The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-30

luxury to have beer or booze appe-
tite these days
Epidemic of Indigestion.
Another thing will be shown by the
| liquor sales of the. druggists for May.
as was shown by their reported sales for
April and March. And this particular
thing is the fact, deduced from the
sworn statements of those who have
purchased liquor from the druggists,
that the people of Topeka are wallowing
in the throes of indigestion, or dyspepsia
or other kinds of stomach trouble and
insomnia Beer is the remedy for these
illnesses and glance over the reported
sales by the druggists show that these
sicknesses are general throughout the
city and that many persons are chronic
ally afflicted with them for their sigma
lures are found quite often on the GER
tificates for liquor which the druggists
sell for medicinal purposes
Ordinarily the number of cases of
stomach trouble" for which whisky Is
also in great demand. which are on file
in the office of the probate court, would
cause considerable alarm in any COM
munity, were it not overshadowed so
completely by. the list of thousands of
unfortunates who are not able to sleep
at night or find no ease or comfort with
their digestive organs unless they use
the remedies provided by Mr.. Busch, Mr..
Babst, Mr. Lemp, Mr.. Schlitz, DR.. Ro-
chester and a few other mixers of malt
and hops
From the returns made by the drug
gists of their sales of liquor it is evident
that Topeka ought to be a great field
fer vendors of patent indigestion rem
edies and manufacturers of sleep po-
lions.
A Boom in Empty Bottles.
And since the trade in liquors in the
city has been transferred from Joints
where kegs were on tap to the drug
stores where the best that can be OBJ
i'll
trade has grown in the gathering up of
empty bottles in alleys and the empty
corners of buildings and offices
This gathering up of empty bottles
has most generally been done heretofore
by ''ragmen'' and junk dealers. Topeka
like other towns, has had this class of
tradesmen for years. but as is also the
case elsewhere the bringing together of
second hand bottles has merely been n
side issue as far as the volume of bust
ness in rags and old iron is concerned.
But during the last few months. how
ever, the trade in "emDties has taken
such an impetus that it threatens to out
strip all the other departments operated
by the junk dealer. This boom in the
empty bottle business IS but another nat
ural sequence of the closing of the joints.
Those who were in the habit of patron
izing the joints for their beer now get it
from the drug stores and have to carry II
some place to drink. It's a case of every
man inclined to dabbIe in the flowing
bowl of being his own barroom Keeper
When he em9ties his bottle he throws it
away in the nearest alley or hides it in
a corner
AS usual thing the favorite picture or
conception of rag man is a person old
and crippled. driving a SightlesS. decrepit
horse. But not so in this city now. The
part of the rag man trade devoted to
the gathering up of empty bottles is being
extensively carried on by nice appearing
boys of all shades of complexion. They /
the alleys and vacant lots and
collect the empty receDtacleS in which |
has once been soothing elixir for stom- |
ach trouble" insomnia and .'indiges- |
ton" 1t is by no means an uncommon |
sight to see youngsters trudging the !
streets and alleys. especially the alleys. |
with basket on either arm, which they |
fill with speed commensurate with the !
cases of sickness the night before.
1T pays all right. said a youth today. |
81 can make more money picking up |
booze bottles than 1 can selling papers.
Once before they shut up the joints and J
a lot of us kids made money by picking |
up the dead soldiers but the business |
was not good then as it is now. 1 |
sell my bottles to a druggist
And so in looking over the condition of |
affairs concerning the liquor traffic in |
the city today one can see more force I
than ever in the epigram that its an i'll !
wind that blows nobody good" for while 1
the former .'jointistsf are wailing and \
gnashing their teeth and the thirsty pub /
lie is growing at Inconvenience. the /
druggists. engaged in the extensive sale /
Of liquor. are wearing the smiles of pros |
Derity as are the small boys who realize |
on the dead soldiers