The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-01-10

A New York Druggist Tells How He Keeps
His CukloinaIs, Ancnunts.


"No, never keep any books" said a
druggist the other day, In the intervals of
selling a cent stamp 10 one customer,
cents worth of Rochelle salts to another,
Rpostal card to third, some quinine pills
TO fourth and ~ glass of soda water to an
aspiring member of the rising generation.
81 don't bother myself with bookkeep
ing at all, ~ he went III, "sSsnUSsh a con
siderable number of my customers run
small accounts with me. IT, had to bother
with books in the bookkeeper's sense my
life would be miserable indeed, for have
enough other things to bother me, and
you know it is absolutely necessary for
druggist to keep clear head. If he makes
q mistake, he may kill somebody and be
sent to the state prison for it. Why, even
the handwriting of physicians that we
have to decipher in reading prescriptions
is enough to bring the gray hairs to any
body's head. If | could have my way,
would require every candidate for the de
gree of doctor of medicine TO give evidence
Of his ability to write n legible hand, and
would then compel him to take an oath
never to write prescription that couldn't
be read with ease. OF course the fact that
prescriptions are written in Latin doesn't
make much, il any, difference to druggists,
but really can zee no reason for the use
of Latin, for most intelligent people now
adays know what a prescription contains
on reading it, or else they will insist on
their physician telling them. People some
times ask me what a prescription con
tains, but druggists, you know, never give
anything of that kind away. It is against
the rule Of the profession.
HBut this isn't what set out TO tell you
at ALL That was about my way of keep
ing accounts. Here in this drawer, you
see, are u number Of slips of paper. Each
one of them contains the account of one Of
my customers, and some of them, you
perceive, are very large. l keep no other
records. When man comes in to pay his
bill, l have everything here on the clip
bearing his name, and it takes only mo
ment 10 foot it up. When he hands me the
money, / hand him the slip, and there is
an end OF the whole matter. Nothing could
be simpler, could it, Certainly nothing
could be, from my point of view, and Of
course no customer can have anything to
complain of. The system is capable of in
definite extension. II the number Of my
patrons who keep accounts should largely
increase, should have to keep the slips
In alphabetical order, or something Of that
kind Really this is bookkeeping-if il
can be called so-reduced to its lowest
terms"
AT this point the dr1gnAn TUNED away
to compound two prescriptions that a
woman wanted made up In hurry, and
Just then the door opened to admit two
more of the postage stamp brigade, which
only the good nature of druggists and
their desire to accommodate their friends
cause them to tolerate at all But some.
how postage stamps and directories are In
separately associated In the minds of urban
Americans with drug stores, and the drug
gist can only submit, although he realizes
that every time he sells stamp 10 a
stranger the purchaser is really imposing
on his good nature.-New York Tribune