Connecticut western news., 1886-04-21
PROFIT IN DRUGS.
Some, Facts About the
 Apothecary's Business.
The Extensive Use of Patent Medicines,
 Quinine, and Opium.

Quinine, and Opium. Every member of the human family is more or less interested in the drug trade,
 which is one of the most important car ried on in the world. It employees hun dreds of millions of dollars in capital, and affords thousands upon thousands of people q means of making an honest live- lihood. With the view of learning some thing of the inside mysteries of a trade of such importance, reporter for the New York Nail and Express visited a large drug store. The man of drugs was busily engaged in filling a prescription.
 When he was at leisure he said in an- swer to the reporters query:
 "Now there is compound that is composed of exactly four ingredients. One of these ingredients costs at whole sale exactly two cents, the second one cent, the third two cents and the fourth three cents, making total of eight eents."
 'How much will you charge your cus- tomcr for that prescTiption3' 'sFifty-fve cents."
 GA handsome proft-just 600 per cent.e'
 "Oh, yes; but then you see, the cus- toner p avs forty-sev cents of the fifty five for my experience as an apothecary. Men in other professions do the same as we in this respect. For instance, aphy- sician will look at your tongue and feel your pulse, demand fee of from $2 to $5, according to the length of your purse and his standing in society. If he is a high-ton ed or fashionable doctor you may think yourself fortunate if you es- cape without being charged more than $5. It is the same with a lawyer. You visit his office, obtain his advice in a simple matter, and occupy his time for about fifteen minutes. He wants you to pay $25 or $50. Now I have performed as much real service as either the doctor or the lawyer, and all the compensation ask is the small pittanoe of fifty-fve cents. We prefer the prescription busi- ness to selling patent medicines, because the former is the most profitable of the two branches of our trade"
 ''Is the sale of patent medicines in- creasing or decining2'
 'I can reply to that question both in the affirmative and the negative Patent medicines are like garments, they become fashionable and may go out of fashion. It is not always the best medicines that have the largest sale. A great deal de- pends upon the manner in which they are 1 advertised and placed before the public. A few years ago man prepared pain annihilator. It was sort of wash that deadened pain temporarily, but it was not a permanent cure. It was, in fact, injurious for it tended to produce paraly- sis. The proprietor advertised it far and wide. The name of the so-called reme- dy appeared in the advertising columns of all the newspapers. It was seen upon buildings, fences, and bill-boards, in the city and in the country. Turn which ever way you would it stared you in the face. The proprietor made fortune in a very short time. His pain annihilator was known and used in almost every family. Like the Roman Empire it had its rise and fall. Now nobody thinks of using it. In fact it is not even manu- factured or to be found in the market"
 "What drugs have the largest sale9"
 ''Well, I may include in the list quin- inc, the various preparations of opium, calomel, arsenic, valerian, lavender and well I don't think you wish me to go through the entire catalogue" "Tel me something about quininef" "Pills containing two grains of quinine sell at $1.50 to $2.0O per bottle of one hundred pills. The prevalence of mala- ria in almost all sections of the country during the past few years has caused an immense consumption of this drug. It has also afforded speculators chance to make money by forcing the price up, and they have not been slow in availing them selves of the opportunity"
 ''By whom is opium mainly bought9"
 ''By people of all classes. You would be greatly surprised if should show you list of my customers who are in the habit of purchasing this drug. I do not mean those for whom it is prescribed by physicians, but those who use it as regu- larly as they would tobacco. These slaves of the opium habit comprise law yers, artists, preachers, merchants, and all kinds of mechanics, tradesmen and laborers. Women as we'll as men are slaves to opium"
 ''Do druggists as rule become l wealthy2"
 "No. There are too many in the busi- i ness. If the number of drug stores could be reduced one-half those who remained in the trade would stand a chance of making fortunes. As it is, the most of us have hard task to keep our heads above water'
 Field of Corn on a Hot Day.