The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-09-26
THE SOAP HABIT
Many People Have it-Medicine With
Siwash Names.

i 3 =
Siwash Names.
1t is our habit to speak lightly
of, if we do not actually jeer, the
man who is faxed. We do this
seemingly unconscious of the var
| ious times we have been humbugged
ourselves. We may not have been
deceived in the same manner nor
by the same thing as was the 9th
er fellow. The man who would
buy gold brick might know bet
ter than to allow a fellow like Stone
to locate him on a timber land
claim where there wasn't enough
timber to supply him with tooth
picks. Not all men are suckers
but they are fish of some kind, and
whether they may or may not be
taken in depends entirely on the
kind of bait that is used. Still, with
these facts i'll mind. it seems strange
that myriad of fish SO readily
take the hook baited with a morsel
of soap. 1t would seem that soap
must be positively necessary to di-
gestion, or that it performs some
function far more important than
the one for which it is commonly
used. Any kind OF soap answers
the purpose SO long, apparently. as
it passes through the hands of
street hawker. His manipulation
and assurance in weird words seems
to impart a charm and potency not
in any measure possessed by the
best brands of soap in the local
market.
There had not been for a long
time in this locality fisherman
who baited with soap, and a large
number of Corvallis people had
not been able to supply the require
ments of their physical well-being.
A few who were financially able to
do so, went to the Fair and became
amply satisfied forthe time and laid
in a winters supply; but the great
majority of those who have acquir
ed the soap habit, if it may be SO
termed, were compel1ed> to remain
at home and" suffer the pangs of
long felt want.
Providentially, however, vend-
er arrived in town last Tuesday
and there was great JOY among that
portion of the populace which had
suffered so keenly. Many had be-
come emaciated from the long fast
and it was delightful to observe with,
what appreciation they hailed the
advent of the fakir. He mounted
his platform at four o'clock in the
afternoon of Tuesday and viewed
the hungry assemblage w1tht COM
p1aisance, his practiced eye giving
him unmistakable assurance. of a |
rich harvest.
It is not necessary to state that /
he found business good. There
was such demand for the article I
that the supply was soon exhausted
but he assured the clamorlng
throng that he would have an
ample quantity at the evening
lecture While in this respect
his statement proved true, 1t might |
not have been so except for his
assurance that he would be here
two or three days longer,
a statement in which he was not
borne out by subsequent events.
The fakir paid his respects also
to those people who imagine that
there is great efficacy in medicine
with an Indian name, and they in
turn paid him their hard cash.
They were to use the remedy three
days, and if it did not perform
list of wonders as long as poor
sermon, purchasers were to return
the medicine and get the purchase
pricewith handsome present in adj
dition, Other bats of similar char
acter were successfully used. but
The fakir's sojourn here was brief
He did not remain to ascertain
whether or not the siwash medicine
aad done its work to the satisfac
ion of the purchasers. He was
satisfied, and then there
we're fish in other towns awaiting
1im.