Harry Skillman has left the BULMr. Skillman's letin of PharmACY. No longer Retirement. he bears the brunt of the battle, fighting the BULLETIN'S cause in the marts of the world. He has retired. And the severing of old ties always brings about a distressing sense of loss. Voids are left. Something goes out of life. And while we miss his cheery voice and manner, we don't blame him a particle. For Mr. Skillman, without ostentation or blare of trumpets, has run a boundary-line around a nice little competency. So why shouldn't he retire? And what more in keeping with good common sense than that he should retire while, though a little past the middle line, he is still able to enjoy the world and all its blessings? Men sometimes wait before taking this step until they are old in body and spirit, only to find that they have lost the art of living and that the hours drag wearily. From coast to coast Harry Skillman has friends who will commend the wisdom of the move he has made, and those who know him best are fully aware that there won't be a dull moment from breakfast to curfew. Mr. Skillman began his business career as a boy with Lloyd Brothers of Cincinnati, Ohio. Later he went with the Wm. S. Merrell Company, and with this company he worked up to the point that he made the large cities of the eastern half of the country, calling on the jobbing trade. Among his duties during the past twenty-eight years has been the business management of the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY and the Therapeutic Gazette, the latter a medical journal. It has been said, and probably is true, that there isn't a man in the big city of Detroit better known than Harry Skillman is. Here, for instance, is a list of his principal clubs: The Country Club, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Pine Lake Country Club. He is also a member of the New York Drug and Chemical Club. He is a Mason, too, having taken it all, from Blue Lodge to Consistory. For more than twenty-five years Mr. Skillman has attended the annual conventions of the N. W. D. A., not missing a single one of them. He is widely known to the wholesale and manufacturing drug trade. There'll be a trip to Europe in the spring, doubtless, although he was there two years ago. Meanwhile the Marmon will take him where he cares to go. The alarm clock on the window-sill has lost its voice. It is wise to retire while the flame still burns high-if you can. Yet, as we said in the beginning, the severing of old ties always brings about a sense of loss. Voids are left. For those who remain something has gone out of life. Settled. Readers with good memories perhaps will recall that back in 1922 Dr. Samuel Lambert of New York brought action to test in court the right of the government to restrict the amount of liquor a physician may prescribe for a patient. Since the promulgation of the regulations for the enforcement of the Volstead act this has always been an irritating point with the medical profession, and Dr. Lambert, acting in conjunction with other New York physicians, volunteered to take the initiative and fight a case through to the end. Not long ago the matter reached the Supreme Court of the United States, and by a five to four decision it was held that the government throughout has kept well within the law. In other words, it was the opinion of five justices that in limiting the amount to a pint the prohibition officials did not exceed the authority vested in them, while four justices held that such authority had been exceeded. Perhaps this is about the way the country as a whole breaks on the prohibition question. At any rate, the final word has been said. It takes an act of congress or a modifying order on the part of the treasury department to change the situation. State laws can be passed-some States have them now-which restrict the amount to a quantity less than a pint, but one lone pint per patient per 10-day period is the top limit. Here are the States in which State laws permit NOTICE This is to certify that Mr. A. L. Buzzell has purchased and will continue publication of the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY. All outstanding subscription accounts are payable to Mr. Buzzell. THE SWIFT PUBLISHING COMPANY. the prescribing of a pint: Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, South Dakota, Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, Montana, California, and Wyoming. In Michigan and Ohio the amount has been set at eight ounces, and in Colorado at four ounces. In these States physicians cannot prescribe liquor at all: Maine, Delaware, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. North Dakota's State law permits physicians to keep a quantity in their offices for emergency purposes. In Hawaii a physician may prescribe a pint. remain unchanged, that his work is to be congenial, and that his interests have been materially advanced. Mr. Chase's chief characteristic is absolute reliability. Though the heavens fall, he cannot be moved from what he holds to be right. This is a rare trait and a most commendable one. He is a clear, honest thinker and a steady puller. BULLETIN readers are not to lose Mr. Chase entirely. He has agreed to contribute an article occasionally, as he finds time to prepare it. We hope to be able to get one from him for the February Keep an Eye Last month in the editorial pages we speculated a little as to what city would get the all-pharmacy headquarters building and we concluded that it was too early in the game to even make a good guess. Meanwhile the pieces are being moved on the chess-board. Baltimore has pulled out, leaving a better field for Washington. Newark has entered the lists. Chicago has become much more aggressive, as witnesseth the following: The strongest argument that has been made for a headquarters building, and the argument which makes the widest appeal to pharmacists, is the need for greater coöperation among the pharmaceutical organizations. The selection of Chicago for the American Pharmaceutical Association's Headquarters Building would be the first step toward bringing about this greater coöperation, for in Chicago are now located the central offices of the National Association of Retail Druggists, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association. Chicago is strong in pharmaceutical organizations-the Chicago Retail Druggists' Association, the Chicago Veteran Druggists' Association, the Chicago Drug Club, and the Chicago Drug and Chemical Association are leaders in their fields. Here is located one of the oldest, largest and best equipped schools of pharmacy in this country. Chicago is the greatest medical center in the world. The largest lay hospital in the world is located here and four great universities have strong medical colleges with accompanying research laboratories and libraries in this city. The Crerar, Harper, Newberry, Senn and Quine libraries are rich in medical and scientific literature and are available to all interested. No railroad runs a train through Chicago. Thirty-eight railroads, including twenty-three trunk lines, terminate in Chicago, making it the world's transportation center. Chicago is the world's greatest convention city. Twenty years ago Chicago averaged forty conventions a year. In 1926 the total was close to 800. The total number of visitors, including convention attendance, is estimated at 3,000,000. Chicago is an ideal summer resort and watering place. Its bathing beaches are spaced conveniently along thirty miles of lake front, unsurpassed by any other famous resort of America or Europe. Chicago has set aside more acreage for public playgrounds than any city in the world. Chicago has the greatest system of large and small parks and the greatest forest preserve acreage, and the greatest mileage of connecting boulevards of any city in the world. The nation's centers of population, agriculture and industry have been moving steadily nearer to Chicago for generations. These centers must always remain near Chicago. No other city in the world is so centrally located for modern metropolitan activity. Fifty million people live within a night's ride of Chicago. Chicago's central location, no less than its industrial supremacy, makes it the point of origin for the heaviest volume of mail of any city in the country. Because of the zoning system, publications can be distributed at smaller expense. One-tenth of the entire postal receipts of the United States comes from Chicago. The Chicago branch of the A. Ph. A. has a "booster committee," its aim being to bring the headquarters building to Chicago. Here is the committee's personnel: J. A. Abrahamson, S. L. Antonow, C. H. Avery, C. E. Barnhart, I. A. Becker, G. M. Bennett, Wilhelm Bodemann, H. C. Christensen, A. H. Clark, J. P. Crowley, W. B. Day, W. D. Duncan, Dr. Bernard Fantus, E. N. Gray, E. D. Hirschy, H. J. Holthoefer, E. D. It will be well for other contestants to keep an eye on Chicago. 1927. Here is the way one of the big men in the drug industry views the coming twelve-month period: "The year 1927 looks, in prospect, even more satisfactory than 1926 proved to be. The trade forecasters point out that here and there some particular industry or some particular section of the country is playing in hard luck, but over the country as a whole the conditions and prospects are entirely gratifying. There is nothing in sight which indicates a lull or recession, and there is every evidence that 1927 will continue to march along in progressive fashion. "This is the time when every druggist should lay plans for the new year. He should determine how and where he can get additional business. He should gird up his loins and enter 1927 with a spirit of unconquerable determination. A successful past is always a desirable thing to contemplate, but there is after all much more zest in planning and achieving a successful future." The Plaut Although the prize winning papers in the Lehn & Fink "peace plan" Peace Plan. contest were somewhat disappointing, nevertheless nevertheless Edward Plaut, president of Lehn & Fink, performed a notable service in the interest of price stabilization when he conceived the idea and offered the money, $10,000. There were 561 entries, and the top prize, $3000, went to Donald Vliet, in the employ of the Kiefer-Stewart Company, wholesale drugs, Indianapolis. The winner of the second prize, $2000, was Joseph H. Carey, New Haven, Conn. W. F. Terry, Sr., San Francisco, was awarded third prize, $1000. Four prizes of $250 went to the following: Bruce Keith, Louisville, Ky.; J. H. Marshall, Minneapolis, Minn.; Walter F. Terry, Jr., San Francisco, Cal.; Frederick A. Smith, Oakland, Cal. Ten prizes of $100 each were awarded the following: D. C. O'Connor, Arlington, Mass.; Edwin S. Smith, Newtonville, Mass.; Edward C. Hood, Portsmouth, Ohio; Albert N. Doerschuk, Kansas City, Mo.; Leo Rosenbaum, East Orange, N. J.; C. M. Bennington, Marcus Hook, Pa.; W. P. Walker, Spartanburg, S. C.; Sam Laing, Sacramento, Cal.; Ethyl Pine Van Hercke, Boicourt, Kansas; and Allen C. Wiggins, San Antonio, Tex. Twenty awards of fifty dollars each went to the Fort, Atlanta, Ga.; M. L. Bernstein, Washington, D. C.; Jerome A. Wickerson, St. Louis, Mo.; Faxon G. House, Kansas City, Mo.; Carl J. Flom, Baltimore, Md.; Charles F. Hanley, Jamaica Plain, Mass.; John R. Thompson, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Walter R. Howell, Detroit, Mich.; W. M. Staley, St. Louis, Mo.; Herbert Lloyd Eastman, Glendale, Cal.; Allan B. Maxwell, Indianapolis; Carl E. Bastian, Dansville, N. Y.; T. C. Hall, Indianapolis, Ind.; Wm. P. Harrison, Richmond, Va.; Arthur C. Look, Kaukauna, Wis.; Guthrie McNab Miller, Saranac Lake, New York; Charles Brynteson, Sac City, Iowa; J. C. Ledbetter, Byhalia, Miss.; J. Mervin Rosenberger, Philadelphia, Pa. A college award of $1000 was made to E. M. Green, of the New York University Law School, New York City. Wholesale druggists are well represented in the list and there is a fair sprinkling of mutuals. Retail druggists did not get in on the big money at all. However this is no criticism of Mr. Plaut or of the idea. The fault, if there is any, lies with retail druggists themselves. Next month the BULLETIN will contain Mr. Vliet's paper, together with a brief analysis of it. Mr. Vliet's picture too, we hope. He is a young man-32. Effective Jan. 1, a new ruling went into effect with reference to distilled spirits bottled-in-bond. The commissioner of internal revenue has adopted a new serially-numbered strip stamp, and retail druggists, on receipt of the goods, must enter the making sales of bottled-in-bond goods, either pursu- bottle in their record, Form 1455A. Likewise must the serial number be entered on the face of the prescription in the space provided for cancellation. However, if the goods were out of bond before the new arrangement came into effect and there is no number on the strip stamp, then the entry "No number" must be made. E. Fullerton Cook of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy is in Europe for a sabbatical year. He is taking post-graduate work at the University of Bern under Dr. Tschirch. His family is with him and he expects to return in August. During the early part of December the report was current that the two largest retail cigar store chains in the country, the United and Schulte's, were about to merge. Nothing has been heard lately. The 25-per-cent slash in the tax on alcohol went A little sketch of a man who is chairman of the executive committee of the N. A.R. D. and who conducts a prescription pharmacy By H. N. BRUUN On the North Side of Chicago, at the edge of the "Gold Coast," Julius H. Riemenschneider, one of the foremost druggists of that city-and of the country-conducts a prescription pharmacy. His customers and prospective customers live in expensive homes and high-priced apartments. Among his patrons are many well-known people of wealth and of influence in the city's affairs. After a pleasant ride on the top of the bus along Chicago's magnificent boulevard, with the blue waters of Lake Michigan on one side and the stately mansions of millionaires on the other, I alighted at a street with well-kept lawns and fine old shade trees. Walking past huge apartment buildings with impressive residences tucked in between them, I came to the corner of Broadway and Oakdale, Julius H. Riemenschneider. where Mr. Riemenschneider's store is located. The store is of a modern type. A few years ago Mr. Riemenschneider put in a complete set of new fixtures. Having known Mr. Riemenschneider for a number of years, he greeted me in the most friendly manner and invited me to come back of the prescription counter, where we spent several hours discussing the problems of the drug trade. His His business is unique in that a greater part of it is conducted by telephone. He has put his service within the reach of every family having a telephone, no matter where that family lives. Goods are delivered as soon after the order is taken as it is possible to do so. Many of his patrons have never visited the store. They are unknown to him except by name. "It is sometimes embarrassing," he said, "to meet people who have traded with me for years and not be able to recognize them." A business of this sort is largely a credit business, and the handling of the accounts are superintended by Mr. Riemenschneider personally. By giving his attention to this part of the business he keeps his finger on the pulse of the trade. In looking over his accounts he finds that certain families are not buying as usual. Some have not purchased anything during the month. There must be a reason for it. If they are away, of course nothing can be done; but if they are growing indifferent toward the store, their interest must be renewed. A series of letters must be sent out. When a doctor telephones a prescription for one who is not a customer this letter is sent to the patient: DEAR MADAM: We were very pleased to be privileged to fill a prescription for you a few days ago. To the best of our knowledge this was the first opportunity we have had to serve you. Perhaps the reason you have not called on us before for your drug needs is because you believed that you were too far away to secure service from us. However I assure you that such is not the case. We number among our steady customers a great many families in your immediate neighborhood, and are equipped to serve you, too, as promptly and efficiently as though you lived in closest proximity to this store. It is not at all necessary to call in person for anything you might need. Simply call Lakeview 0903 and we will call for your order and deliver it in a jiffy. This telephone and delivery service is our specialty. You pay nothing extra for it. Our popular prices compare favorably with down-town drug stores. We would sincerely welcome a continued patronage the next time you are in need of drugs. We will deem it a great favor if you will call on us. Sincerely yours, JULIUS H. RIEMENSCHNEIDER. P. S.-If you so desire, we will be very pleased to open negotiations for a charge account. "I never miss an opportunity to cultivate the friendship of the physician," said Mr. Riemenschneider. "On several occasions I have been invited to appear before the North Side branch of the Chicago Medical Society, and have addressed them on various subjects pertaining to pharmacy." By such methods as these he has built up a large and lucrative prescription business. Picking up a prescription that lay on his counter he casually remarked: "This is for a customer in Evanston. There is one advantage in a business of this sort-I am not wholly dependent upon my landlord. If he should become unreasonable in his rent I can move my telephones to a less expensive location without much loss of trade." The telephone bell rang. The anxious voice of a mother was seeking advice in regard to some minor ailment of her little girl. A moment later came another call and a request to send over a carton of cigarettes. Then a doctor called to inquire about a new remedy, wanting to know if it was carried in stock. And so it went on. A CULTIVATED ACQUIREMENT. Answering the telephone is an art. It requires a set of good nerves, and it requires quite a degree of self-control to be in constant touch with the insistent bell that demands immediate attention regardless of what else one may be doing. Mr. Riemenschneider answered the calls in an even voice without the slightest tinge of annoyance. He has cultivated the telephone voice and patience. "Do you have much cut-rate competition in your neighborhood?" I asked. "Yes," he answered, "but I pay little attention to it. At one time it worried me, and I tried what is called intensive merchandising, but soon discovered that it was a mistake, for me. It may be all right for some, but I decided to turn my attention to the drug end of the business and develop that, with results that have been very satisfactory." "Many druggists conduct luncheonettes, and carry sporting goods, bathing suits, etc. The selling of drugs and filling of prescriptions seems to have been lost sight of in the maze of modern methods. I sowed my seed in the old familiar though neglected field, and my business has increased each year." "Do you find it necessary to cut prices?" "Yes, to some extent," he replied. "But I never run special sales for a day only; the price I put on my goods is the same at all times. Price cutting is the bane of the trade. It causes more dissatisfaction among customers and druggists than any other factor. It gives a wrong impression of profits. It makes people believe that some druggists are profiteers. "The greatest harm is done, of course, by the cut-rate advertising in newspapers. Newspapers go into every neighborhood, and into the small towns hundreds of miles away from the advertiser, and the cut prices quoted in the advertisement creates ill will and distrust wherever they are read. Firms that pay for the space and permit their preparations to be exploited in this manner are to a large extent responsible for the rather demoralized state of the trade." "Well," I asked, "what are we going to do "Concentrate on the class of goods that yield us an adequate profit," he replied. "Merchandise that does not yield an adequate profit gets little attention in my store. Long ago I had two kinds of price tags printed, one red and one blue. The red price tag is placed on preparations on which there is little or no profit, and the blue one on the preparations that are fair to my interests. In this manner we have managed to relegate to the background many an undesirable citizen and make room for the preparations that made business worth while." Knowing Mr. Riemenschneider's views on subsidized advertising, I asked him what objection there can be to a manufacturer paying for an ad in behalf of certain stores in case the preparation thus advertised is sold at full price. "One must admit," I added, "that it is cheap advertising for the manufacturer." "That is true," he answered. "It is cheap. But it is unfair. What a manufacturer wants is distribution. He expects to sell his product in every store. Why should he lend his aid to any one store?" "Such stores buy his goods in large quantities," I affirmed. "No doubt they do," he agreed with a smile, for he is always fair. And the practice is less harmful, of course, when full prices are quoted. But when the manufacturer permits his article to be advertised at cost and then pays for the advertising besides-well, he deserves little regard from the average druggist." Mr. Riemenschneider was born in New York City in 1873. While he was still a little child his parents returned to Germany, and Julius attended the public schools there. In 1886 he came to Chicago with his parents and a year later, on Washington's birthday, he obtained his first position in a drug store. The man under whom he served his apprenticeship was an old-time pharmacist by the name of Ohlendorf who conducted his store with a Kaiser-like discipline, and thus, early in his career, Julius learned the value of thoroughness, integrity, industry, and respect for those in authority. The hours were long and the duties many. Porters were unheard of and much menial work fell to his lot. REGISTERED SINCE 1893. However the boy found time to study, and in 1891 he entered the Illinois College of Pharmacy and a year later passed the State Board, becoming a registered pharmacist in 1893. Soon after he got his degree he obtained a position, which he held for ten years. On leaving this place he started in business for himself at his present location. Mr. Riemenschneider has been a tireless worker in the interests of pharmacy. He became a member of the Chicago Retail Druggists' Association many years ago and, having served as a member of the |