The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-02
DRUGGISTS EXPERIENCES.
LIFE OF THE PILL DISPENSER
FILLED WITH INTEREST.

.stbiIity. But He Sees Some of /
- sunshine as He Goes Along. |
little Incident That shows |
.,.b Deacons Are Not Always as
mans a. They Look.
from the Cincinnati Enquirer.
-...-l a neat prescription counter the
..s- and an Enquirer man sat. The
o'7-ss beating a gentle tattoo on the
80 Danes, and the dreariness Of the
" had produced a stagnation in
5rT- business. Inside everything was
md comfortable. A shining copper
So sang merrily on the stove. and the
,,nnleasant incense from myriads of
IN labelled bottles rose TO mingle with
-. fragrant smoke Of our cigars. Sur
..-s5 by such benign influences, the
,-,-sfst grew reminiscent
YES" he said. "a druggist, perhaps,
"a. more queer experiences than any other
IS Of business men. He carries a load
- rseponsibility on his shoulders, too, for
- mistake may send fellow creature
tr., eternity. The prescription business
- any drug store is, of course. its most
,,rorrant feature. Here is where a clear
E55 and good judgment is needed. Blum
Js~s are easily made, but from the time
~ enter the business il is insulled into
~ thar carelessnesS and fOrgetfulness are
Zines. True, we have the physicians
vrescrptiOn before US, but how easy it
2 Il, reach for one of those small bottles
and gel anotheri l make it a rule to OBJ
ssrve the greatest precaution so long as l
am working on prescription, and when
am done with it to dismiss ii from my
mind altogether. 1t was lesson | learn
n early in life that to try to remember
tbe component parts of any certain pre-
sa-t he for 70 f0.V - don,
gsr6us habit, not only because it would
Cause confusion and worriment TO the
mind but because it would soon engender
disregard for the prescription file, and
that would most certainly prove disas-
uous some time.
you would think physicians are infal-
uble and l must say they make mighty
few mistakes. But by changing a doc
tors prescription one time ! saved a
mans life Most pharmacists have a sa-
cred regard for the formula. a doctor au-
tborizes, and follow it rigidly without
ouestioning the possibility of a mistake.
This prescription l speak of read ten
grains strychine and two grains of quiz
nine l saw at once that the physician
had made a mistake. and without saying
ANYTHING to my customer, who was inn
patiently waiting for his medicine, l just
reversed the order and mixed two grains
Of strvchnia and ten grains of quinine.
The man left and soon after the doctor
came in. ! thought l would have a little
fun with him, so ! asked him what he
meant by prescribing so much poison
for that man. He asked me to explain,
and ! handed him the recipe he had writ
len a few minutes before. His face grew
as white. as that paper, and he shook
like a leaf as he asked me If had hlled 1t.
Certainly" l replied.
For Gods sake, Jones'" he said, and
clutched at that counter for support.
THAT man will die, and am ruined"
81 saw that l was carrying the joke too
far. so l told him of the change l had
made in it, He acted just like a man
who has had a thousand pounds lifted
off his head and after good-naturedly
roasting me for putting him on the torture
rack he offered me a handsome present,
which / very promptly refused. 1 nave
filled many prescription for that doctor
since, but not one error that l can re-
call has crept into any of them.
A small boy with a very dirty lace
had quietly entered the store and was
making his way to the rear.
well, sir" said the druggist, emerging
from his little cage" what can DO Tor
''Pa wants a poor house blister to put
on mas side where he-where it hurts
her"
you mean a porous plaster?'
After he had filled the boys order the
man of drugs returned to his chair and
cigar, saying: There are great many
people like that boy. They come in here
not knowing what they want, and expect
me to tell them. Lots of times can
guess what they want from the unlntelil-
gble tumble they make OF 1t, ana rarely
make a mistake when they can so much
as give me an idea. Lots of these blum
ders are very amusing, and AFFORD me
many quiet laugh. ,,
Just the other day a young fellow
came in and asked me if L had pearline.
saying that he had heard of 1t, and sup
posed that it must be good Tor rheumatic
attack that was troubling tSo nun nnnnte d
here to laugh then l told him what
pearlne was used for. Before he left |
had him fixed out in good shape-but
The e dr. druggist lighted fresh cigar and
laughed quietly as he thought OF the cir
cumstance.
call" he said, happened to me while l
was in business in a country town IN
Northern Ohio. ! belong to the MetnoulSt
church, and in the country people are
more closely identified with church work
than are those in the city. was one OF
the deacons, and if do say 1t myseii, l
tried to live a consistent Christian NE,
enjoying the respect OF all my Sll l',
brethren. AS is the custom with all drug
gsts, 1 kept a small supply OF excelleht
whisky for medicinal purposes. one DAY
an intimate friend of mine came In ana
wanted a pint of that whisky; ON the
strength of friendship l quieted my con-
science, and put him up pint, wrapping
the bottle in paper in the usual manner.
He said he would call for it that after
noon, as he didn't want to carry 1t around
with him. A short time after he had gone
Deacon -, a very SI1dlSHl-ldCeu mem,
Der of our church, came in and wanted
a pint of cough medicine, handing me a
vial. Now, the deacon was one OF tnat
kind of men who are always SURROUNDED
by dense atmosphere of piety and holi-
ness, who always seem to repel rather
than invite the fellowship of sinners. the
mothers of the village used TO point him
out to their boyssa a model for them 10
emulate, and altogether the OLD gentle
man was thought to be as near sancufi-
cation as it is possible for mortals to get,
He told me to put him up some good
preparation, saying he had an errand tar-
Their UP the street, and would call Tor II
IN a short time. l filled the order, wrap
ped up the bottle and set it alongside the
other one. My dinner hour rolled round
and the deacon had not yet appeared.
Leaving, as l thought, explicit directions
with my boy as to which bottle should
be given him, went to my midday meal.
That evening my friend called for his
Whisky, and / gave him the bottle re-
naming on the counter.
The next morning he stopped IN, ana.
with fine sarcasm, inquired what KIND OF
Stop | sold him in the guise OF good
whisky, producing the. bottle.
Great gunsv l said. Frank, you have
Deacon B., cough medicine and he has
Your whisky What on earth will | tell
the deacon? You understand how the mis-
take could be made, but how can l explain
II to him? He will think l did 1t pur-
p0sely in order to shock his dignity and