26. Does the state law which prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors also include the sale of medicated or tobaccoless cigarettes? 27. What is your experience as agents with the so-called "proprietary" lines of nonsecret remedies? Is there any advantage in selling your own goods? 28. Have you a legal right to sell "poison" to a minor? Who is responsible in the event of accidental use of such poison? 29. Is it good practice to pour into the bottle of a customer more of a substance which may already be in it, even though it bears your label? 30. What has been your experience with the Salol coating of pills? 31. Glutoid capsules: Their use and methods of preparation. 32. Is there any real objection to filtering Brown Mixture? Does filtering remove any valuable constituent? 33. Is there any objection to replacing Solution of Potassium Arsenite with Solution of Arsenic Chloride when the former is prescribed with Syrup of Ferrous Iodide or Tincture of Ferric Chloride? packages; 34. Prescriptions; Attractive Delivery; At what rate do you figure the cost of service in compounding? 35. Should the pharmacist tell customers the nature of the "Fakes" which are advertised to the public through reading notices in the newspapers as bona fide drugs? 36. To what extent can the pharmacists of this state compel the enforcement of the "Truth Advertising Law"? In what way are you aiding the police officials to rid your community of those stores that make a business of selling habit-forming drugs? 37. Can you afford to permit a high-salaried prescriptionist to dispense soda water? Can you expect the public to believe the man is a trained pharmacist if they see him cleaning windows, mopping floors, etc.? 38. Cameras and Supplies. Their value as trade builders. 39. To what extent do pharmacists keep their drugs and chemicals in proper containers? 40. Sodium Beta-Naphtholate. Literature regarding toxicity and antiseptic properties is wanted. 41. Salable toilet articles and household remedies. 42. Is it logical and is it wise for Pennsylvania Colleges of Pharmacy to reduce "the four-year practical experience requirement" for graduation in case of students who have completed a four-year high school course? 43. Should our pharmacy law embody a clause requiring the registration of pharmacy apprentices? 44. What evils may be expected when the latitude permitted by the "Variation Clause" of the Pure Food and Drugs Act is understood? 45. From the standpoint of the manufacturer, why should the "Variation Clause" permit variation, only in case a drug is not inferior to the official standard? 46. To what extent is Essence of Ginger sold in general stores, especially local option districts? Why should we not have a law prohibiting the sale of Essence of Ginger except on prescription? 47. Ownership of pharmacies by wholesalers. Who is most to blame for this? 48. Co-operation or competition. Which is best? 49. Stopping leaks in business. 50. The retail pharmacist and the traveling salesman. The retail pharmacist and the country newspaper. 51. The physician, the pharmacist and proprietary medicines. 52. The pharmacist versus legislation. 53. Does it pay country pharmacists to solicit business of dispensing physicians? 54. Is the prescribing of synthetics increasing or decreasing? Why? 55. To what extent is a preceptor under obligations to instruct his employes in practical pharmacy? 56. What benefit do you derive from belonging to and attending the annual meetings of the P. Ph. A.? 57. Outline the system you use in taking care of credit business. 58. Business plans i have successfully used. 59. The comical side of serious business. 60. It has been proposed by a faction in the American Conference of Pharmaceutical Faculties to raise the pharmacy entrance requirements from one year of high school work to two years. Is such a change desirable in Pennsylvania at this time? 61. Lloyd's Reagent; Fullers Earth;Kaolin; Behavior toward alkaloids. Distinction. "I represent the dignity of labor," said the man in his shirt sleeves. "Yes," replied Mr. Dustin Stax; "and you can work in your shirt-sleeves and speak your mind, and quit work when your regular hours are through. I've got to wear a high hat and guard every word I speak, and keep busy sixteen hours a day. I represent the labor of dignity."-Washington Star. N. W. D. A. Meeting to be Held at Santa The Committee on Arrangements and Entertainment for the California meeting in 1915 found upon investigation that it will be impossible to secure accommodations at the Hotel Del Monte (Monterey), or at any one hotel in San Francisco for all who will be likely to attend the meeting. With the approval of the President, the committee has therefore arranged to hold the meeting during the week of September 27, 1915, at the Hotel Potter, Santa Barbara, which the committee considers the most desirable place in California that can accommodate our members during the Exposition year. Illinois Pharmaceutical Association. Secretary Cornish of the Illinois Pharmaceutical Travelers Association writes us that as the time for the annual convention nears, the indications of a banner attendance are pronounced. At the spring meeting and banquet which took place at Hotel Sherman, Chicago on April 4th, much enthusiasm was displayed by the travelers and the reports were that numerous down-state druggists would make the trip by automobile. There can be no doubt that the retail druggist is by reason of his profession a much confined person and he is just beginning to realize that an outing like "The Week End at Fox Lake" will add renewed vigor for the hot trying summer months to come. This I. P. A. and I. P. T. A. Convention takes place at Mineola Hotel, Fox Lake, Ill., on June 11, 12 and 13. The Hotel Potter is a first-class house, located on the beach facing Santa Barbara Channel, with Islands in the distance, and the rear facing the Santa Ynez Mountains, which are very picturesque. Santa Barbara is 370 miles from San Francisco and 114 miles from Los Angeles. The committee believes that next to Del New York Pharmacists and Physicians to Meet on May 18th. Under the auspices of the New York Branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association a joint meeting of pharmacists and physicians will be held on the evening of May 18th at 8 o'clock at the College of Pharmacy Building, 115 West 68th street, New York City. The subject will be "Pharmacopoeial Revision." Professor Remington of Philadelphia, Chairman of the Committee of Revision, will lead the discussion. It is earnestly hoped that all pharmacists in and about New York will attend this meeting and at the same time bring with them as many of their physician friends as possible. Two hundred and six conventions now have been formally booked to meet in San Francisco in 1915 during the progress of the Panama-Pacific International Ex- N. W. D. A. Change Convention Date. position. The last convention to be secured is that of the National Conference on Weights and Measures, which is composed of State weights and measures inspectors, manufacturers of weighing and measuring apparatus, and Federal Officials. Three of the other most recent conventions assured to San Francisco in 1915 are of the American Association of Masters, Mates, and Pilots of Steam Vessels; the American Druggists' Syndicate; and the American Live Stock Association. The Committee on Arrangements and Entertainments for the Indianapolis meeting has, with the approval of President Lattimer, fixed the week of September 21, 1914, as the time for holding the meeting, instead of the week of October 12th, as at first announced. This change was made because the hotel at French Lick Springs, where the members will spend several days after the Indianapolis meeting, is generally crowded in October, and will be able to furnish more ample and satisfactory accommodations in September. Trade Conditions* A. W. CLARK. "Too many merchants try to 'stand in' with the public, but never think of 'standing in' with their clerks, says an exchange. One is just as commendable an aspiration as the other. The first one often costs more than you can afford, and only brings friends while you pay or play; while the other only costs you the price of what good clerks earn, and their self-respect. "You employ clerks to do work you have not the time to do, or to do work better than you can do it, and in most cases you ought to get them for both I will not attempt to make any anlysis of trade conditions at this time or to give reasons for conditions that now exist. The view-point of the business man is obtained, as a rule, from the front door of his individual shop, therefore everyone has a reason of his own that we may suppose is satisfactory to himself and fully accounts for all his troubles, real or fancied, that are supposed to exist, consequently I do not propose to prescribe specifically for the other fellow but will offer only in a general way a few suggestions for your consideration. My only purpose in doing so is to attempt to entertain and possibly help to pass a pleasant hour in a social way. Our branch meetings have been enjoyed by the writer, and I suppose all members are to do what they can, when requested, in assisting as they may, to help in the work and pleasure of making the meetings successful. Some can, and do, do much, others of us may do what we can for this reason I offer these suggestions: It seems to be generally conceded that trade is not what it should be and does * Read before the Denver Branch, A. Ph. A. not amount in volume or show sufficient profit to justify our present expensive methods of securing it. How may we better these conditions? Reducing the expense account naturally comes up for consideration first, but this does not always bring the desired result, especially if it is done at the expense of the quality of service furnished. To cover the field of local drugdom and furnish actual statistics would take much time, besides I am at loss to know just where to go for the information and facts that will show the real conditions. The jobber and the banker might furnish some very interesting material, but to make matter of this nature public would be a rank violation of business ethics. We here suggest as a general underlying principle to be adopted by the man of limited financial resources when starting in business, that he consult and advise frequently with his jobber and banker, making correct statements to them regarding his resources and as his business may progress, of his sales-credits, etc. We might suggest he consult with them both before contracting any considerable debt or signing of binding contracts, etc. By doing this he will have time to consider the thing himself that he proposes to do, then he will have the advice of the man that has, as a rule, a much broader business experience than that of his own. We believe that many business men would gain very materially by adopting this rule, men that may have been in business for years as well as the young man just nosing his way in. It is not necessary to suggest this policy to experienced men for we presume they know the importance of it and have benefitted by it. It seems to be the opinion of some that the business of an attorney is to get their clients out of trouble, but as a matter of fact the real business of an attorney is to keep them from getting in, therefore it is well to be advised before acting, and to whom may we go for that advice more freely than the ones that prosper as we prosper, or suffer loss should we fail, viz.: the jobber and the banker. If the above suggestion had been adopted by all our local business men, conditions in Denver, I venture to assert, might be far better than they are today. As we look over the local field, seemingly, we find too many persons trying to operate or conduct drug stores. This statement seems to be substantiated fully if we may judge their success by their financial rating. Had some of these advised with their jobber or banker I do not believe they would have gone into business. The condition of an excess number of stores seems to be found more frequently in the city than in the country. Can we find any remedy for it that is practical? is a question often asked. The elimination of the less competent and the survival of the stronger and better qualified is the usual rule that maintains and this will in time undoubtedly apply here it is gradually working out that way. It may be possible to hasten this elimination process by consolidating several stores in one, to be operated under the combined management of the several now independent proprietors. For instance, when by close application and long hours several stores are operating and each suporting in a limited. way, one person, would it be possible to consolidate several of these stores, giving one three-man store in place of three stores of one man each, giving better working hours, a fair remuneration and better opportunity to enjoy some of the blessings of our God-given sunshine and the glorious mountain scenery that lies at our very doors, scenery and sunshine and pure air, not excelled in any part of the known world; all this without price and but very little effort may be enjoyed in Colorado. Then again, another remedy might be for the proprietor to just simply forget that his store is called a drug store, just forget the drug end of the term and operate a good store, a little neighborhood store, with a notice on the door, “Open at 8 a. m., close at 6 p. m.; no Sunday business. Considering the curtailing of expense and satisfaction that would be derived, our proprietor might find himself as well off financially at the end of the year as he does now working under present conditions. This is not intended to reflect on the small man simply because he is operating a small store, but is offered as a suggestion to fill in, and in all seriousness, the fact remains, that it is almost impossible to do any considerable amount of prescription work in any considerable number of stores in Denver, for the reason prescriptions are not written in proportionate number to the number of drug stores. The wide range in the number of articles possible for the physician to prescribe, and the great number of physicians writing prescriptions in a city the size of Denver make it impossible for the majority of stores to stock all of the items prescribed that are more or less in daily demand. To put it another way, comparatively, there are only a few druggists that are justified (considering the limited demand) in stocking all the remedies that are in general use. The consolidation of several stores in each district, would remedy the conditions just stated and if this be done in all parts of the city, more complete stocks might be carried at a profit where now they show a loss. The people would be better served and a waste that is now almost criminal from an economic viewpoint would be corrected and saved. Will this condition ever be remedied by the American people? For this condition being true of Denver applies to other cities in this country. Making a low price on drugs does not bring more business. Generally speaking people do not buy more drugs because the drugs are cheap or sold at a low price, that is, in the same way one might buy clothing or merchandise. A man might buy two shirts instead of one if the price be attractive, but we do not presume he would take two doses of castor oil simply because he could get the two for the price of one. As a rule the doctor that gives his services for a dollar does not have as many patients as the two or five-dollar man. After all it is not so much the price in either case as it is the man. If the price of drugs be reduced onehalf in the city of Denver we do not presume (barring the joy-producing variety) the amount consumed would be very materially increased. The personality of the man is reflected in his establishment, be it large or small, and is a special factor in making for success or failure. This applies to all mercantile houses, it extends to railroad management and very much so in the operating of a drug store. or pharmacy. To our methods of doing business we might apply the old saying: "It is not what you do but how you do it." Then again, it is well to watch the successful man, the man that succeeds; contact with better men, generally is of benefit to the man that may not be quite so good. We all have much to learn in this game called trade. There is an evolution going on in drugdom, in Denver and in the nation, and no man can stay it or turn the tide very materially. We as individuals may assist in the moulding or shaping of it, but we cannot expect to have everything our way. Large financial interests are taking over numbers of drug stores in the thickly populated centers, seemingly for the purpose of securing an outlet for certain lines of goods. It does not seem to be their purpose to elevate pharmacy or the pharmacist in the way many have hoped for, but seemingly their purpose is to commercialize pharmacy and incidentally the pharmacist. These conditions, fortunately, have not been as pronounced in Denver as some other cities. We seem to have entirely different local conditions to contend with-different from Eastern and different from Western in many respects. If Denver were a larger city we might expect them to prevail here. them to bring about this result. Surely the raising of requirements for qualification with enforcement of the law will eventually help to some extent, at the same time guarantee to the people better and more intelligent drug store service. Our State Board of Health should work advantageously with us in correcting many evils that some think now exist. Every druggist should be willing to assist them in enforcing the law. The act of March 3rd, 1907, regulating the sale of food and drugs in Colorado is in the main good and having a standard for drugs we have an advantage over the grocery man who really has no standard for many food products. As business men we should not feel that we must depend upon the law to protect us over and above any class of citizens. We should first learn to protect ourselves, but being amenable to the law and contributing to its support we have the right to expect the benefit that may be derived from an intelligent enforcement of it. If our fellow druggists could realize the benefit gained by social contact in our branch meetings, even in the way of trade betterment, we would soon have to secure a larger meeting room. While a talk of this nature may touch upon only a few of the many viewpoints of trade, it may sandwich in with some of the more scientific ones, for pharmacy and merchandising seem to go hand in hand, more and more, and the pharmacy of the future may be more commercialized than it is today, if the signs of the times. are correctly interpreted. In the years that have passed, we, in Denver, have prospered to a greater degree than some of our less fortunate brethren in the East. We have had co-operation of the jobber and the retailer, something that has not existed in many Eastern cities, of any considerable Denver Branch on Pharmacy Law Ensize. Just what the future has in store for us, no man knows, but let us remember the principles which have stood for prosperity. Do not turn from the old to the new without considering what is to be gained by the turning. It seems that much might be gained. by legislation and enforcement of present laws, laws that are supposed to protect the people and benefit us as well. If our laws are unjust and do not correct the evils that exist, let us try and amend the same. Our Board of Pharmacy should be of service to us in regulating the pharmacy end of our business. Let us work with forcement. At the March 24th meeting of the Denver Branch A. Ph. A., Dr. S. L. Bresler read a paper on the subject: "Should Our Present Pharmacy Law Be Enforced or Amended," Dr. Bresler said: "A question suggested itself to me, should our present pharmacy law be enforced in order to get rid of the objectionable elements which by some chance crept into our profession, or, in order to weed them out, would our pharmacy law have to amended? The majority of our pill rollers will say the result could easier be accomplished by enforcing the present pharmacy law for the following reasons: |