The Newark journal., 1917-05-10
His Medicine

When Jenks got his new set of en- cyclopedias he was missed from the corner drug store for three nights, but on the fourth night he showed up, bought his accustomed cigar and took his usual seat on one of the round stools at the end of the soda fountain. It was noted that he was unusually silent and solemn and did not join at first in the discussion of the ordinary topics that were broached by the other members of the "club" touching upon current events, but when the subject of Ele war came up and some mention was made of the asphyxiating gas and l the curtains of fire, Jenks frightened up and threw in the remark, rather cas- ually:
 "There's nothing new about the use of liquid fire in the war. Greek fire was in use by the Greeks of Constan- tinople throughout the middle ages. The Assyrian bas-reliefs also show that it was used long before the Christian era. It was said to be composed of quick sulphur, dregs of wine, Persian gum, baked salt, pitch petroleum and other known combustlbles-"
 The "bunehe eyed Jenks curiously, but refrained from comment He had evidently opened up jackpot and found them with nothing to draw to. Somebody switched the talk to brands of cigars and then to pipe smoking.
 Give me a good old briar pipe" said Jones.
 But you can't get them any more," put in Jenks. "There isn't one genu- inc briar root pipe in ten thousand nowadays The pipe generally known ns the briar root pipe is really made from the roots of the tree heath-the Erica arborea is the technical name for it. It is obtained on the hills of the Maremma and they ship it to Leg horn to be manufactured, and want to tell you boys that it is some proc ess even to prepare those roots for the pipe cutters. They soak them in vat for twelve hours-that's what gives them that yellowish brown color that We all appreciate so much in good briar pipe"
 Sounds like a pipe to me- muttered the doctor who officed upstairs, but the rest of the crowd lapsed into silence for q few moments and then began to talk about the new city charter. Jenks continued every night to spring new morsels of abstruse information on them, until finally, one night, after he had gone home, they met In executive session and took up Jenks' case.
 "Where in the world is that guy dig ging up that high-browed stuff any way?" growled Smith.
 Don't you know?" said the drug clerk, Ines just got set of encyclo- pedas, some down and the bal ance later on, and he dopes up on it every night"
 "Oh, that's it, is it?" said the doctor. "Wel, that reminds me. I've got an old book upstairs that I was looking over the other night. It is called Facts, Fables and Fancies,' a compilation of things not usually to be found in the encyclopedias. Let's give Jenks dose of his own medicine"
 So, for couple of nights longer they continued to listen to Jenks' learned dIscourses, while they passed the book around and loaded for him. Then one night, when they had got to talking politics and somebody said something about Tammany Hall, the doctor, fixing his eye carelessly upon Jenks, inter- jeeted the remark:
 "The Tammany tiger never changes it's spots. It is up to the same tricks now that it was in the days of the Lo- eofocos."
 Yes" said Jones, the Locofocos were the first fellows that let in the light on that Tammany bunch. But New York was always q bear pit for politics. You remember the Goodies in Dewitt Cliaton's ttme-they came near splitting up the old FederalIst party"
 Goodies? Locofocos? Where do you get that kind of talk?" asked Jenks, a little uneasy, apparently, aft CT the words had been bandied back and forth.
 "What? Never heard of the Good ies? Or the Locofocos? Surprised at you, Jenks-a man of your reading The Goodies was the name of a po- liticaI sect that originated in New York about the year 1s14. They got their name from series of well-writ-