The Topeka state journal., 1897-08-25
! NEW DRUG STORE.

q ddy Of tfNO NC u8phCkeC ana S6B up lOI
business and hung out a sign reading,
"Dry Goods, Clothing, Hardware, Gro
ceries, Boots and Shoes and Tinware; Also
Drug Store" The sbanty which he occu-
pied for store was about IA feet square,
and he had everything packed in n heap.
The drug store was an innovation. 1t
was not only the first to be established at
Cedar Hill, but the only one for 200 miles
around, and we were inclined to look upon
the druggist with awe and respect, states
writer in The American Druggist. ",
were very healthy lot up there, and
aside from accident. no man had lost da.
for six months. No sooner was that drug
store opened for business, however, thar
most of us felt yearning. Hiram Davis
hit the nail on the head when he said t.
the crowd:
"Boys, that drug store reminds me of
home and of the old woman and children
Jest think of pills and salts and calomeJ
and quininei Civilizashun las come
knockin at cur doors, and it's our solemn
dooty to feel bad and buy somethin.''
Plenty of us began to "feel bad,' but
when we came 10 buying something we
found that the druggist was doing bust
ness on a line of his own. When A be
Smallman dropped in to get dose of calo-
mel for his liver. which was doing bust
ness seven days in the week and in need
of no encoura cement of any sort, Mr.. Day
ton said to him:
81 bought this drug store outfit of
tenderfoot down at Grass Valley. He was
sick and discouraged and wanted to go
back home. I don't know much about
the business myself. I'll hunt up the cal
omel and sell it to you, but won't be re-
sponsible for the results.''
"What dye mean by resuits?" qucried
Abe.
"Waal, I've got calomel, arsenic, salts
and a lot of other things all mixed up
here, and I'm not going to guarantee any
thing. Mebbe it'll be calomel and mebbe
not"
We all SHE'D for day or two at that,
but when we came to think it over we
rather liked the uncertainty, and the drug
gist was kept busy with our purchases.
Some of his liquids and powders were in
bottles or papers, duly labeled, and some
of the powders were in parcels without
labels on them. If anybody asked for ep-
SOM salts, for instance, the druggist would
fish around under the heap of boots and
shoes and clothing till he got hold of box
or parcel, and, bringing it out, he would
say:
'An know about this stuff is that it
amt cCpperas. took a parcel of copperas
on debt once, and SO l know the stuff
when see it. If you want to run chances,
you can take it along.''
Most every body was willing to run
chances and for two weeks all went well.
If nobody was made any better, nobody
was made any worse, and the druggist did
a rushing trade Then came an afternoon
on which old Joe Crosby laid down his
working tools and announced that he was
"o6 his feed, - and had got to have some
thing to ward off bilious attack.
81 can't say what's good for it, said
the druggist, "but I'll fish up a lot of
packages, and you can take your choice"
He laid out ten parcels on the counter,
and old Joe wet the tip of his finger and
tasted the contents of each in succession.
He finally found one to suit his palate, at
least, and he bought a dollars worth and
went off to his shanty to dose. Half an
hour later he was taken with violent
cramps and inside of two hours he was
dead. A move was made on the druggist,
but the smiling and urbane Mr.. Day ton
replied:
"Gentlemen, it might have been pow
dered borax, or it might have been arsenic.
can't tell the difference between the two,
and have been free to say so. 1 gave
him good weight, and he took his
chances
Our purchases were light for the next
week, but in time we got over the scare
and went to buying again. A fortnight
after the death of Crosby, man named
Healy was made terribly sick for two or
three days by a dose of some unknown
stuff, and the next day Sile Warner entered
the drug store to say:
81 amt feelin jest as I orter, and
want somethin to brace me up. Kin you
recomm end bracer?'
81 never recommend,'' was the reply.
Here's the bottles and here's the pack
ages. They may brace or they may lay
you out. -
"Waal, this is world of chance" con-
tinued Sile, as he paved the stuff over,
land I'll take dollars wuth of this stuff
in the bottle. TIN wet the throat when
it goes down, anyway
The stuff was probably laudanum, for
Sile never woke up from that nights
sleep. His chum went over to give the
druggist fits about the matter, but Mr.
Dayton headed him off with:
dead, eh? Sorry to hear it, but he
took his chances. 1 will now label that
bottle Poison and should any of you
wish to commit suicide, you will know
what to ask for.''
We tried to brace up after the second
calamity, and were gradually getting our
confidence back when a man named Grim
shaw got something for chills. The drug
gist wouldn't recommend it, as usual,
but it had been marked by the tenderfoot
as "Good for chills.'' 1t proved to be.
One dose removed Mr.. Grimshaw from
this chilly world, and over his grave we
held a public meeting, and
Whereas, It bein only a question OF
time when our drug store will kill oil ev-
cry man in Cedar Hill; and
''Whereas, We owe a dooty to ourselves
and them as has gone; now, tharfore,
Resolved, That one or the t'other of us
has got to git"
The 'tt'otner'' was the drug store. After
a general consultation, we made up a
shake purse OF $50 to buy all the drugs left
on hand, and after everybody had given
himself one last dose of whatever he fan
ced, the remainder was thrown into
ravine, and MIR. Dayton turned his atten-
ton entirely to other rlines.-Exchange.
Arabs and Water.
It is said that among the Arabs the Gus
tom prevails of drinking water only in the