", "Bc cautious, "Poison".
For fifteen or twenty years the dis
cussion of this subject has been: carried
on in the pharmaceutical societies, and
l think the conclusion has about been
reached, that the properly licensed
druggist can better tell than any one
else how to classify and arrange his
material to prevent accident. Is it
possible, then, that the Council shall
direct the dealer n.poisons and tell
him how he cannot xiii anybody, and
that too by rel tape.
My second objection is it's incflicien-
cy. My own arrangement l consider,
after twenty-five years experience,
better, while it is exactly the reverse
or opposite to this. Thus far 1 have
been kept safe, and now to fall back on
this "rcd ribbon" to tell INC what AN
doing, seems useless indeed.
Think Of .it-thirty-lline poisons on
the same shelf, all arranged in the same
garb or with the same mark! The
very uniformity, to say nothing of the
proximity, seems to me to increase the
danger. in my order and style l put
each poison to itself, in different cos
tunes and in different localities. |
feel, then, securely sure that no mis-
take eau he made. ;Qnnnot, there!
lprc, admit that tho sMggestloii of
Council can tend to any good.
. In regard to the impracticability and
Inconvenience of the ordinance | have
little to say, and that little is this:
The necessity imposed by it Of placing
upon the same shelf a pint blue jar Of
deadly corrosive sublimatc, quart
white jar of sugar of lead, Il small
one-slrachm vial of, more deadly,
strychpinc, with half gallon hottie
OF landahum and a quart bottle of
tincturc OF acomitc; necessarily carries
with it an imcongrmity that cannot, nor
ever will, accord with. my ideas. Of
taste, order or propricty. ! hope,
then, the ordinance will, some day IN
the not distant future, be repealed.
l conclude by saying that lis passage
at thls late Hatc: could produce the
impression outside the limits of the
corporation that some accident Ind
recently happened here in which some
one was poisoned through the careless
ness Of the dispensing druggist. ,Sach;
fortunately, is not the case. Few per-
sons arc killed from the dispensing
shelf, which keeps its poisons properly
arrangca; The, malos,itY Of cases Of
properly licensed drug store. g
tyiniisboro; September IA.