The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-08-31

IaK1ng Rlenty OF Medicine.
There are 151 drug stores In Washington, one
to about every fifteen hundred inhabitants.
The number is neither larger nor smaller In
proportion to population than 1t is in other
cities. The prices of drugs here are lower
than they are in almost any other city of its
size.
The values of our drug stores vary greatly,
ranging from hundred or two hundred dollars
for some of our suburban shops to as high as
thirty-fve thousand, which is the valuation
placed upon well-known centrally-located
drug store by druggist who ought to know.
The average commercial value of the stores is
probably two thousand dollars. Like every
other business, the drug business tends toward
Capitalization, and becomes more and more diff
fcult with every year to start a new stand with
any show of success. A few years ago stand
could have been started in business portion of
the city for fifteen hundred or two thousand
dollars; to-day it would take at least four thou
sand.
With the progress of the times, from resort
for which man applies for remedies for all the
diseases flesh is heir to, drug stores have be-
come bureaus of information and centres of
general convenience. The telephone, city di-
rectory, and postage-stamp drawer all have
their places in the modern drug store, and each
adds its quota to the public convenience whose
cost is taken unwittingly by the patient like
the sugar on the coating of his pill
"Drugs are comparatively cheap in this CITY,"
said Mr.. r. L.. Eliot, secretary of the Board of
Pharmacy. ''Our rents are much lower, and
we do not have to keep SO large a stock on hand
as they do in larger cities. The rents in some
cities are very high. | know of one drug store
in Chicago which pays S25, 900 rent. In New
York and other large cities they pay ten and
fifteen thousand frequently. In Washington
the highest rent paid is by Scheller & Stevens,
who pay $4,000 year.
washington people take great deal of medi-
cine. When they are not sick they think they
ought to take medicine to keep well, and when
they are sick they simply add to the quantity.
The popular idea among Washington people
when they feel out of sorts is that thev have ma
laria, and malaria is trouble forwhich there is
no end OF remedies, patent and otherwise. There
is at present great deal of typhoid fever in the
city. 1t is probably caused by the numerous
changes in the condition of the atmosphere.
few hot days with sudden cool spell is very
hard on any but perfectly healthy person, and
at this particular season the systems of most
people are considerably relaxed. intermittent
fevers are also quite prevalent. AS a conse-
quencew we sell great deal of quinine. Quinine
is the principal medicine bought, any way, and
it is used to very great extent in the city. Yes
its so per cent. cheaper than it used to be. It
enters into great many prescriptions, and such
medicines generally are decreasing in price.
Opium preparations are affected similarly by
the great fall in the price of opium during the
last ten years. Ten years ago gum opium cost
$l2 pound; to-day it can be bought at S4 An
amount of laudanum which formerly cost 20
cents can now be bought for 10. Other drugs
have fallen .proportionately. Our profits have
also fallen.''
"Your profits are still quite large, aren't
they?'
SIN one sense, suppose they are. On indi-
Vdua sales our per cent. of gainis usually large.
But people who think we coin money should
look at the cost of running an establishment of
this kind. Wem have good locations, plenty
OF light and room, places well fitted up, an ex-
tenslve stock on hand, must keep one or more
clerks always, and in the end we don't sell as
many drugs as casual observers would imagine
from the number of people who enter our stores
If we could sell medicine as fast as we could
hand IL over the counter drugs would be cheaper,
but we can't, and our expenses have to be paid
Stand in drug store two or three hours some
day and watch the people come in. A large
proportion of them either want postage stamps,
candy, soda water or some little article whose
price is very low. A stonemason is paid five or
six dollars day for three dollars worth of
work, but the reason is that he can only work
little over half the year, maybe not SO much.
On the same principle people ought to be will
ing to pay us little more than cost price on
prescriptions and drugs generally"
do you sell many patent medicines ?''
"a great many, but they are sold at almost
cost price, and are hardly worth shelf-room to
us in themselves"
''If living is so hard TO make in your bust
ness don't druggists sometimes resort to dis
honest methodist"
"They try to occasionally, but are usually
caught up. Our Board of Pharmacy here,
whose duty it is to investigate all such affairs,
has so far done very well in exposing cases of
any evasions of the pharmacy law. The princi-
pal evasion is the employing of unregistered
help. The law expressly requires that all men
who prepare prescriptions shall be regularly
registered as pharmacists in the District of Co
lumbia. The requirements for registration are:
The applicant must have served five years in a
drug store, or must have attended our pharma-
ceutical college for three years, passing his ex-
animation at the expiration, or must have passed
an examination before the board, and must be
at least twenty-one years of age. This law in
particular is broken in number of instances,
and unregistered assistants are frequently
allowed to put up prescriptions and sometimes
are left for hours in charge of the store. In the
spring we prosecuted number of men who had
violated this law and in the fall still more will
be prosecuted. The safest rule for the public is
to refuse to allow any one under twenty-one
years to fill prescription. A great many mis-
takes occur from the violation of the law re
curing competent assistants, but they are
usually hushed up. OF course, unregistered is
cheaper than registered help, and for that rea-
son so many druggists employ it. 1t is q
dangerous practice, and should be stopped
Good summer readng-a Washington story