Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 4, Number 44, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 2 May 1874 — Page 4

THE! MAIL

A PAPER FOR THE PEOPLE.

P. S. WESTFALL, KU1TOB. AJiD FROPKlKTUlV

TKRRE HAUTK, MAT St, 1874.

TWO EDITIONS

Of IhU Paper *r» published. Tba KIW5T* «t«TIO»r*©»ifti*ayE*i®ln*, hM a lans* rtnsotatton tn the Wnrotmdin* towns, wluw It I* Hold by newsboy* wad #er-'-v The J- MsND BDmojf.on Saturday Evening, goes Into the hand* of urnrlv tv«-ry reading perron in the eily, and the formof this immediate vicinity. £ve«y Week** Ijwutii i% In flwt,

TPfo »fc*raap&Fiaw.

In which all A«1vertt» appear for ONE CHARGE.

JIANKEliJSU FOB OFFICE. Ihare J* nothing diahooorablo, in itseisin a desire, eyon a very strong desire, fbr political office. There are many public position*, *b» duties of whidb are in accord with tastes that are perfectly proper. And is pleasant for, a man to know that people have confidence in him sufficient to entrust him with the nwponsibiiltteft ofpobtteofflee.and tbore is nothing wrong %i following these taste® or in seeking this pleasure. If a iwan desires position on the police force, a seal ill the e*ty QOtmcil, thft Mayor's cliair, or any of the higher offices In state or national government, there Is no reason why he should be ashamed of such a desire so far aft it alone is concerned.

But, tiowever pjoper in itself such a desire may be, it is a ihet.that there is nothing which so quickly or thoroughly deranges and disorganises a man's moral nature, his real manhood, as this same desire fbr office. It Is worse for the moral nature of a man, than ever was the miasma of the Wabash, even in the fever-n'ager-est days remembered by the oldest inhabitants, for the physical nature. It affects a man very much like going west. There are any number of people who have stood well in the community, even in the church, at home, who, on going into anew country, seem have left all decency, taying notlUng of religion, behind thaux. J5o theraare any number of citizens who, as contented private members of the body politic, could be relied on perfectly. But so soon as a hankering fbr office has tak^n possession of them theyaeom to harve cut the acquaintance of their former solves. The imaginable John Smith may have held and practiced certain principles all his life. His friends and neighbors, Mid every body who has known him at ail, have known just where to find him in precept, example and vote. But somehow he beeomea possessed of the thought that it would be mighty nice to write John Smithy Mayor, or JohnSmitlj, momber of .Legislature, or to be in some way officially John Smith. If he is asked what Is his opinion on tills or that question? if pat into the City council or made mayor, or sent to titie legislature, what course will ho pursue in reference to this or that moral question he rears his head proudly, almost disdainfully, ami points to his past record. "I have fired among you ten or twenty years, more or lew, and if I have not established a character for love of law or order, then no pledges would be of any avail." That all sounds mighty fine, and puts a stopper into the mouths of ordinary mortals. But the record of John Smith as a contented private citizen with no official ax to grind, no more indicates tire future course of John Smith an ardent aspirant for office, than does an old tatftbI&-doWh finger board indicate that the next town lies in the direction of the stars whither the finger points. When a man with a strong political aspiration gtv£a that answer, it may be set down that his past course, unless it happens to be a peculiarly lad one, gives no assurance whatever as to his ftitwe ©oorwC II is not difficult to find men whose oourse as private citizens has been beyond reproach, who have been put into official position by the wraftlaments In society, and meal fUthfn&y have they served their bad constituency. It would nat be necessary to go a thousand miles away to find snch. One of the most dangers* men USfpolltk*, la tit* man with a mfli character snch that he can trust that to carry him through with the moral eto meut la society, and who seta about toadying to the other side for their votes Hankering for office does raise the dickens with a groat many daoent men.

This strong desire for official position goes farther. It makes men Immoral in their practices and sends them through vice to poverty or disgrace. Plenty of examples of both the above classes may be found In any community, and our own is no exception. There la a foarfol strain upon the moral char ter of any man who enters polities fr„™ a desire fbr office. The only man who can be thoroughly trusted, or who hi thoroughly safe in political matters, is the man who is put forward fur office by those who desire his services, and who himself cares so little about It that tie will not badge an inch from his principles for the sake «f su«*ess, and will not demean himself by borrr1-^ or fnt-'tra-Ing for votes. Andwh retro .uie of the dsngerons class among us, not all of whom are looking for otfk® next Tuesday, twit at some firtim iWHon, fli--re an also some of the latter .»w,,

honorable to tn'jjor Intrigue for ••'•!*, to hide or desert their principle* for the sake of office. We believe |t Is aalioai that a city election Is Sr** without thin cursed I for

taaklng roarfy f%f

Yaung men especially need to know tb* Amcm which here been indicated. Where is nothing dishonorable in derfrfng eiDee, hoi when ail class** are to lie bond listed b» order to weeten political I *«,#!• very !an§ *ia to let this tu»ire p* very auung i--id. Better let the pec find out that t$e office neqda u% and if they do not find it out, all the worse tor the office, hot all the better for

OR,that

la, if it must be sc*'rht in prrtar

to get it. It la about assa

A NOTE OF WARXIXa. As haa once or twice beon hiutod. or plainly declared In these columns, the finance ^aMtlon aem agjiaOjig the country Is too big fbr us. Wo do not at present sufficiently understand it la all its bearings to he willing to take sides strongly, or to advise the public decided ly concerning it. If It is made an issue In popular polities we hope to be able to grasp it sufficiently to exert our infln enee and cast our vote on tho riglit side. We 4?d glyect to the^vet^ last week on the ground that it does not seem proper to use this extraordinary power to thwart the action of Congress when that action has been taken with so much deliberation and after full discussion.

But though we have not the clear light on this great question which seems to have heen granted to editors of the country generally, we are very certain that one or two quite serious errors are creeping, or have already crept, or jumped into the method of carrying on tho controversy concerning it.

The appeal to sectional fooling is exceedingly unfortunate. There is an evident purpose to stir up animosity in one part of the country against another. Threats against tho east, and declarations as to what the South and West will do, and representatives of the East as attempting to onalave the West, are in bad taste, and of wors$ judgment. "While some of the prominent politicians of the West, such as Thurman and Sfthurs are among the most aealous advocates of the side which is most popu lar at the Bast, and white the Democratic press generally even here at the West, and many of the leading independent and Republican journals here also, are on the same side, it is hardly in harmony with truth and honesty to raise the sectional appeal to local prejudice. Especially does this seem unfair when those who happen now to be with the East in this matter are not of the class, who are in general matters in sympathy with it. All sections of the country have too many interests in common for an attempt to create jealousy in one part against ailother. All parts of the country have Inflationists, even Bfrston has Butler a leader of the Inflationists, and all parts have anti-inflationists. One part of the country may have more of the one or the other than another part. But it is not a sectional question, and appeals to sectional jealousy and animosity are, to put it in its midest forms, in bad taste.

It is also unfortunate to make It an occasion for increasing the animosity between the rich and the poor, capital and labor. This is anappealtlmt is supposed to be popular, and may help to carry one's point. At all events both sides are urging it. While at the West we are told wbattherooriey kings of New York and Boston are doing in flavor of oontraofion and oppressing Ijhe poor, the papers* of the East tell what the rich men of Chicago are doing for inflation and to depress the value of wages. NttWthe fact Is that neither party intends to oppress the poor or unduly favor the rich. The great muss yn both aides of the question intend And doalre to do that which is for the best interests of all classes in the country. Capital and labor have all their best interests in common, xnd it Is unfortunate to add to the prejuu-.j which prevents either side from seeing this. If we believed that any class of men were attempting to inin the alightest with the rights or interests of the poor man or the laborer, we should take our stand Instantly on the side of labor and poverty. Our sympathies are all there. But so long as there are heavy capitalists on fc rides of this question who, we bon**»ily believe, are aiming at the good of all classes, we must protest that it Is unMr for either party to take advantage of an existing prejudice, as both are doing, and n"empt to pemir"!'- the people th*t thoae who dlflfer fir ?u them are oppr» sot*, and intend to taker away their rights. Let the question be discussed on its merits, these appeals to pngwifc* •|^^^i^sas5Ha

Or all the evlogtes pronounced tipon Senator Sumner in the House of Representative* last Monday, the most eloquent, and that which attracted the roost atiirnti-n,aa1 rod .d theprofiundeat Imj «4»n, vr** delivered by Latnarofj Mit^ppi, who left OdHfreu In lWl to Join the Qoal r«t» army, and who haa been regarded 'fiif "f foramait ao^

Pt at -of r-tea, tt-kmfi.i- !!.•»•••!*»• "Mb £ii•i-ulogy,an appc'

("T

a ft ur!f

,,f

JIK-H -.*

yi hru« K-m

ft!! ft. -31

haw been brtmsht forwarrt a* ai !idat***. as during the puaiiwt llga. But there are future ekse-j attempted in America.

ti. re Is at I

lasVIt about time for Summer to send hack for its summer clothing? .s

JMrmamm SAvm la la Europe, where they an introdadng Pullman sleeping

A niarAWH states that the tnteraaJIbnaliats have resolved to disband their association

J»

any

_»y

to settle down in the eouvietion that we are not fitted for public position, or, if that be too "hnmhle pi#" In «oit the *ppetite, we can concl"''"! that our m^ts are of too high an 01 tobe reeogi and appreciated by the people generally. Any view that will produoe contentment as a private in the civil ranks, ^a belter than a restless hankering for office.

The Saturday Ilaview says that the relation of a journal to Its readers should be that of a judge employed to report upon the merits Of a dispute for the In formation of a superior authority#

Nincryear the town of Concord, Mass. will celebrate In grand style the 10th anniversary of the revolutionary battle at that place. A sham battle will be fought and many notable parsons will be present.

IT would appear, from a review of the receipts of Ford's new theatre In Washington during the ttrnt year, that the most paying performance was that of the Strakosch opera, which realized $3,300 in two nights next comes Sal villi, *2,200 for two night*. Of the weekly engagements, Jefferson stands at the head, $0,000 Owens fumes next, 95.800 then Clara Morris, $8,000, Lydla Thompson $5,200, and Lotta, £5,100. The smallest receipts were from Stoddart, ?l,000. Of the two weeks' engagements, Sothern stands at the head, with $10,000 Janau—hck next, with $8,000, and Mrs. Oates, 7,000.

PEDDLING PARDONS. It is about time for the Government to cwje thfaiusliMWBaf peddling out pardons singly. Hie war closed nlno years ago. Tho wounds we heaiing over, and the old sores are almost forgotten. Let a comprehensive, general amnesty law be passed, a genuine, ungrudged pardon for everybody. Third Is not tho slightest wish anywhere that we know of to punish the men who took part In the rebellion. It would be more dignified for the Government to at once rehabilitate all rebels with the fall rights of eitisens than to go on, as we ar« now doing, taking them In hand, one at a time, occasionally refusing a petiton as It did hurt week tn the case of Raphael Sem fhes. He is as much entitled to the removal of his diaabiliUoa as any of the thousands who have already been forgiven their sins. It is true that he plundered and "•mk ir ^lilps but he lit variably treat1 with h«w«nity. When his st

fWhrntl fee I in* bftwafu

Ifortli and She flousli vlneh drew to nmnf fveji, ^rhi» iM'Mie elfth#}

TERRE HAUTE SATURDAY EYlfiNING MAIL

EKIHTT-TWO cittp of Germany now Cremation Bo&eiim.

evidence of the prosperity of

Kew England it is reported that all the mills in that section are running to their fullest capacity.

THE tented show son promises to be lively this summer. We see it stated that twenty-eeven circuses have taken the road this season.

DAY by day, sayB the Chicago Tribune the evidence accumulates that the Cen tennial enterprise, whatever It may have been originally, haa now beoome a job

sssss:ssl!sssggsss''*'^''"7''

TASKKmsm^y mil to the Pacific have the changes rung qnite rapidly. They breakftist in the Sierras with twenty feet of snow around them four hoars later they find wheat lour Inches high, and the next day see pear and peach trees in fUll bloaspui.

LAST,

it seems as if the only and

original Bonder was caught. Ho was arrested at Salt Lake and hai been brought to Topeka, Kansas, where he has been viewed by huudreds of curious people. There is no doabt that he is the true Bender. He is held at Topeka tin til persons from tne scene of the bntdh erics can come and recognize liim Nothing is known of the rest of the family. ^sa^^=s==s^

THE Iowa Grand Lodge of Masons hn^ taken action relative to saloou-koeping Masons, ruling that the practice is "at variance with tiie Icry elementary prin oiples on which tho whole fabric of the Masonic. institution is based.". The Grand Lodge, however, did not take any action against the Masons who patronize tho saloons, which would seem to boar some relation to the other-matter.

have wrestled with the words cremation," "incremation,". and

Min-

dnefatlon," until we arc sick and tired of them and now the New York Times thrusts upon the suffering people Sir Thomas Browne's Greek word for urn burial: "Hydriotaphia," which must be submitted to by the reading public for the next two months. "Cheese it," say we, on this crcam-ation business.

THE Constitutional Convention of Michigan has decided to snbmit the question of woman suffrage to a vote of the people. The suffragists are preparing for a vigorous campaign, and D. N. Foster, who was active in this movement here, and now Is editor of the Saturday Evening Post, at Grand Rapids, is ovi dently in bis element. He just sails in with broadside after broadside, and, if the women of Michigan do not have the privilege of voting hereafter, no ghost of a lost cause can shake its gory locks at him and say, "Thou didet it." Tie evidently intends to win, or die with his face to tho foe. Michigan is a good state in which to try tho experiment of woman suffrage.

a dhewi n! vithit hedid his

almost to make the 'ifoderate States Independent m-

rm.l wh»a U"*

an*

L'.'

Avfht'l'. wfc-'m it Ik»- iT^"iit-

WOMENW WORK AND WAQtB. It la reported upon wpnptngiy good authority, that certain government oflMal In this city raiaed the wages of all his male darks from tap to fifteen dollars per month, and by some strange left the wages of a female who doe* aa eqoal amount ot week, at the old figures. If this la not true we will cheerftiliy correct it, and pot* stop to a rumor that ia calculated to injure fklthftil official. But aside from getting this statement in apaeUton in which it could be oorreoted, we desire to say, that one of the principles which ia coming to be generally accepted ia, that a woman doing the sem* week as a man, and dolus It equally well, must re ceive the same wages. It is strange that the reverse of this principle has been so long tolerated, and that it is still tolerated to great an extent. If a set of books is well kept, or a school well taught, or the duties of eierk la More or office well performed, why should any one go hack of that slmplo ittct to inquire whether It was a man or a woman who did it, before deciding the price to be paid for value received? Do people expect to buy vegetables in the market any cheaper of a woman than of a man Would they expect to do so if It was known that the woman raised them heiself Men have the good sense to pay for vegetablo3,for chickens, for eggs, for butter, and the like, what they are worth, and no questions asked as to whether It waa a man or a woman who cultivated the garden, raised the chickens, kept the hens, owned and milked the cows and made the butter. Hie day will come, Is ootning before a very great while, when tho same good sense will prevail in reference to the labor of women In all other departments which they may choose to enter.

TUB Baltimore Bulletin, speaking of the action of Congress and tho President on the financial question says very sen sibly that there will no longer remain any excuse for people not attending to their business. Those who had a blind unreasoning fhitli that somehow a lot of the immense sum that was to be issued would fall into their hands, can now go to work and those whose prudence mttde them hold aloof from enterprises which the concemplated expansion might affect can now resume tho wonted tenor of their way. Of the former, there were about ten to one of the latter, and what with their vacillation, their timidl ty and the character of the season combined, it has been a very unprosperous and depressing spring.

IN the May $cribner Dr. Holland discusses tho lecture system and concludes that it needs reformation. He says: 'The lecture-room must cease to be the show-room of fresh notorieties at high prices. Men must be called to lecture who have something to say, and the punishing by interested bureaus of untried men must be ignored or resisted These bureaus always were in impertinence and they have now become a nuisance."

SLAVES OF DRUGS.

WOMEN'S ABNORMAL APPETITES AND RECKLESS RISKS.

POISONOUS DRUGS AND DEADLY FOTIOXB AS FJIMITFLNE FOOD.

Half tho world, says a writer In the New York Mercury, is said to be the slave of some appetite, but of all appetites existing, perhaps that for such deadly poisons as opium and arsenic may bo considered the most extraordinary—for those who onoe aoquire a longing for these poisons rarely get rid of it except in the grave. It masters them completely, and they become Its abject serfe, enduring almost the agonies of death if deprived of their daily dose" of the excitant.

One evening lately a Mercury reporter saw a woman steal into a drug store in Cherry street, New York. She was poor—In health, in dross, and probably in morals. Drawing a vial from her pocket, die handed it to the clerk. The reporter, whose curiosity had prompted him to follow her, notiood that no wotda passed between the clerk and the customer. Hie former seemed to know without tolling what the woman wanted. He at once filled her vial with laudanum, handed it "back to her, threw the ten cents whloh she laid down into tba mon-ey-drawer, and watched her out of tho store, t-v

How did you know what she wanted asked the reporter. Well, I saw the label on her bottta for one thing,' was the repljr, 'and I knew what she wanted, too, because she oomea for It regularly.*

What does she do with it?' She drinks It I* The reporter looked surprised, and the good-natured and communicative clerk needed no urging to give the particulars.

That woman would die, I suppose,' he said, *if ker laudanum was shut off. She has got such a confirmed habit of drinking It thai shawotM* have to taper off very gradually. Did you notice how she waa trembling when she came in Very llkelv It yas a little past the time for her regular dose, and her nerves were flying about all aorta. By th's time, though, she has swallowed half of what she got, and foels all right. She lives a few doors from here, and 1 know !w h*Wt well. It commenced a year or

She had a bad toothache, and

tcv nomo laudanum to ease the pain,

»,1 ,,, t• Bitm 1,, ng It up for a week or two. Then

i.- .i.sanna ,wouldn't ep vny

if b, awd i—» Isw abi-. t«rthout it, "t• th»' fTtm iarn* W© «MUI«4mm ht Ra»} firmed. As h-T-w. ni I-. am., a.-, n*. phaeisetnmealsnot o!? ninth entitled to "»»d. to tlw^ff slM td to take huy !a foil par ^ih-Uw-tn-u ..f

ii.41 ii.s- b-S-U,. 1-" V} 1 It*

ai* who tf i' •»**«!its lit.'. It tltonld Wia^MfridiciilQW

-1 tatting a few aflta km* it. 1 tuwettitlw mm

WHI

eff#"t, alrtri f«it •.

'•he c'l.n'i C*"t I'

.tnp'.-fiiy 1,1 i. •".

laeatlttlwmrdM wreAwoai Awnw. "And do you have maay such eostomere as that aajtad tho reporter.

W replied the clerk "and

woae have are very regular. Sometlmea the poorer onsa Car five, or even throe cents' worth, especially when thoy ha»e just begun tho habit As they eo on, however, thsy roust have more than that. They are most always women—I don't think I know of a who drinks laudanum, although I suppoae there are some. Of courve this is only a branch of opium-oaUng, laudanum being Bimply a tincture of opium, varying in strength aa the druggist's fkneyaxreeia. Rich folks with tbfasort of an appetite generally take tho opium itself, «*ttng from a quarter to aha! fa grain at first, and increasing the dose as the aopetite gets UsL hold on them. Paregoric la laudanum reduced and sweetened—a kind of a baby preparation—and la entirely too wan: to suit a confirmed opium-eater. Men don't so often take to laudanum, I suppose, because they are better able to buy the opium itself."

At this point a woman came in and asked for three cents* worth of snuff. She waa aa ragged as bar laudanum* drinking predecessor, but not so forlorn or so broken down. She looked men lilui a healthy, bat sensuous and ai

erge of Killing

She got the snuff in a lMtle paper, and wont oat. I thought that suuff waa a specialty of tho tobacco-stores," said the reporter.

O, well," replied the clerk, "they call tbr it, and so wo keep it fbr them, I

dipping—smear their gums and mouths with it. It is about as hard a habit to get rid of, so they say, aa laudanum arinklng. Women who get confirmed in it—and they are mighty plenty, I can tell you, down In this ward—never leave it off. Without their 'dip' once or twice a day, they are as nervous and miserable as an old toper without his rum. The way they do it is this: They take a bit of stick and sort of splinter the end of it, so as to make a swab. The dainty snuff-dippers, the fashionable ones-^-for the hauit Isn't confined to poor and debauched women—use a camel's hair-brush, but our customers can't afford that extravagance. Then they dip the swab In tho snuff, and rub it over their teeth and gnms. Others hold a Kood-siaed pinch under their tongues. You can see them at it, sometimes, half a dozen together—having a kind of snuff-

3iree,

I suppose—sitting around on tho bor and all dipping out of a saucer that' is placed in the centre. It Isn't exactly tho taste of the snuff that they like, so they tell me, but tho effect. It is a good deal similar to intoxication. At first the snuff sickens them, but tbev get used to it, just as a man gets over his first cigar and then the appetite geta so craving for it that they keep on. It is exclusively a woman's vice, I believe. I never heard, at least, of a man dipping snuff

POPULAR POISONS.

"To go back to laudanum." said the reporter, "Isn't there-a law against selling it without a prescription?"

Yes, I believe laudanum is down on the list of prescribed drugs, but nobody pays any attention to that. We always sell it to everybody that asks for it, and so do all druggists. It is used so much as a family medicine, and people know its nature so well, that there isnt much use in making any fuss about selling it. If the law was to bo enforced we Would weaken it a little more, and sell it as paregoric. The fact is, if a person wants to commit suicide, there is every chance fbr him to do it easily enough. Most all druggists will sell you arsenic if you tell them you want it to poison rots with. They may gO through the formality of taking your name, but what does that amount to? Besides, they can get Paris green at any paint-store, and a teaspoonAil of that, dissolved in water, wul do the business as effectually as any other form of arsenic. The ease of getting Paris green is why it is used so much bv suicides. Laudanum comes next. 1 suppose, if people knew about It and could get it, that prussic acid would be the universal poison. A doso of it, you know, kills instantly, and without pain enough to distort tho features. Even a 1500d hearty smell of it wonld be enough i* finish you. But, you see, no druggist will sell it except on a known physician's order, becauso it is so seldom used in medicine. It is too deadly a poison to fool with. We kee» it put away, and nobody cares to handle it. If you should drop a bottle and spill the acid, and it were of officinal strength, very likely the fumes would still you before you could get away. The men who make it wear tight glass masks, and the air for them to breathe la pumped through a tube, as they do to the divers. They wear gloves, too, for If tho acid should get into a scratch or cut, it would prove fetal. Now, arsenical preparations canse a most painful death, and prussic acid would take their place entirely if it could be got as handS'."

WOMEN A3 TATBONS OF DBUO STORKS. From thence the reporter went to a larger and more fkshionable drug store in Upper Broadway, and talked with an intelligent clerk.

Certainly," said he, in answer to in-

auiries.

"next to physicians' preserip-

ona, tne ladies are our mainstay. You have no Idea of the quantity of toilet preparations sold to them. The amount of aoe powder used is positively enormous. Nearly all women use It more or leas, make no secret of it* and buy It openly. It Is mostly made of starch, and It coats next to nothing to make it. It la abont the moat harmless of beaut!fiere, however, that the women use. The lotions ana washes for the complexion are generally made of bismuth, and ether deletralous materials, and^next to powder, have the largest sale among women. A good many use liquid rouge, both for their lipa and cheeks. Pink saucers are covered with rouge and dried, and the color la wet up for use with a camel's hair brush. They are not sold so much aa the liquid. Then, too, we sell cakes of India ink. for penciling eyebrows and coloring eyeuuthea. Some use black "eosn.etic, a formation made for this purpose, and we put It up In sticks. It fa made of grease and lamp-

black, perfbmed, and costs about a cent a stick—sells for twenty-five or fifty cents. Of course, we aelf a good deal of hair-dyea and hair restorers we don't make ouiaelw but hair ila and pomades are generally put np the druggist who sett* them. I*rd t# almost always the principal Ingredient. A fiftyeet»t bottle of hair oil will cost the dragriUt stboutfnc tmh, incitMiug the vial.

Vomen ba* gr penchant for fhncy toilet nap, 1 th- mltation and genuhi" imported tig high prior*. Home iiratiff* Hrfn?r *.•• .'nfr-rTve cent*, yr even «ic i• four-. nr,v Aathe iv -.it. sc.a11 -m i-f.!y i!.

fit).I L-jr.-tit. Thcv of frff,.,v,n vf •, ti»4 4 fn»u _v prii'*, l-f lit. II*" |«'. to tcr. ali-"h!. :sn«i

ii "H to !uv It vf ft an il ttis-l 1.

i-'Vi',"/!h«-

-i.i- r^ 2:^S:'r 1

irn tt

.' hr ..

her when That honestly made, and or (he nnessm

ini-

iUO iiixture

.1 i~ Illlll

ob«t move thai from

articles, but those preparedly draggiaUi consist of powdered charcoal andorris root and their oo^te insignificant." 80XB MORE HARMFUL TBIXaS. "All these things," said the reporter, "are harmless. Are there no drugs used by women aa beau tillers that we dangerous "Yea,",replied the clerk "many »f them do not hesitate to tamper with the most deadly drugs. Fbr instance, the use of araento to beautify the complexion la oftener resorted to than most people probably believe. Why, I can pick oot woman every time I walk Broadway that aw foolhardy enough to endanger their Uvea in this wsy. There Is a peculiarity in their unnaturally clear, transparent complexion that a man fkuiiliar with the effects of the drug can never nUstake. The arsenic-oater carries the advertisement of her recklessness in her ®W!e Th® practice must be commenced cautiously and in very small dosee. I have reason to know that some ladils eat arsenic under ths careful advice of physicians, who re uate doses, and guard, as fhraspo* le ^Jnst total rfesulta. Or oonrse every doctor know* that a woman who begins the practice will finally die of ft- thai, having once attained the desired daamessofskiii, aha cannot relinquish the use of the drug and that ths accumulation of arsenic in lier system will finally kill her. But when physicians can be found to undertake more criminal and dangerous malpractice, it is not surprising mat some of them will accept largo fees for supervising arsenic-eating. I don't say that this is at all general, or that reputable physicians would countenance such a thing, but I know that it la true in a good tnanv Instances. One ease is that of a noted woman, whoso personal beauty is the eause of her largo income, and with whom its enhancement is a matter of business. She is folly aware oft ho danger, and fees a competent physician In the manner I have described. Another dangerous practice resorted to by some Aishionable women—and especially by the class to which this arseniu-eating otio belongs—is that of putting belladonna in their eyes. Belladonna is what people used to call 'deadly nightshade,' and is very poisonous. Its effect upon the cyo is to dilate the pupil to an unnatural size, and to eause unusual brilliancy. It really does make beaut fa 1 eyes, while the effect lasts but it is a dangerous means of securing beauty, for it eventaally injures the sight. In using belladonna a very small, diluted quantity is dropped in tho corner of the eyes. Although a poison, most druggists sell it without a question or requiring a prescription. Another practice—not dangerous to life, but liable to destroy tho hair —Is that of bleaching red or brown locks to blonde ones. Weak adds are used generally. A safer, but not so certain a way, is to use a solution of ordinary washing soda."

THE

PBorrre

OK DRUGS. 52

From tho two clerks with whom ho had talked, the reporter had gained aomethbigof a confirmation of the'popular notion as to the enormous profits on retailed drugs. Subsequent investigation revealed some of tho particulars, and a few examples may be taken as fair illustrations. Seidlitz powders cost about ten cents a pound, and at retail bring anywhere from two to five dollars, as sold in papers. Eight morphine powders would require about a grain, and would cost about one cent, while the charge would be from tliirtv cents to a dollar. A dozen soda and rhubarb pills —a very common order—would cost the buyer about the same, and would cost druggist half a cent and five minutes' labor. And so on through the whole list. A thousand per cent- may seem like a reckless estimate, but from one thousand to two thousand per cent, may bo set down as the expected profit on drugs sold at retail. There Is no standard of prices, and location and class of custom of a store regulating them. The appearance of the customer, too, has much to do with it sometimes, the charge being adjusted according to the clothing of the wearer. If a man drops into a large Broadway store, and asks for two or three ounces of powdered borax, with Which to kill croton bugs, he will probably pay 25c for it. The wholesale price of borax is 25c a pound. Hie profits on physicians prescriptions are even greater, the actual cost of the drugs put into them being usually insignificant. Druggists often pay physidans 25 or 30 per cent, on the prescriptions sent to tbem, and snch an arrangement Is not considered unprofessional. Besides this, doctors have tho perquisites of free perfumery, combs, brushes and often of very expensive toilet articles, dressing-cases, eto. Especially is the profit fabulous on prescriptions into whlcli a great number of Ingredients enter. In such cases a dollar, or a dollar and a half, is not unfrequently charged for a concoction the cost of which does not exceed ten cents. As to the adulteration of drugs, no very reliable information can be obtained. The operations in that line are mostly by tho wholesale dealers. Reputable retailers do not find it to their interest to sell any but pure drugs, aa physicians are usually very particular about tho proper compounding of their prescripiLions but less conscientious dealers frequently reduce the strength of tinctures mr below the official standard, and do not hesitate to substitute inert substances for ingredients which they do not happen to have. The adulteration ot some drugs has been oarried so far as to demand special legislat ion, but the practice is perhaps as great a fraud on retailers as upon buyers.

THK homoeopathic physicians of Chicago have been discussing tho liquor question in a quiet way. While some of them held to their fundamental doctrine of small doses of whisky, or any other poison, Dr. Klein made some startling statements, and this Is one of them:

When alcohol, under the name of brandy, gin, or other strong drink, is introduced into the stomach, that organ becomes congested. Irritated, swollen, and red, ana If this action is repeated daily, It soon becomes diseased with regular inflammation, and a little Utter with a general ulceration of the mucous membrane, This Is an anatomical foct. At this stage of the disease clear symptom* begin to show themselves of a more •erioua diameter, for tin- niach Is no loiiirer able to perform digt^aon rightly, and note that snch a result tnaybe attained without the i©.i .Itial ing oncc l«^n antnk. A 8E_uil ^uan' of aleoiiol ill no! reach the brain and disturb .i :t th-- -t.vnnrfti crmnot escape the d- .o.i.ia.-t -I .t» ••. and so St hapjx-ns tliUt IIK.II.V 1 ••'•:tij»Ulnof or Jivt. cLi*" &n<l if ni it drink tile of their iii.ii.cN in

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