nothing short of criminal. Such criminality has cost the lives of fourteen children in St. Louis. Is this enough to force the truth home, or must a still greater price be paid?

"THE APPRENTICESHIP DIFFICULTY."

Observing that the difficulty of securing boys as pharmacists' apprentices in England is constantly increasing, the Chemist and Druggist of London has been led to do a little pondering and investigating as to what are the causes for this unfortunate and somewhat distressing condition of things. It has consequently unearthed two or three reasons, all of which appear to be sound.

In the first place, pharmacy in earlier days was about the only semi-professional occupation in England which provided a fair living at an outlay of a third or less of what it cost to put a son into one of the learned professions. There are now, however, several occupations in which the remuneration is greater, the most important of which are the industries calling for scientific knowledge and skill, the various financial pursuits, and the large businesses which have grown up within recent years as the result of modern methods of combination. As to the first of these classes of pursuits-industries making use of men trained in science—our contemporary remarks that, for instance, "the wholesale drug trade and manufacturing pharmacy now employ hundreds of hands where ten sufficed a quarter of a century ago, and industrial and analytical chemistry are an attraction which was embryonic when the Pharmacy Act was passed." Then there are the several branches of engineering, the hundreds of commercial and executive positions which have been created by the large business corporations of the present day, and other new openings of various kinds.

Moreover, not only do these pursuits yield larger returns, but the conditions of labor are much more satisfactory. Opportunity is afforded in them for that sport and leisure which are dear to the heart of the average youth. The moral which English "chemists" should deduce from these circumstances, concludes our contemporary, "is that free evenings and good pay are attractions to boys nowadays, and as these scarcely exist in pharmacy, boys avoid becoming chemists' apprentices."

In the United States this scarcity of apprentices has not become similarly prevalent, though within the last few weeks reports have come from several cities that the demand for clerks is just now exceeding the supply. It is doubtless true, however, that American pharmacy does not now attract as superior a class of boys as was the case a quarter of a century ago. It is doubtless also true that the defection from the ranks is more general than it was previously. Every year more and more

young men who have spent a few years in the store, and who have afterward gone through the college, are securing positions in the great manufacturing establishments which are gradually increasing in size and number; while others, not well enough trained to acquit themselves creditably in technical pursuits, are entering commercial occupations of various kinds. These adopted pursuits do not always yield large salaries, but they almost invariably mean easier conditions of labor.

As to the remedy for this condition of affairs, it must be admitted that there is no panacea in sight. The strong movement now under way in clerkdom for "shorter hours" and "earlier closing," which is quite sure in time to succeed in some measure at least, will doubtless improve the situation so far as it is the outgrowth of arduous conditions of labor. Whether the other difficulty-that concerning the question of wagewill likewise be solved in part within the near future cannot be foretold. Pharmacists almost with one voice declare that they now pay their clerks as much as their business will permit them to, and we do not doubt that in the majority of cases this is true. Until, therefore, some economic change takes place in pharmacy whereby greater profits will be yielded, we do not see much hope for improvement in the financial lot of the clerk,

Meanwhile, the thing for the clerk to do is to endeavor strenuously to make himself as competent as he possibly can, both as a pharmacist and as a salesman, and to become so valuable that his services will be in demand for the best positions in the largest stores. For the individual clerk there is no question but that this is an eminently practical solution of the problem.

HAVE A CARE!

A case now in the courts of Minnesota shows the danger involved in the practice of counter-prescribing by druggists, and points to the oft-attested conclusion that while people are willing and even anxious to have a druggist prescribe for them, they are often quite as willing and anxious to turn about and ask for damages when harm ensues. The Minnesota suit was brought by a man in St. Paul who declared that he had lost a portion of his hand through the treatment given him by a druggist, and who modestly asked for $2500 to ease his feelings in the matter. It seems that last spring he injured his thumb and went to the pharmacist for treatment. The pharmacist applied a bandage saturated with a solution, and gave the patient a bottle of the solution. with which the bandage could be kept moist. The thumb didn't yield to the treatment, however; it swelled rapidly, and some time later, no relief having been secured, it was found necessary to proceed to amputation. The moral of all of which is that the pharmacist should "have a care" in this vexing question of counterprescribing.

THE OBSERVER'S COLUMN.

While in an Eastern city recently the Observer, in sauntering around and taking in the sights, came upon a pharmacy that, to say the least, seemed upon investigation very peculiar to him. "THE METROPOLITAN PHARMACY" was printed in gilt over the door; the outside of the place was certainly very attractive; the windows contained interesting displays, and so the Observer was led to go in and view the interior of what seemed a very handsome and "up-to-date" store. He found the entire left side of the room to be taken up by a beautiful canopied fountain situated half-way down, and by leather-covered seats along the wall on either side of this fountain. On the other side of the room were elegant counter- and wall-cases, made of mahogany, and carved and trimmed most beautifully. The floor was of tile, the ceiling and walls were artistically decorated, and the whole effect was one of great richness and elegance.

But as the first spell of delight passed over the Observer, and he fell into his accustomed habit of making observations, he noticed with surprise that there was positively nothing in the whole room in the way of drugs and medicinal preparations! The cases were all filled with cigars, confectionery, perfumery, toilet requisites, and the like, and there wasn't even a bottle of patent medicine in sight!

"Well, well," thought the Observer, "this is certainly strange. This place was called a pharmacy on the sign over the door, and medicines were represented in some of the window displays. What have I struck anyway?" Suddenly his glance caught a sign at the far end of the room, just above a stairway leading to the regions beneath: "DRUGS AND MEDICINES DOWN STAIRS." The Observer's curiosity was thoroughly aroused by this time, and you may depend upon it that he scampered down-stairs as fast as his dignity would permit. Here was a dark, closely-confined, commonplace room, lighted (though it was bright sunlight out-of-doors) with electric bulbs. What a contrast with the elegant room above! There nothing was good enough in the way of furnishings and surroundings but the best; here anything would do. It was clean enough, but how funereal, how somber, how unattractive, and how different from the palatial conditions up-stairs!

As the Observer thoughtfully wended his way out of the place, and, in his abstraction, nearly ran into a handsomely-dressed woman at the door, he wondered if this brilliant and "up-to-date" place were significant of the near future. He asked himself sadly if the pharmaceutical portion of a pharmacist's business were going to be sunk farther and farther into shadow, and more and

more subordinated, until it would literally be consigned to the cellar; and then he lost control of his imagination entirely and found himself wondering if pharmacy would finally disappear altogether, even out of the cellar, and leave behind the strange anomaly of a drug store without drugs, and a pharmacist without pharmacy.

But after he had reached this depth of pessimism and sadness, the Observer's reason returned to him and he realized how foolish he had been. To let one store unbalance his judgment in that way! To allow the lack of professional spirit in one pharmacist to lead him into such depression! Pshaw-it was ridiculous! The Observer for once was thoroughly ashamed of

himself!

AN EPIDEMIC OF ERRORS.

THE MONTH.

There seems to have been an epidemic of druggists' compounding errors within the last few weeks. About the middle of last month an Alleghany drug clerk was held to the grand jury by the coroner's jury on a charge of contributory criminal negligence in connection with the death of a man sick of two abscesses on the liver. In compounding an external and an internal mixture at the same time the clerk transposed the labels; and the consequence was that a dessertspoonful of oil of wintergreen was given to the patient and repeated two hours later. The man died soon afterwards despite medical treatment. The doctors who held the autopsy agreed in deciding that the man would not have lived many days longer anyway, but that his death was doubtless hastened by the administration of the oil, which, though not ordinarily so toxic, was rendered so by the condition of the patient.

Out in Denver

it was charged by a physician early last month that the death of a baby had resulted from the mistake of a pharmacist in dispensing opium instead of Dover's powder in some powders which the physician had prescribed. The physicians' charge was borne out by an analysis of the powders; but inasmuch as an autopsy would have been necessary, if the case were prosecuted, the child's parents decided not to prosecute, though it was afterward reported that the Board of Pharmacy would take the case up in view of the fact that the pharmacist was unregistered. * A man in Selena, California, says that "his health has been permanently injured" by the mistake of a druggist in dispensing calomel instead of pyoktanin in a prescription, and he wants $5000 in order to make things square; while half that amount has been awarded a Philadelphian, whose throat was seriously injured by a spray in which a druggist used an excessive amount and an inferior quality of carbolic acid. Finally, we learn from

*

the Philadelphia Press that a druggist in Williamsport, Pa., dispensed laudunum when port wine was called for, that some of the stuff was swallowed, and that life was only saved by the prompt attention of a physician. It is to be hoped that this unfortunate tragedy of errors will breed in the minds of pharmacists a fresh conviction of the truth that eternal vigilance is the price of safety.

PURE DRUGS IN TENNESSEE.

The Tennessee Board of Pharmacy has begun a mild crusade in the interest of pure drugs. Four druggists have been indicted in the criminal court for the adulteration of drugs, and more indictments in various parts of the State are expected to follow in due time. The law provides that a drug, chemical or medicinal preparation shall be deemed to be adulterated within the meaning of the act "if, when sold under or by a name recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, or subsequent edition thereof, it differs from the standard of strength, quality or purity laid down therein;" and the penalty is a fine ranging from $20 to $100 for each offense. The board made examinations of drugs purchased from various pharmacists a year or so ago, reported the results to the pharmacists involved, and declared that after this one warning proceedings would be begun against any man if his goods were found wanting the second time. It is reported that quite general examinations have been made, and that the goods of a considerable number of pharmacists have been found to be greatly below the Pharmacopoeial requirements. As was stated in anticipation by the BULLETIN last summer, in connection with the report of the annual meeting of the New York State Pharmaceutical Association, the Board of Pharmacy of that State has begun the systematic examination of drugs gathered from pharmacies, and will proceed in due time to prosecutions, warnings having already been given in a large number of cases. The movement for pure drugs, pure foods, greater sanitary precautions, and everything in which the health of the community is involved, is slowly growing; and this will continue to mean greater and greater responsibility and competency on the part of those who stand in any relation to the public health.

An

membership are said to be piling over one another. employment bureau will be a prominent feature of the association's work. The Butte organization, it is reported in the papers, has already succeeded in having the workday reduced, and in bringing about a nine-o'clock closing movement to which the proprietors have acceded.

* ** An organization more recent than either of the two mentioned in the foregoing is that of the clerks in Washington, D. C. The purposes of this body are stated to be mutual protection and the harmonizing of the clerks' interests with those of their employers. Out of a total of 300 drug clerks in Washington over one-third of that number have already joined the association, and it is confidently expected that in a very short time every clerk of good standing will be enrolled. It is declared that negotiations looking toward a reduction in the hours of labor will be one of the first reforms to be attempted by the association. Wm. S. Klemroth is the president, and W. T. Kerfoot the secretary. Finally, we have to report that there has been organized in Minneapolis "The Minnesota Retail Drug Clerks' Association," with Henry Schroeder as president and Fred Klemert as secretary.

OTHER CLERKS'

ASSOCIATIONS.

The Wisconsin

As we reported last month, the Portland clerks' association had a conference with the proprietors over the question of earlier closing and shorter hours. It would appear that while the proprietors were inclined to look favorably upon the granting of fewer hours of labor, they were unwilling to close their stores earlier. Owing to the approach of the holiday season, the question of fewer hours will not be followed up just now, but it is declared that in January it will probably be taken in hand. Interest in the association continues to grow, and the membership to increase; and a committee has recently been appointed for the purpose of assisting members to secure suitable positions. association, with headquarters at Milwaukee, has already, though but two or three months old, had an "informal ball;" and the Michigan Association at Detroit held its third annual hop a week or two since, which proved a most successful and largely-attended affair. * A gratifying condition in clerkdom is the scarcity of clerks which has been reported from several large cities within. the last two or three months. According to the time-honored laws of political economy, this should have enabled clerks to secure good positions and, in some instances at least, somewhat larger salaries. *The Michigan association has arranged for a series of winter lectures or addresses, the first of which, on "The Structure and Function of the Lungs, and the Diseases by which they are Affected," was given recently by Dr. Heneage Gibbes, a former health officer of Detroit. This educational work is very commendable indeed, and we hope other associations will do likewise.

* *

*

A SEVERE BLOW TO PRICERESTRICTION.

What apparently seems a severe blow has been dealt the "Worcester" or price-restrictive plan in the State of its conception. Our readers will remember that it has been decided by two or three legal decisions, in Massachusetts and elsewhere, that the contract involved in the plan is binding upon all three original parties to the contract-proprietor, jobber, and retailer. This much is quite certain. But it has been pointed out by the BULLETIN and others that in order to be effective the contract must in some way be passed along to the fourth or fifth or sixth party that might surreptitiously secure the goods from the third party originally making the purchase. In answer to this the friends of the plan have declared that the terms of sale under which the goods are distributed can be made binding upon the fourth or fifth party if these terms are printed upon the goods, and if, in addition, notice of the conditions of sale is served. It will be remembered that Professor Beal, in a paper read before the last meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association, expressed the belief that the courts would decide to this effect, the tendency of their decisions growing constantly in this direction. In a decision rendered in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts some

weeks ago, however (the case being one brought by Dr. Garst against Hall & Lyon), the Judge declared in effect that the conditions of sale do not follow the goods, and that they are binding only upon the original parties to the contract. Unless this decision can in effect be reversed elsewhere it apparently removes from the price-restrictive plan its great element of strength, and renders wise the conservatism of the recent convention of the N. A. R. D. in refusing to pin its sole faith to the plan.

THE

TEST CASE.

Another case in which the price

restrictive plan is involved, and which was also brought by Dr. Garst, is pending in the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The issues are somewhat different in this case, and in view of the decision in the Hall & Lyon case, the outcome will be awaited with great interest. Meanwhile, steps have been taken by the Executive Committee of the N. A. R. D. to carry out the association's instructions at the Buffalo convention to test the merits of the price-restrictive plan, beginning in the State of Illinois. Counsel has been consulted, and all possible speed will be made in accomplishing the desired ends. Details will be furnished the affiliated associations from time to time in order that all may inform themselves as to the progress being made. Secretary Thomas V. Wooten announces that local associations or individuals desiring information regarding the price-restrictive plan may obtain suitable literature from his office, at 153 LaSalle Street, Chicago. It is to It is to be hoped that these two cases will yield determinative decisions on the crucial point of the plan.

TETANUS FATALITIES.

On another page we speak of the terrible disaster which resulted in St. Louis several weeks ago from the administration of diphtheria antitoxin made by the city Board of Health. Since then we learn of several fatalities in Camden, N. J., from the same disease, tetanus, following the vaccination of schoolchildren with the product of a private manufacturer. Up to this time it has not been shown whether the infection came from the vaccine or from conditions to which the patients were subjected after vaccination. But whatever be the results of the investigations now under way, the truth remains unaffected that the vaccine or the serum should not be used of any public health department or any private manufacturer unwilling to surround, or incapable of surrounding, the preparation of these products with every precaution which scientific skill and expert knowledge can devise.

THE FIRST STEP.

The New York State Board of Pharmacy has taken a step which will make possible later on some elevation in the preliminary educational requirements of

applicants for registration. It has decided to require of

all applicants for apprenticeship satisfactory evidence that they have received a general education equivalent to the next but highest grade of the New York grammar schools. This isn't very much, but it is a beginning. * * * Concerning the interpretation of the provision of the law giving assistants in the store certain rights during the "temporary absence" of the registered proprietor or clerk, the board has decided that the phrase "temporary absence" will be construed so as to permit a licensed pharmacist in charge of a store to leave such occasionally for a period not to exceed twelve hours; store in charge of a licensed "assistant" or a "druggist” but the licensed pharmacist will be expected to report at the store at some time during the business hours of every day.

MUTUAL INSURANCE

IN FRANCE.

The Secretary of the Confraternal Association of French Pharmacists, of Versailles, France, reported recently that there are 500 active members, and, since its foundation (March, 1900), the association has had six deaths. The total of the payment made by each member has been 63f. (about $12). The heirs of a deceased member receive from the society 5000f. (about $1000) -i. e., 10f. (about $1.95) from each surviving member. In comparison with the French assurance companies, the members pay less premium by half that required by the companies. Up to the present the association has paid into the hands of the heirs of deceased members a total sum of 26,610f. (about $5320), and, as it has in deposit a sum sufficient to pay for the next two deaths,

the position appears good. The conditions of admission are: Any pharmacist (maximum age, 45 years) established in business in France, Algeria, or Tunis may become a member. He must certify that he is in good health and free from any known chronic malady.

PHARMACISTS IN PUBLIC OFFICE.

"We note with distinct personal pleasure the election of Prof. J. H. Beal to the House of Representatives of the Ohio Legislature in the Carroll-Harrison district," remarks the Midland Druggist. "A stubborn fight was made against Mr. Beal on account of his work in securing the passage of the Ohio Pharmacy Law by the Seventy-third General Assembly. His opponents went through the rural population of the two counties charging that on account of this measure farmers were compelled to go ten miles to a drug store to buy a pound of Epsom salt for a sick horse or cow. All this was 'campaign lying,' pure and simple, and it is a credit to the people of the district that Mr. Beal's majority was up to the normal count in regular years. We can assure them that they have not had a more able representative for many years, and that all the legislation favored by him will not be in the interests of druggists."" * Indeed, the fall elections, it is gratifying to say, carried many pharmacists into public office. Thomas Stoddart, the prominent Buffalo druggist, and this year the president of the New York State Pharmaceutical Association, was elected a member of the upper house in the common council of Buffalo; Chas. H. Gaus, a well-known druggist of Albany, N. Y., was given a higher honor in the election to the mayoralty of his city; and other evidences of good taste on the part of the voting public have been apparent elsewhere throughout the country. In England six cities chose pharmacists for their mayors, which leads us to observe that the pharmacists of Great Britain have always been honored more with public positions than have their cousins of the United States.

SWEEPING INJUNCTION.

*

The Sterling Remedy Company of Attica, Indiana, the well-known manufacturers of " Cascarets," has secured an injunction in the United States Circuit Court of Northern Ohio against R. J. Gorey. Gorey made a preparation ("Cascara Candy Cathartics") similar in form to "Cascarets," and put it up in a package intended to simulate the product of the Sterling Remedy Company. Judge Wing decided that the rights of the plaintiff had been violated, and he enjoined the defendant from manufacturing or selling an article under the name of "candy cathartic,” in a box of the style, shape, or size of that used by the Sterling Remedy Company, with the same colorings of the labels and letter-press, or with the same form and initialling of the tablets and method of advertising. The Judge declared that while the

defendant might continue to use the word "cascara" to designate that drug as an ingredient in his preparation, he could not even do this unless he clearly distinguished the word "Cascara" in position, style of printing and accompanying devices from the Sterling Remedy Company's article; and he asserted that the term "Candy Cathartic" was a fancy name and could not be used either in the singular or plural by the defendant. This decision would indicate that the courts are more and more getting to protect the manufacturer from what is called "unfair competition," even though the rights of the manufacturer be not conserved in statutory law.

EARLY CLOSING.

The most radical and decided action yet taken on the question of early closing is reported from Brookline, one of the wealthy suburbs of Boston. It is said that several of the leading and prominent druggists in the town, including the Theo. Metcalf Company, which has there one of the three stores which it operates, Young & Brown, the Butler Pharmacy, Arthur W. Bowker, etc., have agreed to close their places of business every evening in the week, except Saturday, from now until the first of April next; and if the system works well, as it is believed that it will, there probably will be a continuance of the custom right along after that time. It is believed that this initiative step may lead to decided reform in this matter. The members of the local association of Marathon county, in Wisconsin, have agreed to close their stores at nine o'clock on all evenings in the week save Tuesday and Saturday, when the closing hour will be 30 minutes later. On Sundays the stores will be open from 8.30 to 12.30 in the morning, and 4 to 6 in the afternoon. The early closing movement brought about by the clerks in Butte, Montana, has been mentioned in a previous paragraph. The druggists of Georgetown, D. C., with one or two exceptions, have signed an agreement to close their stores evenings at 10 P.M. until April 1. If this is much of an improvement, it is evident that our Georgetown brethren have heretofore not been used to very much sleep.

THEY'RE IN THE TRUST!

** * *

With one exception, the druggists of Leadville, Col., have formed a novel combination of interests. In a conspicuous place upon the walls of the Leadville stores, if we may believe the Leadville Reporter, the following sign will be seen:

"Don't ask us to buy any ball, raffle, or entertainment tickets; don't do it. All of us druggists whose names appear below have decided to abandon balls and entertainments, and, having joined the church, we cannot participate in raffles. We thank you very much, but you'll excuse us." Then below is the signatures of all