The Somerset reporter., 1896-03-26

Deinahu by living Harmless Substitutes
and Charging Fancy Prices.
Aye want dees filled wit man =. =
With this the speaker, rawboned.
stolid looking Swede handed Il dirty,
two ounce vial across tho counter Il a
Division street drug store to the clerk.
Without saying "A word or moving
muscle to indicate astonlshment at tins
singular request the clerk took the vial
and disappeared behind tho prescription
case. In moment he 1eappeared, and.
handing the vial back, remarked i'll an
Indifferent tone:
Ninety cents. =
Being ~ed To tell something aboat
the traffic il tie fat of human beings
the clerk grinned.
Il gave tie fellow two ounces of sim
pie cerate and charged IA fancy price 10
impress him with the commences Of the
man fat, - said LIE. Il see no harm i'll
the deception The fellow has unbound.
ed faith III the virtues of man oil, and lie
wouldn't be happy until be believed he
had some. If | didn sell him some, he
would find Il druggist who would. Tie
simple cerate Will do him just as much
good as man Gil. We often have calls Tor
remedies as absurd ms this. We always
nil them-out of the simple cerate bot
tie if it be an oil, or some other harm.
less drug Il it be something else "
Investigation disclosed the fact that
the various portions of the city have their
peculiarities in beliefs as 10 the efficacy
of various unusual remedies In the
Swedish settlements man oil is believed
to have marvellous virtues i'll aches and
pains when applied externally. Over in
the stockyards region and in the south
west portion Of the city dog grease is
held III high repute as a specific for con-
sumption. The men i'll charge at the dog
pound declare a great many Of che dogs
that come to an untimely end i'll the
death chamber there are converted into
a superior article of cod liver oil for the
use Of consumptives. They declare that
humber of doctors" regularly visit
the pound and select nice, fat dogs,
which are slaughtered by the attendants.
to be rendered into oil for the alleged
physicians patients. Not only this. but
the patients themselves often send rela-
tives or friends to tho pound to get dogs
for this purpose. Usually the attendants
kill and dress the dogs, receiving Il
small fee for their trouble. Some t4mes
the dogs are taken away to be killed
One dealer said be usually got from half
gallon to gallon of oil from il dog :;
that the grease resembled lard oil III ap-
poaranee; that the oil had no disagree
able odor if the dog was young; that
the dose was Il tablespoonful three times
day An interesting feature brought
out was that after Il person bad once used
deg $ grease other remedies would have
10 effect whatever ON him.
Out on Milwaukee avenue rainWorm
oil and ant spirits are held in high IL
pate. The druggists have frequent calls
for these remedies and they always fiji
the prescriptions. tho former cut of tho
olive OIL bottle and the latter with alcohol
slightly colored The Germans believe
both remedies are valuable for external
use for all sorts of aches and pains, in
Gliding rheumatism. Tho ant spirits are
also taken internally. In Il standard
German phmmacopdia, Dr. H. Hager, in
the edition for 1876, gives formula fer
making the ant spirits. The directions
given are to take ten parts Of ants to two
parts Of alcohol. The ingredients are IL
be rubbed III il mortar and left to stand
for two days The resulting colorless
liquid is then ready for use for rheuma-
tism, paralysis and tho like.
Snake oil is regularly quoted in some
drug price lists a man named Schuh
at Cairo, Ills, is engaged in its manu-.
facture. John Jones of Phenix, A. T,
devotes his entire time to the manufac-
ture of rattlesnake oil, for which he
gets "a a pound, the purchaser to pay
express charges. Snake oil is reputed to
be valuable for rheumatism. He comes
to the city occasionally to work up
trade.
skunk oil is in considerable demand,
also for rheumatism. The skunk oil is
obtained from the skunk farms, where
the animals are bred for their skins.
Belief Ill these remedies is often found
among American born people.
In all parts Of the city there is q
good trade in love powders, the pur-
chasers usually being Of the servant girl
class.
"When girl comes in after love
powders, 2" SAID drug clerk on North
State street who often has occasion To
fill such orders, II give her a little sug
ar of milk, which is absolutely innocu-
Gus. if she wants it for herself. and tell
her to take two doses a day If she
wants II for her fellow, she usually
asks for the magic drug in the shape of
candy. In that case | give her some
worm lozenges The drugs must give
satisfaction, for the orders are fire.
quently re1lled '-Chicago Tribune
Genesis of Cotton In America.