The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-01-09
LOVE PHILTERS
Regular Articles OF Trade In New
York Shops.

Secret stores Whore Sleeping Petions
and other Qasek Nostrums Are
6old 4. . Surreptitioss
Manner.
Love p<,tions and love charms are
regular articles of trade in many Of the
queer-looking little shops on New
Tork's great east side. They are to be
found for the most part in the dirty
looking groceries and the overcrowded
dry goods shops.
There is also constant demand
for sleeping potions" AZ well as for
various odd poisons whose use is little
understood by the medical profession
here Perhaps if these poisons could be
traced their use might solve many an
east side mystery that has baffled the
police. Your east side foreigner has
been in the habit of buying such things
in obscure stores in the cities and towns
where she used to live and the demand
is still supplied in one way or another
in New York.
The writer discovered one of these
secret stores in a walk on the east side.
It was connected with a little dry goods
shop east of Third avenue. His atten-
ton was attracted to a collection Of
amber beads, which on the east side
and other parts of the town are freely
sold to anxious parents, who tie them
cbout the necks of their children to
keep of Group. The proprietor of the
shop, who seemed to be Roumanian.
with half Russian type of face, picked
up peculiar amber ring, which he
offered for sale as q "love ring"
"In the east" he said, "a number Of
drugs are used for the purpose OF ex-
citing love in cold and careless lover.
Some of these drugs are made into
medicines, or love potions, to be
swallowed, but there are many love
charms which can be made up with
jewelry or worn on the body. Amber is
firmly believed by the peasants in
southern Europe to have peculiar pow
ers in causing one who wears it to be
loved. It is made into lockets, or set in
a ring, or carried in q bag around the
neck.
amber is also distilled into an oil
and is used as one of the ingredients OF
love potions,' which are given in Il
liquid form to be taken internally. II
is a brown-colred liquid of hot tas:e
and strong, disagreeable odor. 1t is
poisonous in large doses, but in small
amounts is freely used in southern
countries. It is frequently rubbed IN
the back with wonderful effect. Most
of these love potions,' or love phil
ters.'" continued the old Eoumanian
storekeeper, ''must have originated in
oriental countries, where such things
have been in common use from the earli-
est times.
"Another new drug used to stimulate
the emotions of love is salt OF gold
originally discovered by the old al
chemists in their attempts to make gold
out of silver or the other baser metals
It was long ago used as a secret "lore
medicine" and is now used by physi-
clans for that purpose. 1t acts like
strychnine, which is one OF the most
powerful drugs known, but it also has I;
special action in exciting the passions
One of the oldest of ''love potions" is
called "the essence of pearls" 1t dates
back to the time of Antony and Cleo
patra.
Among the German peasants" coli
tinued the old Roumanian, "a nun,be
of strange superstitions has beer
handed down, which are practiced even
among the Germans in New York citS
to-day, at least among the more IgnoT
ant. A stick Of lovage root is supposed
by them to be efficacious in exciting
love. 1t is used by young wives or un
married girls who have doubts about
their husbands or lovers. The lovag'
root is made into powders and baked il
cakes given to the men to eat, or pu'
into wine or beer for them to drink. A:
old superstition teaches that baS''
| blood is. an excellent antidote for nj
apathetic lover.
Nutmeg has been thought to have
| similar powers. A diet OF mushroon'
! and trufflcs is recommended by the Ger
| mans as a stimulant to the emotion o
| love-"
The old Roumapian storekeeper ha'
4 curiously carved wooden chest con
| tanning several little metal TASKS will
some OF these "love potions," which b
| had brought from his native land. "
clso had recipes for the manufacture o
others, but these he declined to show
He seemed proud Of his reputation
which had brought him patrons no
only from his own people, hut peop'
| Of various nationalities, even including
Irish and negroes.-N. Y. Press.