Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1905-10-27
THE MEDDLER.
"HMe coat ms you put " on

The extent to which liquor Is useu
for medicinal purposes v truis ,o
thing surprising. The Meddler had TO
idea of how much booze Is SOFA ~
Brattleboro for medicinal use oh'y
until he had occasion the other uas "
examine the books. which are r'ieu
each month with the county clerk ~
the holders of fifth class or drues,s.
licenses. These records snow 'na.
during the month of September a.
LIQUOR prescriptions were hlled DS w
four local drug stores. the larses'
number filled by one drug store our
ing that month was 29I. WINE W"
smallest was 10. OF the l2T prescflp-
tions filed 3ls We're written by ons
physician. whose signature appenis
on 236 of the 2e7 mentioned az DILL
filed by one store A peculiar feature
shown nv these records Is the large
number of people who were taken III
during the Valley fair In all III pre-
scrlptions We're filled on the two days,
Sept. % and 2S. So Of them being
COMPOUNDED Of that word may pr
used) at one drug store and ~ peihs
issued on one day by one physician
The law governing fifth class IL
censes expressly states that liquor
shall be sold only upon written not
printed, prescription of a legaliy
qualified physician, stating its GATE;
the name of the person for whom ana
to whom 1t is given. and that the pre-
scription Is given and Is necessary TOT
medicinal use" In spite of the ex-
tremely plain construction Of the
statute it is probably safe to say tna'
over half of the 727 September pre-
scriptions are wrongly made out
Many of them bear nothing but tue
amount of liquor and the signature OF
the physician. others have failed to
state whether the liquor is for medic
inal use. while not a few are In error
in other respects. In the case of one
physician in particular Is evident
that the most Of his prescriptions
have been made out something IKE
this. "Spts. F'rumenti. one quart
(Signed) DR. Blank" the nerson by
whom the liquor was bought being in
dicated by anothers handwriting
presumably that of the druggist. Pre-
scriptions thus skeletoniZed not only
fail to comply with the law but have
negotiable value. there being noth-
ing to prevent the selling of such by
one person 10 another.
on the books which have to be filed
by law with the county clerk are col
umns showing the name of the person
to whom the liquor is sold, the date OF
the sale. the amount the purpose Tor
which ii is to be used. etc. A casual
perusal of some pages of these books
brought several amusing items to the
attention of The Meddler For in
stance, one man Is given license To
20 h g 20 4
cold" while another receives pre-
scription for five dozen bottles of
beer for medicinal use only OF
course. and a third a pint of brandy
for a sick horse. In still another
case two prescriptions. each for pint
of whiskey. have been filled for the
same man in one day. and there are
instances where the name of cSe man
recurs so frequently that one would
almost fear that he is getting the drink
habit through over-zealous fulfillment
of his physicians order
No doubt many of the technical err
rors referred to above, particularly
those where the names have been
written on after the issuance of the
are due to a misunder-
standing on the part of the druggists
in regard to the law, although In real
ity there Is no need for any misunder-
standing In other cases. The Med
der can think of no explanation but
heedlessness of the purpose for which
the law was framed, and heedlessness
of the law is even less of an excuse
than ignorance of it. Whether any
legal action will be taken on the facts
which have been brought to light is
not known. but both druggists and
will in all probability hear
from States Attorney Ryder relative
to more stringent enforcement of
the law.
One sling shot in the hands of one
small boy can do considerable damage
If aimed In the wrong direction. and
there is hardly small boy alive who
does not occasionally take aim in the
wrong direction on purpose 1t
stands to reason. therefore, that with
the number of these weapons now in
possession of the local youth there is
a very good chance for no end of dam
age to be done. to say nothing of per-
sonal injury It's about time sling
shots were called in. The Meddler.
To draw out the fire of burn, heal
a cut without leaving scar, or to
cure boils, sores, letter eczema and