The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-08

mine output, and they have heavy con tracts with foreign countries, and while the price would seem prOhlbltlVe yet, when it comes to securing supplies we are not questioning the prices much as we are begging for more goods with which to supply the trade. We are told that bromides of all kinds are bringing 50 per cent more in foreign countries than we are being asked to pay in this coun try and the writer is inclined to believe the statement, for the reason that we have been offered heavy profits by brok- on this commodity
 Castor oil, the small boys favorite. would have been the last article to ex- pect to rise to prohibitive price We were of the opinion that the middle west was supplying a greater part of the castor oil seed. from which the castor oil is produced but it develops that 90 per cent or more of our castor seed comes from India, and it is next to impossible to get shipments of this commodity. We are not only paying three times as much for castor oil as we were six months ago, but where were buying in car loads we are only able to secure 100 or 200 gallons at shipment, and begging for that in this connection, we might say that New York brokers are offering us a handsome profit on the castor oil we are buying today. In other words, it is clearly shown that again the manufact- urers are trying to take care of the home market first.
 ''The phenol group, or that group of articles that gather around carbolic acid for a base, have in some instances been reduced, but are yet many times higher than the normal figure heretofore thought of.
 ''Phenolphthalein. acetphenetidin, phe- nacetln. antipyrine are almost off the market. Manufacturers are supplying these commodities in half-ounces and ounces only, and at prices unthought of and we are begging for the goods even at the high prices
 EVEN COD LIVER OIL
 Norwegian cod liver osi, a good quali- ty is practically unobtainable and when we can buy small supplies the price is so high that it looks like the people would not be able to pay the price
 The principal part of our opium supplies coming from Turkey and from which are made morphine, codeine and number of other articles, is also be coming high, scarce and hard to get
 "A great percentage of our crude drugs are imported and in many in- stances from the belligerent countries and the writer does not look for re- lief from the high prices of great majority of these articles until some time after hostilities have ceased However, our American manufacturers are thoroughly awake and on the other hand are producing a number of ar ticles which were heretofore never manufactured in this country.
 SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS
 Tine surgical instrument business as we'll as the drug business has been greatly demoralized. but out of the war is coming some real benefits to the surgical trade. A great number of surgical instruments that were former iy made abroad are now being made here at manufacturing cost that will never allow them to be imported aga1n. But the number of items are so large that it makes it appear that these in- strument manufacturers are very slow in getting out complete list of these articles, but the writer is of the opin- ion that by the end of this year a large list of articles will be produced in this country. The lack of being able to import has brought us a great many important American inventions, among them a resuscitating device that is an now we are exporting the American made instruments to the foreign coun- tries.
 "A tariff commission for the purpose of making recommendations to Con- gress would serve to stimulate Amer ican manufacturers to look into the feasibility of further manufacturing in this country. We note by the Trade Review that 15O.000 doses of salvarsan, e s," 's tf be d,st'ih'Itad hy the American Red Cross and APO tons of rino eolors for the -ited States bureau of engraving and printing which will serve to somewhat relieve the dye situation. There Is still an- other long list of drugs and chemicals t,cnt we a-e unable tr. "hta'n al any price and in great many instances the retail druggists have on their shelves the only available stocks. These stocks are being well conserved and so far as we are able to judge, thus far there has been no suffering from the result of inability to obtain supplies
 "The retail druggist has had to un- dergo many trials for the past year and will not be free from them the coming year."