The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-08-16
A FABULOUS OIL.
The Strange Tale That Lewiston Drug
gist Tells About Piclxcrel OIL.


The Strange Tale That Lewiston Drug
gist Tells About Pickerel OIL.
"Hay2" yelled the man in the Lew
iston drug store, leaning over the
counter and making funnel of his
hand.
"Whos How mucha Sam whoi
CHI, yes. Twenty cents q dram. Well,
ii had drop right on the drum o
this yere ear o. mine / could hear We,
mebbe. I'll take the moneys worth.
Master good stuff that. Hain't had
none for some time, have yel Guess
you've got all there is"
He called for pick'rir OIL" said
the druggist after the man had gone
Curious thing about this pickerel oil.
1t is held to be a sovereign cure For
deafness. A superstition2 Perhaps.
l don't know. | never was deaf.
Those who are deaf and who drop the
magic oil down into the depths, where
the tympanum seems without echo,
arise to pronounce blessings on the
pickerel and his oil, and they are the
ones to testify. One thing l can say,
that since they have found out that /
keep it they come here in numbers
after it.
'.All about pickerel OIL" was the
song OF the newspaper, as The Journal
settled into the stuffed chair and
waited the discourse.
well, in the first place, when l
bought this store, found in behind
the counter bottle labeled pickerel
oil. had a customer one day, two or
three years after, and he said, i don't
suppose We got any pick'ril oila' Said
l, Yes, sir, and he nearly jumped out
of his boots. You're the first man l
ever run across that had it, said he.
After had made that sale l had other
customers and after awhile my pickeril
oil was gone. / wrote here and there
and everywhere, but couldn't get any
and my little trade in it was gone. I
had given up hunting for it, when,
less than a year ago, prominent
Lewiston marketman came sauntering
into my store one day, and after chat
ting awhile said to me, Do you ever
have any call for pickerel oill' 1t was
my turn to Jump, and says l, DO II
Well there. 1 would just like to buy
some Says he, I've got some, wait
minute, and he soon reappeared
with black bottle containing about
two ounces of the oil. Said he. L let
your predecessor here in business have
some once, but he never made any ac-
count of it to me and didn't suppose
it was good for anything l smiled
to myself, remembering how l had
sold it, and then | told him what had
become of it. l bought his lot and
this is the bottle of pickerel oil that the
Lewiston marketman brought in. See
this red surface ola That's the stuff
This below it is the deposit or resi-
dunn. sell off the top.
How does it come from the fisht"
asked the writer.
In the pickerel, near the backbone,
is small sac like the spleen in ami
mails. The marketman cut these. out
and let them drip into this bottle be-
hind the stove during the winter He
tells me that all the big, fat pickerel
he dressed during the winter, scores of
them, only yielded this amount Of OIL
Funny, amt it, | suppose hundreds
of people saw that stuff dripping there
behind the stove and thought it was
to grease boots with. Pretty cxpen-
sive grease for boots, thought"
''How expensiveg"
ANY amount you are mind to ask
for it. Fabulous for its real value"
'How much, for instance2 Five
dollars an ounce"
''N-no. Not so much. Say two
dollars. That's all its worth, amt it2
Have a smell2"
A long silence while he uncorked
the bottle.
''Whew-w-wl" and the pickerel oil
has put in its work. Me.)
journal.
Thought Judgment Day Was Near.
Lana e. .,.....