The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-07-23
CABELL ON WAR PATH.
Internal Revenue Commissioner AZ
ter Patent Medicines.


the opening of an exposition. About
this time every year. after season
spent In target practice with his Of
hcial batteries upon the wary moon
sinner of the mountain glen. he takes
down his old 10-guage scatter-gun,
Grams II to the muzzle with agents
reports and chemical analyses, shuts
his eyes, pulls the triggers and turns
| loose a broadside upon the makers of
| too-alcoholic medicines masquerading
under the guise Of tonics that rever-
| berates from Coney Island to Coron-
| ado and brings down a score or more
| of offenders. usually accompanied
: with sharp cries from the killed and
wounded. This morning he turned
| loose his goose-gun and bagged fifty
| odd--not a bad half-day's work for
the middle of the dog days. Hence
the broad smile.
In the report put out today Com
missioner Cabell publishes a list Of
| about two hundred different bitters
and patent medicines in which the
proportion of alcohol to that of medi-
cinal drugs Is entirely too large
| medicines. This proportion is not an
unvarying quantity. but depends en-
sirely upon the particular drug used
| with the alcohol. The commissioner
takes pains to lay down no particular
standard of proportion as this, he
| thinks. would offer a premium on the
patent medicine man camping Just
| outside the reservation, as 1t We're
and doing business with a near-booze
that. for practical purposes. would
answer every demand Of the inebri-
ate.
To this list more than fifty have
been added since the last volley he
fired into the patent medicine makers
In June, 1909, and in these the title
"bitters" occurs so frequently that 1t
| appears like a family name. The
manufacturers of these patent ton
| les" and Alternatives" are given un-
til August 1 in which to put in more
| Alternative and less alcohol, otherwise.
after that date, they will be classed
as alcoholic liquors and no druggist
may sell them without paying an al
cohol license of $25 per year.
1t is to be remarked that Of this
batch of fifty odd new methods of
| getting drunk by prescription a large
! number are manufactured in the pro-
htbition States: Maine Iowa, Kansas
and Kentucky are all fertile soils for
the tonic man. Now "bitters" spring
up overnight like moving picture
shows In these prohibition parts. The
! internal revenue office is addressing
itself particularly to stamping out the
growing evil in these districts.
Some time ago a genius invented
some sort of seductive and soothing
tonic for tired mortals who Stunned
the bow, but longed for something
for that tired feeling. He christened
1t Ferro-China Something or Other"
and wigwagged the tired mortal to
come and partake. He did so with
virtuous enthusiasm that made the
Ferro-China man a millionaire in less
than a year.
/
Then others got into the Ferro-
| China game-fifteen of them-with
'Ferro-Chin That" and all was we'll
until the internal revenue office
took a hand itself and found that
"Ferro-China" was nothing but a sort
Of stage name for the old-fashioned
gin cocktail. Commissioners Cabell
has fifteen "Ferro- Chinas" on his list,
and the tired mortal will, after Au-
gust l, have to buy it as an alcoholic
beverage.
| Beef wine and iron" that long
time standby for the jaded female.
must sit up straight and conform to
the formula in the United States Med
| lcaI DlSpensary, otherwise il will be
sold as straight goods" OF late many
| OF the beef, wine and iron prepara-
tons are nothing but cheap sherry
with not enough iron 10 make a car
pet tack or enough beef to make n
Hamburger steak i'm a hogshead of
| IL.
strange to say, Arkansas, that hav-
on OF the moonshincr, has a growing
| lot Of manufacturers of "tonics" that
! cheer and inebriate. IT Is a paradise
| for the thirsty man, that country.
with its mountain stills. it's flourish
ing medicine" manufactures ana It's
/ low freight rates from Kentucky on
/ barrel goods.
Nerve Tonics," once so beguiling