Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1897-09-02
PIRATICAL MANUFACTURE
Frs
Of Proprietary Articles, OF In
terest To ALI Retail Druggists.

From the National Druggist, st. Louis
Not long since the writer was
In the prescription room of a
down town pharmacy, and just
outside the door leading into the
shop q representative of an east
ern manufacturing house was
using his utmost e~loquence in
the endeavor to convince the
manager that he could save the
house a goodly sum annually, in
fact make big money" for it's
proprietors. could he but get a
chance to place with them a GER
tain line of preparations, made
up in bulk. TO initiate certain
proprietaries in large demand.
not only by the public, but espe>
cially in physicians prescrip-
tions. I'VE initiate them Sc
closely that nobody, not v the
manufacturers of the genui2e,
can tell them apart and say which
is their goods ana which ours"
he said in conclusion.
"All that" said the manager,
quietly, may be true, but then
I would know they we're not gen.
utne, and so would my employ
ees, and, even we're I wiling to
sink my self respect sufficiently
for the paltry sum that | might
make out of the transaction, do
you think that I am fool enough
to risk my reputation and the
reputation of the house for hon
esty and square dealing for it?
Wouldn't l be an idiot, to say
nothing Of the rascality of the
business ito imperil my reputa-
ton and put myself in the hands
of every employee and clerk in
the establishment? On, no, my
friend. I haven't quite become a
candidate for the lunatic asy-
lum."
Cant I sell you something
else? We carry -" CONS
menced the unblushing drum
mer, but he was interrupted by
the manager, who said, in the
same easy, quiet way, mo. |
think not. We are very we'll
stocked up just now, and, be
sides, we deal only with parties
that we know all about. Good
morning"
This singing rebuke did not
apparently. disconcert the drums
mer very much, but he took the
hint and departed. He had pro
baby received the same kind Of
treatment before, though the
fact that be had the audacity to
approach the manager of a large
and reputable concern, like that
referred to, indicated that he did
not always meet such decided re-
bluffs.
The incident made a deep inns
preston on him who, uninten
tionally, was forced to play the
part Of eavesdropper. and started
a new train of thought. Hitherto
he had regarded tie Ir sctice
of substitution entirely from the
moral point of view, out the e
marks of the manager had
brought.prominently forward t; g
wisdom OF the policy of honesty,
and the sense of security which
it gives to the owners or con-
ductors of a pharmacy.
Here is an establishment I'm
ploying around the shop several
young men aud boys, each of
whom must of necessity 500 ba-i
come aware of the nature Of the
goods handled. 1t would be
almost a matter of impcssibility
for the house to be stocked up
with limitations in bulk Of popus
lar proprietaries furnished only
10 the package without every
one Cf these becoming, sooner or
later, aware of the fact, and
hence when a house enters upon
that kind of business it deliber>
ately puts itself in the power Of
it's employees, after having first
set them an example of dis
honesty-a piece of folly justly
characterized by the manager
above alluded to as ''idiocy."
Suppose, for instance, the man
ager in the foregoing case had
yielded 10 the voice of the tempter,
and put in the ''proftable'' imi-
tations. The first man or boy
with whose services he desired to
dispense has only to threaten to
tell what he knows in order to
force him to change his mind and
forego his design. From that
moment his usefulness is gone. He
is no longer master. He tempo
rizes with his employees, but sooner
or later an explosion comes, and
then the inevitable ccurs He is
detected, reported to the physi-
clans around him as a substitution,
a handler of limitations, ETC., and
then, like Othello, his occupation
Is gone. He suffers the penalty
for departing not only from the
dictates, of honesty, but of COM
mon sense.
While every adult of average
intellect is supposed to be resron~
sible for his own actions, does no
guilt attach to the who
deliberately manufactures these
limitations and sends out willy,
smooth-tongued agents to ''place'
them!
Fortunately this is a question