The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-01-10
IN A DRUG STORE.
THE CARE REQUIRED TO AVOID FA-
tai MISTAKES.
The Best Way to Avoid Making Mistakes
Tho Worst Possible Habit for q
Druggist to Acquire-ShOuld
Never Gossip.
New York Tribune.1

New YORK
Behind a neat prescription counter the
druggist sat smoking a cigar and talking
with a friend on moist evening when bust
ness in the drug store was less brisk than
usual. Complex yet faint odors from the
hundreds of carefully labeled jars and bottles
on the shelves mingled with the fragrance
of tocacco smoke, and seemed to impart a
mysterious charm to the conversation. Il
have made it point for thirty years." said
the druggist, "to pay strict attention to a
prescription while l am compromising it, and
then to drop it out of my mind entirely.
That is the best way to avoid making mis-
takes"
A girl with shawl over her head came in
and presented bottle and piece of paper
on which her mother had written: please
send 5 cents with orinka for sore throte. !"
The druggist quietly poured some arnica
into the bottle, pasted on a label, took the
proffered nickel and sat down to resume his
talk.
"As was saying, always forget a pre-
Scription as soon as l have filled it. Of
course it is numbered and preserved for
future reference, but if one Of my regular
customers should ask me to put up some
more medicine same last, you know I
would have to send him home for the bottle
which had the number of the prescription
on 1t. If attempted to remember all the
medicines l mix, l would soon be insane. A
druggist ought to feel that when he fills a
physicians order he holds the life of some
person in his hand. To mistake one drug for
another at such time may cost life. Such
mistakes result from carelessness as rule,
not from ignorance, as most people think"
dad wants poor house blister" said q
boy who had entered the store unobseryed.
"What does he want it fora"
"To put on mas side where he-where it
pains erp
"Do you mean porous plaster?"
"OhI yessir."
ain nine cases out Of ten, 1 believe" the
druggist said, when ne had opportunity to
take up the thread of his discourse again,
"carelessness and not ignorance is the cause
of druggists mistakes. A druggist who
knows that he is not proficient in the bust
ness will look carefully at every jar or bottle
which he uses in compromising an order. An
experienced druggist, unless he is a careful
man, will sometimes mistake one drug for
another which has similar appearance, be-
cause he neglects to look at the label Such
errors happen more easily when man per-
mits his counter to become Uttered with
drugs not wanted for immediate USE
1t is safer to clear the counter after
each order is filled. The worst possible
habit for druggist, however, is to remem-
Der prescriptions already compounded.
When a attempts the feat Of thinking
about an old prescription while he is work
ing on new one, he is in fair way of COM
uniting a murderous blunder"
"Good evening, doctor"
A man with long, thin nose, who had en-
tered softly, waited until the druggist had
walked from the prescription counter to the
front before he inquired in low tone:
as there any sickness in Mr.. Pillboxs
familyG see his boy came in here a while
ago."
off you wish to know about Mr.. Pillboxs
family you had better go and ask him. do
not make practice of retailing gossip about
my customers"
"AhI Good evening""
"There is another reason why druggist
should forget his work when it is finished"
said the compounder after the inquisitive
man had departed. "Such a practice
enables man to keep the confidence of Gus
toners without trouble. Nothing is more
fatal to the business of druggist than
well-founded belief among his neighbors
that he will gossip about persons who buy
drugs from him. 1t is surprising how many
persons make attempts to get informa ton
from druggists about their neighborS. 1
have given blunt answers in such cases, and,
curiously enough, many of the persons who
have appeared to be most offended at my
refusals to give information have become
regular customers of mine. In such cases
the golden rule can be followed with profit
as well as with pleasure"