? ? v v . ..;?? HISTORY of the COMSTOCK PATENT MEDICINE BUSINESS and Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills by Robert B. Shaw MAY 2 61972 / HJDIKQW *n SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS City of Washington 1972 S E R I A L P U B L I C A T I O N S O F T H E S M I T H S O N I A N I N S T I T U T I O N The emphasis upon publications as a means of diffusing knowledge was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In his formal plan for the Insti? tution, Joseph Henry articulated a program that included the following statement: "It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge." This keynote of basic research has been adhered to over the years in the issuance of thousands of titles in serial publications under the Smithsonian imprint, com? mencing with Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series: Smithsonian Annals of Flight Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics Smithsonian Contributions to Botany Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology In these series, the Institution publishes original articles and monographs dealing with the research and collections of its several museums and offices and of professional colleagues at other institutions of learning. These papers report newly acquired facts, synoptic interpretations of data, or original theory in specialized fields. These pub? lications are distributed by mailing lists to libraries, laboratories, and other interested institutions and specialists throughout the world. Individual copies may be obtained from the Smithsonian Institution Press as long as stocks are available. S. DILLON RIPLEY Secretary Smithsonian Institution INTERNATIONAL BOOK YEAR ? 1972 HISTORY of t IS COMSTOCK PATENT MEDICINE BUSINESS and Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills by Robert E Shaw Associate Professor, Accounting and History Clarkson College of Technology Potsdam, N.Y. ISSUED mum SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY ? NUMBER 22 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS City of Washington 1972 COVER: Changing methods of packaging Comstock remedies over the years.?Lower left : Original packaging of the Indian Root Pills in oval veneer boxes. Lower center : The glass bottles and cardboard and t in boxes. Lower r igh t : The modern packaging dur ing the final years of domestic manufacture . Upper left: The Indian Root Pills as they a re still being packaged and distributed in Austra l ia . Upper center : Dr. Howard 's Electric Blood Builder Pills. Upper right: Comstock's Dead Shot Worm Pellets. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Shaw, Robert B., 1916? History of the Comstock patent medicine business and of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills. (Smithsonian studies in history and technology, no. 22) Bibliography: p. 1. Comstock (W. H.) Company. I. Title. II . Series: Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian studies in history and technology, no. 22. HD9666.9.C62S46 338.7'6'615886 76-39864 Official publication date is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 65 cents (paper cover) Stock Number 4700-0204 History of the Comstock Patent Medicine Business and of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills <-^p For nearly a century a conspicuous feature of the small riverside village of Morristown, in northern New York State, was the W. H. Com? stock factory, better known as the home of the celebrated Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills. This business never grew to be more than a modest undertaking in modern industrial terms, and amid the congestion of any large city its few buildings straddling a branch railroad and its work force of several dozens at most would have been little noticed, but in its rural setting the enterprise occupied a prominent role in the economic life of the community for over ninety years. Aside from the omnipresent forest and dairy industries, it represented the only manu? facturing activity for miles around and was easily the largest single employer in its village, as well as the chief recipient and shipper of freight at the adjacent railroad station. For some years, early in the present century, the company supplied a primitive electric service to the community, and the Comstock Hotel, until it was destroyed by fire, served as the principal village hostelry. But the influence of this business was by no means strictly local. For decades thousands of boxes of pills and bottles of elixir, together with advertising circulars and almanacs in the mil? lions, flowed out of this remote village to drug? gists in thousands of communities in the United States and Canada, in Latin America, and in the Orient. And Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and the other remedies must have been household names wherever people suffered aches and in? firmities. Thus Morristown, notwithstanding its placid appearance, played an active role in com? merce and industry throughout the colorful patent-medicine era. Today, the Indian Root Pill factory stands abandoned and forlorn?its decline and demise brought on by an age of more precise medical diagnoses and the more stringent enforcement of various food and drug acts. After abandon? ment, the factory was ransacked by vandals; and records, documents, wrappers, advertising cir? culars, pills awaiting packaging, and other effects were thrown down from the shelves and scattered over the floors. This made it impossible to recover and examine the records systemati? cally. The former proprietors of the business, however, had for some reason?perhaps sheer inertia?apparently preserved all of their rec? ords for over a century, storing them in the loft? like attic over the packaging building. Despite their careless treatment, enough records were recovered to reconstruct most of the history of the Comstock enterprise and to cast new light upon the patent-medicine industry of the United States during its heyday. The Comstock business, of course, was far from unique. Hundreds of manufacturers of proprietary remedies fluourished during the 1880s and 1890s?the Druggists' Directory for 1895 lists approximately 1,500. The great ma? jority of these factories were much smaller than Comstock; one suspects, in fact, that most of them were no more than backroom enterprises conducted by untrained, but ambitious, drug? gists who, with parttime help, mixed up some mysterious concoctions and contrived imagina? tive advertising schemes. A few of these busi? nesses were considerably larger than Comstock. SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY WILLIAM COMSTOCK New London, Conn. Daniel (died 1683) Samuel (1677-1757) Mountville, Conn. Christopher (born 1703) Lyme, Conn. Samuel (1747-1827) East Lyme, Conn. Samuel (1772-1840) Butternuts, N.Y. Edwin P. Lucius S. George W. (1799-1837) (1806-1876) (1820-1889 William H. (1830-1919) Brockville, Ont. William Henry (1897-1959) Christopher (1635-1702) Daniel (1664-1694) Norwalk, Conn.) Daniel (1693-1782) Abel (born 1721 at Stratfield, Conn. died 1814 at Cooperstown, N.Y.) Daniel (1763-1828) Moved to Canada West Noah Bird (1790-1853) Henry Tompkins Paige (1820-1870) discoverer of Comstock Lode SAMUEL COMSTOCK (1747-1827) East Lyme, Conn. ESTHER LEE (1750-1839) Moses (1685-1766) Abijah (1721-1797) Samuel (1767-1819) Thomas Anthony (born 1812) Anthony (1844-1915) anti-vice crusader Samuel (1772-1840) Butternuts, N.Y. Elizabeth Perkins (1777-1861) Eliza (born 1796) B. L. Judson Edwin P. (1799-1837) William Henry (1830-1919) Moved to Brockville, Ont. William Henry ("Young Bill") (1897-1959) Albert Lee (born 1802) Physician Lucius S. (1806-1876) John Lee (1787-1858) Hartford, Conn. Prominent physician, author and historian John C. (1819-1853) George Wells (1820-1889) George Carleton (1856-1929) NUMBER 2 2 However, the Comstock company would seem to be typical of the more strongly established patent-medicine manufacturers, and therefore a closer examination of this particular enter? prise should also illuminate its entire industry. The Origin of the Business The Indian Root Pill business was carried on during most of its existence by two members of the Comstock family?father and son?and because of unusual longevity, this control by two generations extended for over a century. The plant was also located in Morristown for approximately ninety years. The Indian Root Pills, however, were not actually originated by the Comstock family, nor were they discovered in Morristown. Rather, the business had its genesis in New York City, at a time when the city still consisted primarily of two- or three- story buildings and did not extend beyond the present 42nd Street. According to an affidavit written in 1851? and much of the history of the business is de? rived from documents prepared in connection with numerous lawsuits?the founder of the Comstock drug venture was Edwin Comstock, sometime in or before 1833. Edwin, along with the numerous other brothers who will shortly enter the picture, was a son of Samuel Com? stock, of Butternuts, Otsego County, New York. Samuel, a fifth-generation descendant of Wil? liam Comstock, one of the pioneer settlers of New London, Connecticut, and ancestor of most of the Comstocks in America, was born in East Lyme, Connecticut, a few years before the Revo? lution, but sometime after the birth of Edwin in 1794 he moved to Otsego County, New York. Edwin, in 1828, moved to Batavia, New York, where his son, William Henry Comstock, was born on August 1, 1830. Within four or five years, however, Edwin repaired to New York City, where he established the extensive drug and medicine business that was to be carried on by members of his family for over a century. Just why Edwin performed this brief sojourn in Batavia, or where he made his initial entry into the drug trade, is not clear, although the rapid growth of his firm in New York City suggests that he had had previous experience in that field. It is a plausible surmise that he may have worked in Batavia in the drug store of Dr. Levant B. Cotes, which was destroyed in the village-wide fire of April 19, 1833; the termina? tion of Edwin's career in Batavia might have been associated either with that disaster or with the death of his wife in 1831. The Comstocks also obviously had some medi? cal tradition in their family. Samuel's younger brother, John Lee Comstock, was trained as a physician and served in that capacity during the War of 1812?although he was to gain greater prominence as a historian and natural philos? opher. All five of Samuel's sons participated at least briefly in the drug trade, while two of them also had careers as medical doctors. A cousin of Edwin, Thomas Griswold Comstock (born 1829), also became a prominent homeopathic physician and gynecologist in St. Louis.1 It might also be significant that the original home of the Comstock family, in Connecticut, was within a few miles of the scene of the discovery of the first patent medicine in America?Lee's "Bilious Pills"?by Dr. Samuel Lee (1744- 1805), of Windham, sometime prior to 1796.2 This medicine enjoyed such a rapid success that it was soon being widely imitated, and the Com? stocks could not have been unaware of its popularity. So it seems almost certain that Edwin was no longer a novice when he established his own drug business in New York City. Between 1833 and 1837 he employed his brother, Lucius S. Comstock (born in 1806), as a clerk, and for the next fifteen years Lucius will figure very con? spicuously in this story. He not merely appended the designation "M.D." to his name and claimed membership in the Medical Society of the City of New York, but also described himself as a Counsellor-at-Law. Edwin, the founder of the business, did not live long to enjoy its prosperity?or perhaps we should say that he was fortunate enough to pass away before it experienced its most severe vicis- 1 National Cyclopedia of American Biography, VII: 280. 2 The Comstock brothers' grandmother, Esther Lee, was apparently unrelated to Dr. Samuel Lee, the in? ventor of the Bilious Pills. SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY ^H-^v- SS=? ^SSa IL ^mMk^ti], ^&mvB i^Mm? fife ? fi|l ALSO A CURE FOR RHEUMATISM BURNS SOKES BRUISES i si I &. i j?fr*WY K Ottered tiecoriftng to not ol C O H S H S S . A D . 1 K J 1 , by Comstock ~ : ^ s 8 i JS^..T*t - I iSmcjl (^B^Xr?ni^-;r2iiilTJ!ii l^lBr(^i^i3CtoiK> itft^^-0^,^% < ? j ^ & ^ $ P j ; - S ^ S ^ T J fYs?-Ai S ^ ^ i ^ C FIGURE 1.?Original wrapper for Carltons Liniment, 1851. J - i j Y ^ ^ situdes and trials. After Edwin's death in 1837, Lucius continued the business in partnership with another brother, Albert Lee, under the style of Comstock & Co. Two more brothers, John Carlton (born 1819) and George Wells (born 1820), were employed as clerks. The partnership of Comstock & Co. between Lucius and Albert was terminated by a dispute between the two brothers in 1841, and Albert went his own way, taking up a career as a physi? cian and living until 1876. Lucius next went into business with his mother-in-law, Anne Moore, from 1841 to 1846; after the dissolution of this firm, he formed a new partnership, also under the name of Comstock & Co., with his brother John (generally known as J. Carlton). This firm again employed as clerks George Wells Comstock and a nephew, William Henry, a son of Edwin. William Henry was to eventually become the founder of the business at Morristown. In March of 1849, still a new partnership was formed, comprising Lucius, J. Carlton, and George Wells, under the name of Comstock & Co. Brothers, although the existing partnership of Comstock & Co. was not formally terminated. Assets, inventories, and receivables in the process of collection were assigned by Comstock & Co. to Comstock & Co. Brothers. But before the end of 1849 the partners quarreled, Lucius fell out with his brothers, and after a period of dissension, the firm of Comstock & Co. Brothers was dissolved as of August 1,1850. On or about the same date J. Carlton and George Wells formed a new partnership, under the name of Comstock & Brother, doing business at 9 John Street in New York City, also taking their nephew, William Henry, as a clerk. Lucius con? tinued in business at the old address of 57 John Street. As early as June 30, 1851, the new firm of Comstock & Brother registered the following NUMBER 2 2 trade names 3 with the Smithsonian Institution: Carlton's Liniment, a certain remedy for the Piles; Carlton's Celebrated Nerve and Bone Liniment for Horses; Carlton's Condition Powder for Horses and Cattle; Judson's Chem? ical Extract of Cherry and Lungwort. The repetition of his name suggests that J. Carlton was the principal inventor of his firm's remedies. Suits and Countersuits All of the foregoing changes in name and business organization must have been highly confusing to the wide array of agents and re? tail druggists over many states and the prov? inces of Canada with whom these several firms had been doing business. And when George Wells and J. Carlton split off from Lucius and established their own office down the street, it was not at all clear who really represented the original Comstock business, who had a right to collect the numerous accounts and notes still outstanding, and who owned the existing trade names and formulas. Dispute was inevitable un? der such circumstances, and it was aggravated by Lucius' irascible temper. Unfortunately for family harmony, these business difficulties also coincided with differences among the brothers over their father's will. Samuel had died in 1840, but his will was not probated until 1846; for some reason Lucius contested its terms. There had also been litigation over the estate of Ed? win, the elder brother. With the inability of the two parties to reach friendly agreement, a lawsuit was initiated in June 1850 between Lucius on the one hand and J. Carlton and George Wells on the other for the apportionment of the property of Comstock & Co. Brothers, which was valued at about $25,000 or $30,000. Subsequently, while this litigation was dragging on, Lucius found a more satis? fying opportunity to press his quarrel against his brothers. This arose out of his belief that they were taking his mail out of the post office. 3 Receipts for these registrations were signed by the prominent librarian, Charles Coffin Jewett, later to be superintendent of the Boston Public Library for many years. On May 26, 1851, one of the New York news? papers, the Day Book, carried the following item: United States Marshal's Office?Complaint was made against J. Carlton Comstock and Geo. Wells Comstock, of No. 9 John Street, and a clerk in their employ, for taking letters from the Post Office, belonging to Dr. L. S. Comstock, of 57 in the same street. Dr. Comstock having missed a large number of letters, on inquiry at the Post Office it was suspected that they had been taken to No. 9 John Street. By an arrangement with the Postmaster and his as? sistants, several letters were then put in the Post Office, containing orders addressed to Dr. Comstock, at 57 John Street, for goods to be sent to various places in the city to be forwarded to the country. The letters were taken by the accused or their clerk, opened at No. 9, the money taken out and the articles sent as directed, accom? panied by bills in the handwriting of Geo. Wells Com? stock. Warrants were then issued by the U.S. Commis? sioner and Recorder Talmadge, and two of the accused found at home were arrested and a large number of let? ters belonging to Dr. C. found on the premises. J. C. Comstock has not yet been arrested. It is said he is out of the city. These two young men have for some months been trading sometimes under the name of "Comstock & Brother", and sometimes as "Judson & Co." at No. 9 John Street. The same episode was also mentioned in the Express, the Commercial Advertiser, and the Tribune. In fact, a spirited debate in the "affair of the letters" was carried on in the pages of the press for a week. The brothers defended them? selves in the following notice printed in the Morning Express for May 31: OBTAINING LETTERS Painful as it is, we are again compelled to appear be? fore the public in defense of our character as citizens and business men. The two letters referred to by L. S. Comstock (one of which contained One Dollar only) were both directed "Comstock & Co." which letters we claim; and we repeat what we have before said, and what we shall prove that no letter or letters from any source directed to L. S. Comstock or Lucius S. Comstock have been taken or obtained by either of us or any one in our employ. The public can judge whether a sense of "duty to the Post Office Department and the community", induced our brother to make this charge against us (which if proved would consign us to the Penitentiary) and under the pretence of searching for letters, which perhaps never existed; to send Police Officers to invade not only our store, but our dwelling house, where not even the presence of our aged Mother could protect from intru? sion. These are the means by which he has put himself SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY ? C r?)U // t /I W _ Y j ) DmmxtjfNeu );?,!, thrmh ?MfiS.ll/TS FIGURE 2.?Wrapper for Oldridge's Balm of Columbia, Comstock & Co., druggists. in possession of the names of our customers; of our correspondence; and our private and business papers. J. C. & GEO. WELLS COMSTOCK, firm of Comstock & Brother, No. 9 John Street Lucius, for his part, never deigned to recog? nize his opponents as brothers but merely de? scribed them as "two young men who claim rela? tionship to me." It was the position of J. Carlton and George that as they, equally with Lucius, were heirs of the dissolved firm of Comstock & Co. Brothers, they had as much right as Lucius to receive and open letters so addressed. Moreover, since the predecessor firm of Comstock & Co. had never been dissolved, J. Carlton also shared in any rights, claims, or property of this firm. In a more personal vein, the brothers also asserted in their brief that Lucius "is not on speaking terms with his aged mother nor any one of his brothers or sisters, Nephews or Nieces, or even of his Uncles or Aunts, embracing quite a large circle all of whom have been estranged from him, either by personal difficulties with him, or his improper conduct towards his brothers." Lucius, in turn, had copies of his charges against his brothers, together with aspersions against their character and their medicines, printed as circulars and widely distributed to all present or former customers in the United States and Canada. NUMBER 2 2 Meanwhile the civil litigation respecting the division of the assets of the old partnership, broken down into a welter of complaints and countercomplaints, dragged on until 1852. No document reporting the precise terms of the final settlement was discovered, although the af? fair was obviously compromised on some basis, as the surviving records do speak of a division of the stock in New York City and at St. Louis. The original premises at 57 John Street were left in the possession of Lucius. In this exten? sive litigation, J. Carlton and George were rep? resented by the law firm of Allen, Hudson & Campbell, whose bill for $2,132 they refused to pay in full, so that they were, in turn, sued by the Allen firm. Some of the lengthy evidence pre? sented in this collection suit enlightened further the previous contest with Lucius. He was de? scribed as an extremely difficult person: "at one time the parties came to blows?and G. W. gave the Dr. a black eye." The action by the law firm to recover its fee was finally compromised by the payment of $1,200 in January 1854. The settlement of the affairs of Comstock & Co. Brothers failed to bring peace between Lucius and the others. The rival successor firms continued to bicker over sales territory and car? ried the battle out into the countryside, each contending for the loyalty of former customers. Letters and circulars attacking their opponents were widely distributed by both parties. As late as December 1855, more than four years after the event, Lucius was still complaining, in a series of printed circulars, about the "robbery" of his mail from the post office, although the case had been dismissed by the court. But somehow the new firm of Comstock & Brother triumphed over Comstock & Co., for in the summer of 1853 Lucius found it necessary to make an assignment of all of his assets to his creditors. Thereafter he removed his business from John Street to 45 Vesey Street, in the rear of St. Paul's Churchyard, but although he put out impressive new handbills describing his firm as "Wholesale Chemists, Druggists and Per? fumers," he apparently no longer prospered in the drug trade, for old New York City direc? tories show that he shortly turned his main energies to the practice of law. Versatile as he was, Lucius entered the Union Army as a sur? geon during the Civil War, and upon his return he resumed his legal career, continuing to his death in 1876. Aside from his role in the Com? stock medicine business, Lucius also rates a footnote in United States political history as the foreman of the grand jury that indicted Boss Tweed in 1872. A New Partnership Formed The two proprietors of Comstock & Brother at 9 John Street were the brothers George Wells and J. Carlton Comstock. At the time of the events just related, their nephew, William Henry Comstock, was an employee, but not a partner, of the firm (he was the "clerk" who had removed the controversial letters from the post office). This partnership was terminated by the death on September 17,1853, of J. Carlton Corn- stock, the inventor of the veterinary medicines. To continue the business, a new partnership, also under the name of Comstock & Brother, comprising George Wells Comstock, William Henry Comstock, and Baldwin L. Judson, was formed on October 1, 1853. Judson was the husband of Eliza, a sister of Lucius and his brothers. George contributed one half of the capital of the new firm and the other two, one quarter each; however, exclusive possession of all trademarks, recipes, and rights to the medi? cines was reserved to George. It is not clear precisely when Judson entered the drug business or first became associated with the Comstocks; there is some evidence that he had previously been in business for himself, as several remedies were registered by him prior to this time. Judson's Chemical Extract was registered with the Smithsonian by the Comstock firm in 1851, but Dr. Larzetti's Juno Cordial or Procreative Elixir had previously been entered by Judson & Co. in 1844. A variant of the Juno Cordial label also mentions Levi Judson (a father?) as Dr. Larzetti's only agent in America. Besides the "new" remedies, the Comstock firm?both Comstock firms?was also selling all of the "old" patent medicines, most of them of British origin. These included such items as Godfrey's Cordial, Bateman's Pectoral Drops, Turlington's Balsam of Life, British Oil, and others. The only strictly American product that could claim a venerability somewhat approach- 451-822 0 - 7 2 - 2 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY ing these was Samuel Lee's Bilious Pills, patented on April 30,1796. Most of the more recent remedies probably had been originated by local doctors or druggists, either upon experimentation or following old folk remedies, and after enjoying some apparent success were adopted by drug manufacturers. With rare exceptions, however, the names of the discoverers never seem to have made their way into medical history. 5* q ,YI ;,? h FIGURE 3.?Original wrapper for Judson's Chemical Extract of Cherry and Lungwort, printed about 1855. NUMBER 2 2 Entrance of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills During the summer of 1855 the Comstock firm, now located at 50 Leonard Street, was approached by one Andrew J. White, who repre? sented himself as the sole proprietor of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and who had previous? ly manufactured them in his own business, con? ducted under the name of A. B. Moore, at 225 Main Street, in Buffalo. Actually, White's main connection with this business had been as a clerk, and he had been taken in as a partner only recently. Nevertheless, the Comstocks accepted his claims?carelessly, one must believe?and on August 10,1855, signed a contract with White for the manufacture and distribution of these pills. The originator of these pills was Andrew B. Moore. This is clear from several legal docu? ments, including an injunction proceeding in behalf of White and Moore in 1859, which reads in part as follows: The defendant Moore always had an equal right with White to manufacture the pills?and by the agreement of 21st June, 1858 Moore is (illegible) to his original right and the defendants are manufacturing under Moore's original right. . . . The plaintiffs (the Comstocks) by their acts have disenabled Moore from using his own name. . . . (em? phasis in original). In an undated form of contract, between Moore on the one part and George Comstock, William H. Comstock, Judson, and White on the E n t e r e d according to act of Congress in the y e a r 1 8 i 1 1>\ J l l d s o n ACo.in the Clerks office lof the iUsUaet cour t for t he s o u t h e r n district msmmm JDhulLiAEMTWa OR FROCREATTVE E L I X I R , A. certain remedy in all cases of lmpo tency , Ba r r ennes s , Fluor Alb us . Difficult br pa infu l Menstruation, Incont inence of Urine, a n d all diseases ams ing from debilitation of the sys -lem where an impulse or a r e s t o r a t i v e is re? B U F F A L O , M.T. ? < Without iwiiose signature none + can t>e genuine + ? ->i y.-.' ',. . . . XWWHTEfc Con? sole Proprietor fr^ . Secured In-Law ?mHV,.rr/.nie titude was that the old firm of A. J. White & Co. was still in existence and controlled by the Comstocks. But shortly they conceded this point tacitly when they introduced new labels for the Indian Root Pills, under the name and signature of B. Lake Judson, and advised that any ac? counts or correspondence with A. J. White & Co. still outstanding should be directed to the new firm of Judson. Obviously, this state of affairs was extremely confusing to all of the customers. Judson traveled widely through the Canadian maritime provinces and prevailed upon many merchants to disavow orders previously given to the new A. J. White firm at 10 Courtlandt Street. On April 28, 1859, White and Moore, for their part, appointed one James Blakely of Napanee, Can? ada West, to represent them in the territory between Kingston and Hamilton "including all the back settlements," where he should engage in the collection of all notes and receipts for the Indian Root Pills and distribute new supplies to the merchants. On all collections he was to re? ceive 25 percent; new medicines were to be given out without charge except for freight. In his letter accepting the appointment, Blakely ad? vised that: I think the pills should be entered here so as to avoid part of the enormous duty. 30% is too much to pay. I think there might be an understanding so that it might be done with safety. Goods coming to me should come by Oswego and from thence by Steamer to Millport. By this route they would save the delay they would be sub? ject to coming by Kingston and avoid the scrutiny they would give them there at the customhouse. The great bulk of the notes and accounts which were assigned to Blakely for collection were undoubtedly accounts originally estab- NUMBER 2 2 17 T O P U R C H A S E R S DR. M O R S E ' S &3e on youz aua'id aaaindt a coivntr.'e'/cit o/oul 0ic/x fuit ufi /y (oomdtocn, ';ct (y"Md ate now fait u/t in C/teei Gnatave-d o/jlacfc ^La/eld; oz ijt SuU u/i in &j/ae rria/ifcid /tare two c/lanataica- ct ?4. f . *fPi/!.te ? <&,. One in 03Lc Jnd and t/u cptia om in rr/iitc. Une ae7tuine mes't ve oCtamid at all titma /y a/iAi//= out uenczaC\yvaent /oz loanada oz at ociz z/f/icc /0 vomtiandt utzect t/few t/otte %itu. A, J. WHITE & Co. FIGURE 9.?"To Purchasers of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills"?a warning by James Blakely, Canadian agent for A. J. White, against the "counterfeit" pills manufac? tured by the Comstock firm. lished with the old A. J. White & Co. and there? fore in dispute with the Comstocks. But in any case, Blakely went vigorously up and down his territory, frequently crossing the paths of agents of the Comstocks, pushing the pills and attempting to collect outstanding bills owed to A. J. White & Co. by persuasion and threats. On July 2,1860, he wrote that: My sales have been pretty good. Comstock Pills are put in almost every place, generally on commission at a low figure, but I get them put aside in most cases and make actual sales so they will be likely to get them back. Meanwhile, back in New York City, the fight between the erstwhile partners went on, mostly in the legal arena. On April 14, 1859, the sheriff, at the instigation of the Comstocks, raided White's premises at 10 Courtlandt Street and seized the books, accounts, and correspond? ence carried away by White and Moore on Janu? ary 1. Simultaneously, the Comstocks succeeded in having White and Moore arrested on a charge of larceny "for stealing on last New Year's Day a large number of notes and receipts," and in September White was arrested on a charge of forgery. Since the alleged offense took place in Pennsylvania, he was extradited back to that state. Neither the circumstances nor the disposi? tion of this case is known, but since White claimed the right to collect notes issued by the old A. J. White & Co., it is probable that the charge arose merely out of his endorsement of some disputed note. On this occasion the Com? stocks printed and distributed circulars which were headed: "Andrew J. White, the pill man indicted for forgery," and thereunder they printed the requisition of the governor of New York in response to the request for extradition from Pennsylvania, in such a way as to suggest that their side of the dispute had official sanction. The Comstocks must also have discovered White's and Blakely's arrangement for avoid? ing "scrutiny" of their goods shipped into Canada, for on July 29 there was an acknowl? edgment by the Collector of Customs of the Port of Queenston of certain information supplied by George Wells Comstock, William Henry Com? stock, and Baldwin L. Judson on goods being "smuggled into this province." While the principal case between the Com? stocks and White and Moore was scheduled for trial in December 1860, no documents which re? port its outcome were discovered. However, it is a fair surmise that the rival parties finally realized that they were spending a great deal of energy and money to little avail, injuring each other's business in the process and tarnishing the reputation of the Indian Root Pills regard? less of ownership. In any case, a final settlement of this protracted controversy was announced on March 26, 1861, when White and Moore re? linquished all claims and demands arising out of the sale of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills prior to January 1, 1859. 18 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY ANDREW J. WHITE, THE PILL MAN INDICTED FOB FORG-ERY. ?-?-? 0?FI @F MQU1S1T10H GBANTXB IIQOY. MOBGAJR. STATE OF NEW-YORK, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, EDWIN D. MORGAN, GOVERNOR OF T H E STATE O F NEW-YORK. To either of the Sheriffs of the County of New- York : And the Sheriffs, Constables, and other Peace Officers of the several Counties in the said State 22Ft tCrC?l# , I t has been represented to me by the GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF PENNSYL- NIA, that a certain ANDREW J. W H I T E stands charged with the crime of F O R G E R Y , committed in the County of Wayne, in said State, and that he fled from Justice in that State, and has taken refuge in the State of New-York ; and the said Govenor of Pennsylvania having, in pursuance of the Constitu? tion and Laws of the United States demanded of me, that I shall cause the said Andrew J . White to be arrested and delivered to William Turner, who is authorized to receive him into his custody and convey him back to the said State of Pennsylvania. ? l t l f t 8J2PHCJC0&S,* The said representation and demand is accompanied by Copy of Indict- ment, and an affidavit which ARE CERTIFIED AS AUTHENTIC BY THE SAID GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA. You ARE THEREFORE required to arrest and secure the said ANDREW J . W H I T E , wherever he may be found within the State, and to deliver him into the Custody of said William Turner, to be taken back to the State from which he fled, pursuant to said requisition. *??ty*l' Given under my hand dnd ihr. Prim/ Seal of the State, at the City of fM^m- Albany, this 28th day ofSqtt'cmler in the Year of our Lord one 1 ~^>$ifte thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. ' ^ S ^ E. D. MORGAN. GEORGE BLISS, JR., Private Secretary, Iu pursuance of the above, Sheriff Turner succeeded in catching the fellow and conveyed his prisoner to Wayne County Jail. Grand Larceny . A ??&*,/? ?>i -^ y^etiss.i??'?/. /,j/f /(f-yyy ?stiirf rear 4?c?47i!t?; f/Yie-?*&?// i/eze^f *>&g-t*44<* -?*4 f/tg-mYmf/Q **W /, /e//e -e>i ?g-ttPet J? vi'eJ ? 'fsi ijetfti r/e'iv/ci ?&4 atitrj^-iU. -micr T7^ 0 &~z< , /MU.t*?f/L&/W t**^ ZvTfl/s / y/ot.ttd Jzfadfiec/fmm, GAeu* t'/f2, f?6f. FIGURE 11.?This announcement, sent to all customers of the Indian Root Pills, marked the final termination of the long dispute between two firms, both named A. J. White & Co., and both of whom claimed ownership of the pills. NUMBER 2 2 21 simply to B. L. Judson & Co., now located, with the Comstocks, at 106 Franklin Street. During this period Judson and William Henry Comstock became interested in a coffee- roasting and spice-grinding business, operated under the name of Central Mills, and located in the Harlem Railroad Building at the corner of Centre and White Streets. Possibly George ob? jected to his partners spreading their energies over a second business; in any case, dissension must have arisen over some matter. On April 1, 1866, balance sheets were drawn up separately for B. L. Judson & Co. and Comstock & Judson; the former showed a net worth of $48,527.56 against only $5,066.70 for the latter. Both of these firms had a common bookkeeper, E. Kings- land, but the relationship between the firms is not known. On April 25, Judson and William H. Com? stock sold their coffee-roasting business to one Alexander Chegwidden, taking a mortgage on the specific assets, which included, besides roasters and other machinery, a horse and wagon. But if this had been a factor in the controversy among the partners, the sale failed to end it, for we find that on December 21, 1866, George W. obtained an injunction against Wil? liam Henry and Judson restraining them from collecting or receiving any accounts due the partnership of B. L. Judson & Co., transferring or disposing of any of its assets, and continuing business under that name or using any of its trademarks. Unfortunately, we have no infor? mation as to the details of this case or the terms of settlement, but we do find that on Febru? ary 1, 1867, the law firm of Townsend, Dyett & Morrison rendered a bill for $538.85 to B. L. Judson and William H. Comstock for "Super? vising and engrossing two copies of agreement with George W. Comstock on settlement" and for representing the two parties named in sev? eral actions and cross actions with George. This settlement, whatever its precise char? acter may have been, obviously marked the ter? mination of the old partnership?or, more properly, the series of successor partnerships? that had been carried on by various of the Com? stock brothers for over thirty years. William Henry, the former clerk and junior partner? although also the son of the founder?was now going it alone. Before this time he had already transferred the main center of his activities to Canada, and he must have been contemplat? ing the removal of the business out of New York City. After this parting of the ways, George W. Comstock was associated with several machin? ery businesses in New York City, up until his death in 1889. During the Draft Riots of 1863 he had played an active role in protecting refu? gees from the Colored orphanage on 43rd Street, who sought asylum in his house at 136 West 34th Street.7 Dr. Morse's Pills Move to Morristown In April 1867, the home of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and of the other proprietary remedies was transferred from New York City to Morris? town, a village of 300 inhabitants on the bank of the St. Lawrence River in northern New York State. This was not, however, the initial move into this area; three or four years earlier William H. Comstock had taken over an exist? ing business in Brockville, Ontario, directly across the river. No specific information as to why the business was established here has been found, but the surrounding circumstances pro? vide some very good presumptions. The bulk of the Comstocks' business was always carried on in rural areas?in "the back? woods." Specifically, the best sales territory consisted of the Middle West?what was then regarded as "The West"?of the United States and of Canada West, i.e., the present province of Ontario. A surviving ledger of all of the customers of Comstock & Brother in 1857 sup? plies a complete geographic distribution. Although New Jersey and Pennsylvania were fairly well represented, accounts in New York State were sparse, and those in New England negligible. And despite considerable travel by the partners or agents in the Maritime Prov? inces, no very substantial business was ever developed there. The real lively sales terri tory consisted of the six states of Ohio, Indiana, 7 National Cyclopedia of American Biography, IV: 500. 22 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa, which accounted for over two thirds of all domestic sales, while Canada West contributed over 90 percent of Canadian sales. More regular custom? ers were to be found in Canada West:?a rela? tively compact territory?than any other single state or province. The number of customers of Comstock & Brother in 1857 by states and prov? inces follows: Alabama Arkansas Connecticut . Delaware . . . . . . D.C Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas T e r . . . Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Ter Mississippi .. . Missouri 12 1 3 5 1 5 15 415 298 179 1 21 7 2 21 5 6 8 32 Michigan New York Sta te . New York City. . New Jersey New Hampshire Nor th Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania . Rhode Island South Carolina. . Tennessee Texas Virginia Wisconsin New Brunswick . Nova Scotia Canada E a s t (Quebec) Canada West 194 88 3 212 1 9 179 192 2 5 21 1 30 303 15 19 7 434 Total United States 2,277 Total Canada 475 The concentration of this market and its con? siderable distance from New York City at a time when transportation conditions were still relatively primitive must have created many problems in distribution. Moreover, the serious threat to the important Canadian market im? posed by White and Moore, although eventually settled by compromise, must have emphasized the vulnerability of this territory to competition. It was also probable that the office in lower Manhattan?at 106 Franklin Street after May 20, 1862?was found to be increasingly congested and inconvenient as a site for mix? ing pills and tonics, bottling, labeling, packag? ing and shipping them, and keeping all of the records for a large number of individual small accounts. A removal of the manufacturing part of the business to more commodious quarters, adjacent to transportation routes, must have been urgent. But why move to as remote a place as Mor? ristown, New York, beyond the then still wild Adirondacks? It is obvious that this location was selected because the company already had an office and some facilities in Brockville, Canada West. William H. Comstock must have first become established at Brockville, after extensive pere? grinations through Canada West, around 1859 or 1860. During the dispute between A. J. White and Comstock & Judson, Blakely, the aggressive Canadian agent, had written to White, on Sep? tember 1, 1859, that he had heard from "Mr. Allen Turner of Brockville" that the Comstocks were already manufacturing Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills at St. Catherines. Evidently the Com? stocks thought of several possible locations, for on July 2 of the following year Blakely advised his principals that the Comstocks were now manufacturing their pills in Brockville. Two years later, in November 1862, when Blakely sued William H. Comstock for the forgery of a note, the defendant was then described in the legal papers as "one Wm. Henry Comstock of the town of Brockville Druggist." And in July 1865, Comstock was writing from Brockville to E. Kingsland, the bookkeeper in New York City, telling him to put Brenner?the bearer of the letter?"in the mill." Comstock had apparently taken over an existing business in Brockville, as receipts for medicines delivered by him describe him as "Successor to A. N. M'Donald & Co." Dr. McKenzie's Worm Tablets also seem to have come into the Comstock business with this acquisition. This did not mean a final move to Brockville for William H. Comstock; for several years he must have gone back and forth and was still active in New York City as a partner of his brother and of Judson. We have seen that he subsequently went into partnership with Jud? son in the purchase of the coffee-roasting busi? ness. In December 1866, he was a defendant in the lawsuit initiated by his brother George, when he was still apparently active in the New York City business. Nevertheless, he apparently shifted the center of his activities to the Brock? ville area about 1860, relinquishing primary responsibility for affairs in New York City to his brother and to Judson. We now find the Comstock business estab? lished at Brockville. Exactly why a second plant NUMBER 2 2 23 6 \A ^fP \P m $nW*w?y ? wmtii 4 h ?r (a) J ^J IP ?I f l f# l l f I | : ' \ Y v : FOR rav & A it \ 7.v tf if I : S T ( ) ] { | . \ < ; AJVU BfiAITTlFYLVO ( r/,,./ //-,?'// rV? '/,'f/u'r i YVUHI 2.r) ( ' n i l s . Mt /-' if si tol l i Y I FIGURE 12.?Label for Victoria Hair Gloss, Comstock & Brother, 1855. was built at Morristown, right across the river, is again a matter for conjecture. It is a fair assumption, however, that customs duties or other restraints may have interfered with the ability of the Canadian plant to supply the United States market. Thus, facilities on the other side of the border, but still close enough to be under common management, must have become essential. In an era of water transpor? tation, Morristown was a convenient place from which to supply the important middle western territory. Ogdensburg was the eastern terminus of lake boats, and several lines provided daily service between that point and Buffalo. The rail? road had already reached Ogdensburg (although not yet Morristown) so that rail transporta- 451-822 O - 72 - 4 24 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY tion was also convenient. And the farms of St. Lawrence County could certainly be counted upon to supply such labor as was necessary for the rather simple tasks of mixing pills and elixirs and packaging them. Finally, the two plants were directly across the river from each other?connection was made by a ferry which on the New York side docked almost on the Comstock property?so that both could easily be supervised by a single manager. In fact, if it had not been for the unusual circumstance that they were located in two different coun? tries, they could really have been considered as no more than separate buildings constituting a single plant. Surviving receipts for various goods and services show that the move to Morristown was carried out in March or April of 1867. Although the Morristown undertaking was obviously re? garded as a continuation of the New York busi? ness, it was operated by William Henry Comstock as the sole proprietor for many years, and the terms of any settlement or subsequent relationship with Judson are unknown. A "Jud? son Pill Co." was subsequently established at Morristown, but this was no more than a mailing address for one department of the Comstock business. What happened to Judson as an in? dividual is a mystery; like Moore, he quietly disappears from our story. It is also puzzling that no record of the trans? fer of land to Mr. Comstock upon the first estab? lishment of the pill factory in Morristown in 1867 can be found. The earliest deed discovered in the St. Lawrence County records shows the transfer of waterfront property to William Henry Comstock "of Brockville, Ontario," from members of the Chapman family, in March 1876. Additional adjoining land was also acquired in 1877 and 1882. The Golden Era With the establishment of the Comstock patent-medicine business at Morristown in 1867, this enterprise may be said to have reached maturity. Over thirty years had passed since William Henry's father had established its earli? est predecessor in lower Manhattan. Possession of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills was now un? challenged, and this and the other leading brand names were recognized widely in country drug stores and farmhouses over one third of a con? tinent. No longer did the medicines have to be mixed, bottled, and packaged in cramped and dingy quarters above a city shop; spacious buildings in an uncongested country village were now being used. No further relocations would be necessary, as operations exceeded their capac? ity, or as landlords might elect to raise rents; the pill factory was to remain on the same site for the following ninety years. And the bitter strug? gles for control, perhaps acerbated because of the family relationship among the partners, were now a thing of the past. William H. Comstock was in exclusive control, and he was to retain this position, first as sole proprietor and later as president, for the remainder of his long life. The patent-medicine business as a whole was also entering, just at this time, upon its golden era?the fifty-year span between the Civil War and World War I. Improved transportation, wider circulation of newspapers and periodicals, and cheaper and better bottles all enabled the manufacturers of the proprietary remedies to expand distribution?the enactment and en? forcement of federal drug laws was still more than a generation in the future. So patent medicines flourished; in hundreds of cities and villages over the land enterprising self- proclaimed druggists devised a livelihood for themselves by mixing some powders into pills or bottling some secret elixir?normally containing a high alcoholic content or some other habit- forming element?created some kind of a legend about this concoction, and sold the nostrum as the infallible cure for a wide variety of human (and animal) ailments. And many conservative old ladies, each one of them a pillar of the church and an uncompromising foe of liquor, cherished their favorite remedies to provide comfort dur? ing the long winter evenings. But of these myriads of patent-medicine manufacturers, only a scant few achieved the size, the recognition, and wide distribution of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and the other leading Comstock remedies. Of course, the continued growth of the busi? ness was a gradual process; it did not come all at once with the move to Morristown. Even in NUMBER 2 2 25 FIGURE 13.?Comstock factory buildings, about 1900. GO^VSXOCVi.&C* mm rvmsK Y.OWAX.YS CKULKt W?.SVLTOt.\*R\KH 2 O r-L K l N IC ILY F 5 2 31 CT O r n ? -< _ z *? H -n z _ r- O : S = Z 2 < w *? ? O H W c o _ > ? 2 r- -< O r- _ . 3 n 2 -o o = f" 5 -? -? .^ ^ -J ? i; ^. 'y. -^ 5 "^ > "??. ? "^ $ i^ * '?< ^ ^ ^ N.5 | V \ ? -v '* * - - >- 5- Y ^ JS ~ ^ > s %, (J) H X =< > ? Oi "^ (/J "0 m Hi > ? 2 s s 5? 4 5s * ? ? .*3 5 ^ r* PANACEA FIGURE 14.?Wrapper for Longley's Great Western Panacea. 26 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 1878, after eleven years in this village, the Corn- stock factory was not yet important enough to obtain mention in Everts' comprehensive His? tory of St. Laivrence County.8 But, as we have seen, additional land was purchased in 1877 and 1882, obviously bespeaking an expansion of the enterprise. In 1885, according to a time book, the pill factory regularly employed about thirty per? sons, plus a few others on an occasional basis. Mr. Comstock, from his residence across the river in Brockville, was the manager of the busi? ness; however, the operations were under the immediate charge of E. Kingsland, former chief clerk of the Judson and Comstock offices in New York City, who was brought up to Morristown as superintendent of the factory. E. Kingsland was a cousin of Edward A. Kingsland, one of the leading stationers in New York City, and pre? sumably because of this relationship, Kingsland supplied a large part of Comstock's stationery requirements for many years. Kingsland in Mor? ristown retired from the plant in 1885 and was succeeded by Robert G. Nicolson, who had been a foreman for a number of years. Nicolson, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was brought to America as a child, first lived at Brockville, and then came to Morristown as foreman in the pill factory shortly after it was established. He was succeeded as superintendent by his own son, Robert Jr., early in the present century. The great majority of the employees of the pill factory were women?or, more properly, girls?in an era when it was not yet common? place for members of the fair sex to leave the shelter of their homes for paid employment. The wage rates during the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s were $3 to $5 a week for girls and $7 to $12 a week for men; the last-named amount was an acceptable rate at that time for a per? manent and experienced adult man. The factory management of this era was joyously unaware of minimum wages, fair employment laws, so? cial security, antidiscrimination requirements, fair trade, food and drug acts, income taxes, and the remaining panoply of legal restrictions that harass the modern businessman. Since only 8 Or perhaps Mr. Comstock merely failed to pay for an engraved plate and to order a book; these county histories were apparently very largely written and edited with an eye to their subscribers. a few scattered payroll records have been recov? ered, Comstock's maximum employment during the Morristown period is not known, or just when it was reached. In a brief sketch of the Indian Root Pill business, however, Mrs. Doris Planty, former Morristown town historian, mentions a work force of from "40 to 50" around the turn of the century. In 1875, twenty years after its original pro? jection, the Utica & Black River Railroad finally came through the village, bisecting the Com? stock property with a right-of-way thirty-six feet wide and dividing it thereafter into a "lower shop," where the pills and tonics were made, and the "upper shop," where the medicines were packaged and clerical duties performed. The superintendent and his family lived above the upper shop in an apartment; it was in the spa? cious attic above this apartment that the records of the business, in a scattered and ransacked condition, were found. Inasmuch as the first re? corded sale of land to Comstock occurred in March 1876, almost simultaneously with the arrival of the railroad, it is a fair surmise that the second building was put up about this time. The coming of the railroad also put a station almost at the doorstep of the factory, and there? after many shipments came and went by rail. The company's huge volume of mailings, often ten or fifteen bags a day, was also delivered directly to the trains, without going through the local post office. For some years, however, heavy shipments, including coal for the factory's boilers, continued to come by ship. The Brock? ville ferry also operated from a dock immedi? ately adjacent to the railroad station; one end of the station was occupied by the United States Customs House. Almost from the time of its arrival in Mor? ristown, the Black River Railroad operated a daily through Wagner Palace Sleeping Car from New York City via Utica and Carthage, and service over the same route was continued by the New York Central after it took over the North Country railroads in 1891. This meant that Mr. Comstock, when he had business in New York City, could linger in his factory until the evening train paused at the station to load the afternoon's outpouring of pills and almanacs, swing aboard the waiting Pullman, and ensconce NUMBER 2 2 27 himself comfortably in his berth, to awaken in the morning within the cavernous precincts of Grand Central Station?an ease and conven? ience of travel which residents of the North Country in the 1970s cannot help but envy. The daily sleeping car through Morristown to and from New York City survived as long as the railroad itself, into the early 1960s, thus out? lasting both of the Comstocks?father and son. The pills were originally mixed by hand. In the summer of 1880 the factory installed a steam engine and belt-driven pill-mixing machinery. At least one rotary pill machine was purchased from England, from J. W. Pindar, and delivered to Comstock at a total cost (including ocean freight) of ?19-10-9?about $100. One minor unsolved mystery is that a bill for a second, identical machine made out to A. J. White?with whom Comstock had not been associated for twenty years?is filed among the Comstock records; it can only be surmised that at this time Comstock and White were again on good terms, the memories of lawsuits, arrests, and prosecu? tions long since forgotten, and Comstock either ordered a machine in behalf of White or perhaps agreed to take one off his hands. At the time of this expansion, certain outbuildings and a dock for the unloading of coal were erected adjoining the lower building. During 1881 an underwater telegraph cable was laid between Morristown and Brockville, allowing immediate communica? tion between the two Comstock factories. With the advent of the electrical age, around the turn of the century, the Comstock factory also installed a generator to supply lighting, the first in the locality to introduce this amenity. The wires were also extended to the four or five company-owned houses in the village, and then to other houses, so that the company functioned as a miniature public utility. Its electric lines in the village were eventually sold to the Central New York Power Corporation and incorporated into that system. Steam heat was also supplied to the railroad station and the customs house, and the company pumped water out of the river to the water tower on the hill above Pine Hill Cemetery, following the installation of the pub? lic water system. In 1908, Comstock built a large hotel across the street from the upper factory; sitting part way up the hill and surrounded by a wide veranda, it represented a conspicuous feature in the village and dominated the waterfront scene until its destruction by fire in 1925. The Com? stock family, in 1910, also built a town hall and social center for the village. Adjacent to the lower shop a large boathouse was erected to shelter Mr. Comstock's yacht, the Maga Doma, a familiar sight on the river for many years. In any large city, of course, a factory employ? ing, at most, forty or fifty workers would have passed unnoticed, and its owner could hardly expect to wield any great social or political in? fluence. In a remote village like Morristown, FIGURE 15.?The village of Morristown from the waterfront. Railroad depot, Comstock Hotel, and pill-factory buildings located left of center. 28 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 1 mm 3 ^Wi FIGURE 16.?Depot, Comstock Hotel, and factory buildings (a t r i g h t ) , about 1910. things are quite different; a regular employer of forty persons creates a considerable economic impact. For two generations the Indian Root Pill factory supplied jobs, in an area where they were always scarce, and at a time when the old forest and dairy industries were already begin? ning to decline. But the recital of its close as? sociations with the village makes it clear that the pill factory was more than a mere employer; for ninety years it provided a spirit that animated Morristown, pioneered in the introduction of utilities and certain social services, linked the village directly with the great outside world of drug stores and hypochondriacs, and distin? guished it sharply from other, languishing St. Lawrence County villages. One may wonder whether Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills really did anyone any good. They certainly did heap many benefits upon all citizens of Morristown. While there was only a single Comstock medi? cine business, operated as a sole proprietorship until 1902, Comstock found it convenient to maintain several dummy companies?really no more than mailing addresses?for some years after the move to the North. Thus, in Morris? town was to be found, at least in business and postal directories, besides the Comstock com? pany itself, two other proprietary manufac? turers : Judson Pill Co. and E. Kingsland & Co. The Judson Pill Co. preserved the name of Comstock's former partner, while use of the name E. Kingsland perhaps flattered the vanity of the former chief clerk and later plant super? intendent. The major Kingsland product was Chlorinated Tablets, a sure cure for coughs, colds, hoarseness, bronchial irritation, influenza, diphtheria, croup, sore throat and all throat diseases; these were especially recommended by Dr. MacKenzie, Senior Physician in the Hos? pital for Diseases of the Throat (was there any such hospital?) in London, England. The Kings- land pills were also popularized under the name of Little Pink Granules. Over on the Canadian side of the river, where another plant approximately the same size as the Morristown facilities was in operation, the Comstock Company had assimilated the Dr. Howard Medicine Co. Dr. Howard's leading remedies were his Seven Spices for all Digestive Disorders and the Blood Builder for Brain and Body. The latter, in the form of pills, was pre? scribed as a positive cure for a wide ar ray of NUMBER 2 2 29 ailments, but like many other patent medicines of the era, it was hinted that it had a particu? larly beneficial effect upon sexual vitality. They have an especial action ( through the blood) upon the S E X U A L ORGANS of both Men and Women. I t is a well recognized fact t h a t upon the healthy activity of the sexual appa ra tus depend the mental and physical well-being of every person come to adult years. I t is tha t which gives the rosy blush to the cheek, and the soft light to the eye of the maiden. The elastic step, the r inging laugh, and the s t rong r ight a rm of the youth, own the same mainspring. How soon do irregulari t ies rob the face of color, the eye of br ightness! Everyone knows this . The blood becomes impoverished, the victim P A L E . This pallor of the skin is often the outward mark of the trouble within. But to the sufferer there arise a host of symptoms, chiefest among which a re loss of physical and nervous energy. Then Dr. Howard's BLOOD B U I L D E R steps into the breach and holds the fort. The impoverished Blood is enriched. The shat? tered nervous forces a re restored. Vigor re turns . Youth is recalled. Decay routed. The bloom of health again mantles the faded cheek. Improvement follows a few days' use of the pills; while permanent benefit and cure can only reasonably be expected when sufficient have been taken to enrich the Blood. Before the Blood Builder pills were taken, all their users were advised to have their bowels thoroughly cleansed by a laxative medicine and, happily, the company also made an excel? lent preparation for this purpose?Dr. How? ard's Golden Grains. While the good doctor was modern enough?the circular quoted from was printed in the 1890s?to recognize the impor? tance of the healthy activity of the sexual ap? paratus, such a suggestion should not be carried too far?so we find that the pills were also unrivaled for building up systems shattered by debauchery, excesses, self-abuse or disease. Along with the pills themselves was recom? mended a somewhat hardy regimen, including fresh air, adequate sleep, avoidance of lascivious thoughts, and bathing the private parts and but? tocks twice daily in ice-cold water. A few years after their initial introduction, Dr. Howard's Blood Builder Pills somehow be? came "electric"?this word surrounded by jag? ged arrows prominently featured on the outer wrapper?although the character of the im? provement which added this new quality was not explained anywhere. The literature accompany? ing these remedies explained that "in the eve? ning of an active, earnest and successful life, FIGURE 17.?Card used in advertising Kingsland's Chlorinated Tablets. and in order that the public at large might par? ticipate in the benefit of his discoveries," Dr. Howard graciously imparted to the proprietors the composition, methods of preparation, and modes of using these medicines. In other words, he was obviously a public benefactor of the same stamp as Dr. Morse and Dr. Cunard?although by the final years of the century, the old story about the long absence from home, the extended travels in remote lands, and the sudden dis? covery of some remarkable native remedy would probably have sounded a trifle implausible. Putting the Pills Through Given the characteristics of the patent- medicine business, its most difficult and essential function was selling?or what the Comstocks 30 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY and their representatives frequently described in their letters as "putting the pills through." Dur? ing the full century within which Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills and their companion remedies were distributed widely over North America and, later, over the entire world, almost every form of advertising and publicity was utilized. And it is a strong presumption that the total costs of printing and publicity were much larger than those of manufacture and packaging. Initially, the selling was done largely by "travelers" calling directly upon druggists and merchants, especially those in rural communi? ties. All of the Comstock brothers, with the ex? ception perhaps of Lucius, seem to have traveled a large par t of their time, covering the country from the Maritime Provinces to the Mississippi Valley, and from Ontario?or Canada West;? to the Gulf. Their letters to the "home office" show that they were frequently absent for ex? tended periods, visiting points which at the very dawn of the railroad era, in the 1840s and 1850s, must have been remote indeed. In the surviving letters we find occasional references to lame horses and other vicissitudes of travel, and one can also imagine the rigors of primitive trains, lake and river steamers, stagecoaches, and rented carriages, not to mention ill-prepared meals and dingy hotel rooms. Judson seems to have handled Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. J. Carlton Comstock, who died in 1853, covered the South and in fact maintained a residence in New Orleans; prior to the opening of the railroads, this city was also a point of entry for much of the West. George Wells Comstock made several extensive tours of the West, while William Henry spent much of his time in Canada West and, as we have seen, lived in Brockville after 1860. Andrew J. White spent most of his time traveling after he joined the firm in 1855; Moore also covered Canada West intensively, briefly for the Comstocks and then in opposition to them. Besides the partners themselves, the several successor Comstock firms had numerous agents and representatives. As early as 1851, during the dispute between Lucius and his brothers, it was stated in a legal brief that the partnership in? cluded, besides its manufacturing house in New York City, several hundred agencies and depots throughout every state and county in the Union. This assertion may have stretched the t ru th a bit, as most of the agents must have handled other products as well, but the distribution system for the pills was undoubtedly well organized and widely extended. Several full-time agents did work exclusively for the Comstocks; these in? cluded Henry S. Grew of St. John's, Canada East, who said he had traveled 20,000 miles in three years prior to 1853, and Willard P. Morse in the Middle West, whose signature is still extant on numerous shipping documents. While personal salemanship always must have been most effective in pushing the pills?and also useful in the allied task of collecting de? linquent accounts?as the business grew the ter? ritory was far too vast to be covered by travelers, and so advertising was also used heavily. Hardly any method was neglected, but emphasis was always placed upon two media: almanacs and country newspapers. Millions of the almanacs poured out of the small Morristown railroad station. In the early years of the present century, for which the rec? ord has been found, from July until the following April shipments of almanacs usually ran well in excess of one million per month. At various times they were also printed in Spanish and in German; the Spanish version was for export, but the German was intended primarily for our own "native" Germans in Pennsylvania, Wis? consin, and elsewhere throughout the Middle West. Around the turn of the century, the patent- medicine almanac was so common that one could walk into any drug store and pick up three or four of them. Credit for the origination of the free patent-medicine almanac has been ascribed to Cyrenius C. Bristol, founder of the firm which Moore later took over and therefore an indirect predecessor of the Indian Root Pills. Whether or not this is strictly accurate, it is known that Bristol's Sarsaparilla Almanac was being printed as early as 1843 and by 1848 had ex? panded into an edition of 64 pages. The Comstocks were almost as early. The first date they printed almanacs is not known, but by 1853 it was a regular practice, for the order book of that year shows tha t large batches of almanacs, frequently 500 copies, were routinely NUMBER 2 2 31 4 0 <&tM in etner <&fyad)td. ftmtocfrait, &het &ic gwflc M$tcfen*Mt$mu Sn biefen tpitlcn lijuncn mir bem ublihim em Slrgneimittel barbieten, bae fid) toon alien anbcrit Stvjnctrtoffen gciugltd) nntcr> fcbeibet. Dbfcbon lebiglicb au8 eiiifacbeit ^ftangeu unb Srautern bargeftcUt, mtrft c6 gleicb. gaubetauftranteuiiD gefdjWadjte Ston- ftitntioueu unb rottet ben Sranfljcitsftoff ntit ber SBurjcl auS, gletdjnne bte ?onne, bie ben finftereu SDiorajlen cntftiegen, ben ylebel gcrftrcut unb mit il;reu crwarmenbett ?trablen bie Srbe erleudjtet. Das fouoeriinc ijetCmtttcf. Seferl biite bid), ton ben unerjattlidjen tfraflen ber Srautbett bid; erfajfen gu laffeii, beim ift bies einmal gefdjebett, fo fdjUigt fie bicfelben immcr tiefer em, bis gulefct bie falte?>aub be6 ?obe8 bid? in etit friifj^ ctti^ eS ?rab gerrt. ?d;iUtcle jebe 2lnh>anbelung ber SSermeiftuug unb ?offuuugsloftgfeii, bie fo Ijaufig ben lorperlid; Seibenbcn befd;letd;en, toon SDir. S i r ftelten bie toon b e r ? on u e q e b o r e n e $ f i a n j e in ben SBeretd) eities Seben. Sic eiqcntbilmlidje ftormber $ranfbeit tihnmert unS nid;t. SMeUrfiKbe ober ber lU-fprung jebergranH;eit Iiegt inunreiuem SJlute, unb biefe urf beforbcrnbe ^flange, weldje bie ^uaoiige ju ben Sttngen bffnet unb fett mad)t unb ba- burebbie ^teren erleirbtert unb getraftigt werbcu, n?eld>e eben fo angeft ocbelt, eine grc?e SKcnge Unreinig!etten, bie ouf onberfi Seije nidjt batten auS bem Slute auSgeldnctcn ttcrbeii voinicn, burd) baufigeS unb reid)lid)e3 ?arntaffen cntiernen. Ste f unite ^flange ene'lieb ift cin fogenannteS (Satbcrlticon, ciu aHgenietnefl SReinicjuiiflfimittel, baS beit aiibern ^ngtcbieugieu in bet ClHt- reiniqunq'beiftcbtunb insbefonbere bie roberen unrcnicii eto^e, bie auf a'nberm 2Bege nicbt abgefoubert lucrben {ouneu, burdj bte ?eoarme abfttbrt , , t i c *)r. Swnarb bo^ ^" t - a s?*n btete (Vabre lan^ ?"ipmenbct, unb 2)ie eublofcn SBcitbcr unb roeiten ^ ratrien im ?iiben unb 2Bc- {ten unferes SanbeS SDcrben?onbilioienSran!beiteninjeber %om\ beimgejudjt. ?tets bilben gewiffe 3up"be ber 2nft bte ?run>? llrfarbe, benn biefe Joirb burd) bie giftigen uub tobbrtngenben Siiufte unb SDttaSmate, tt>e!cbe ben ?iimpfen unb uiebrigeu 2)iarfd?KinbCru eutfteigen, tocrborbeu. S)ic 2imgen bringeu bie oerpeftete 2uft mit bem ?lutein Serii&ruua,, bieieSmirb batnrd) unrein, reagirt attj bie Scber unb ftort unb ?erb.inbert tie guuf* iioneu biejeS tv>td;tigcuCirgaiteS: es trcten S J e r b a u n n g f i l o * f ig t ' e i t , 35 e r ft o p f it it g , 23 e cbjelfteb er , ? a l i e n * f t'e b er , g a I I i cb t e $ o 111, bilii5{e 9 i u b r , 5)wrdj = f a l l , aubcre g i e b e r , K. etn, iwbt felteit Bou eitteni ?cbmerggefiible in ber Scbcrgcgcnb unterbalb bem IDiagen begleitet. Scr immcr bon irgcnb cinem bieier ?Pmptomcbefalien loirb, fotltc uidjt Borfciuincu, fid; icbnell nad) ^tnberungS* unb ^eilmiN tcln umjiifebcu. (S3 gibt aCerbingS nttr febr tveitig Slvgneimittel, meldje gur ?eilung ber Svanfbciten geeignet fmb; allfitt 3ubfon'8 ?cbiroSETautcriptllcn, lebiglicb. auS ^(laitgcn UHD Uvcutcrn bar* geftellt, bteten eut fidjcreS unb gubcrlaffiqeS ?eilmittel gegen bie genamttcu Seiben bar, benn fie rotrleu auf bie ?aitpt(ebeuSquctle, ba8 SSlut, fotnie auf ben SDiagen, bie ?ebarme unb alle tuiajtigen Organe beS SorperS, unb ceintgen, flaren, ftarfen unb fiaftigen biefclbeu auf eine fo aoCftaubige unb uufeblbave 2Seife, bafj die firantbeit fetnen Jpaltpunft niebr finben fann, fonbern etligft bte gludjt crgretfen mufj. ?vet bis fiiuf Ipttlcn taglid) nor ?djlafen* geben geiiommen, retdjen fyin, uminiurger gcit jebeuber?e* funbbcit fcbablidjen ?toff bollftSitbig aus bent Seibe gu treiben uub ben ^orper loieber in jeiueit novmalen 3ufiaub gu bringen. "Wen KJirti u)d)l xicrfdumcn, ben laftigen ?uflcn gu Ib'fen? Sebett 27torgeu, 'roenn ber baran Scibenbe fid; auS bem 93ette erbebt, qiia.lt ii)n bcrfelbe, unb mirb bei ber gcringften ?rfiiltuug nod; um'8 ?oppelte befttger. 2Ber Su immer fein magft, meiu ^reuub, laff' ?icb bci 3" t roartieu, id; ratbc ?it's; lafj ja nidit bte evftcn SrantbeitSfomptome unbe< ad)tet vjoritbergeben; jefet ift 8 nod) 3 e ' 1 Sinbalt gu tbun unfe> cine bollfta'itbige?eifung bcs crften ?tjmptomcs etner fd>rectlid;en iirantbeit, eiuer ?cigcl ber 2Jienjd;beit, ber Srfjfoinbstttjjt ju bcroirten. ?ie ^iaupturfad;e bicfer Sranlbcit ift unreineS 53Iut, baS bei feinem ?itrdjgange bind; bte SJungen feine Unretnigtetten in bie Siiftjellen bevfelben ablagcrt. 3m 3?erlaufe gefeQeu fidj nod) toer- fdiiebcne anbere Unreiuigteiten unb frcmbe ?toffe bagu, mclcb.e bie Sungen nicbt auegmrerfeu im ?tanbe finb. 2Kau mug baber ba8 SBliit reintgen. tt-obuvd; bem wcttern 3uffnffe toon ?ift ?in* bait getbauvoirb, ber reine uub flare SebeitSftrom fid; entfaltct unb bon felbft bie fdjablidjen ?toffe aufloft unb abfiib.rt. Elw* *?'* "*'"-t tooitjDcn $itle? ?-"-? whenb obqr foo?* * FIGURE 18.?German circular for Judson's Mountain Herb Pills. enclosed with every substantial order. Over their entire history it is quite reasonable that somewhere in the vicinity of one billion almanacs must have been distributed by the Comstock Company and its predecessors. As a matter of fact, back in the 1850s there was not merely a Comstock but also a Judson almanac. One ver? sion of the latter was the "Rescue of Tula," which recounted Dr. Cunard's rescue of the Aztec princess and his reward in the form of the secret of the Mountain Herb Pills. In the 1880s, Morse's Indian Root Pill almanac was a 34-page 32 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY pamphlet, about two thirds filled with advertis? ing and testimonials?including the familiar story of the illness of Dr. Morse's father and the dramatic return of his son with the life- saving herbs?but also containing calendars, as? tronomical data, and some homely good advice. Odd corners were filled with jokes, of which the following was a typical specimen: "Pa," said a lad to his father, "I have often read of people poor but honest; why don't they sometimes say, 'rich but honest' "? "Tut, tut, my son, nobody would believe them," an? swered the father. Before 1900 the detailed story of the discov? ery of Dr. Morse's pills was abridged to a brief summary, and during the 1920s this tale was abandoned altogether, although until the end the principal ingredients were still identified as natural herbs and roots used as a remedy by the Indians. In more recent years the charac? ter and purpose of Dr. Morse's pills also changed substantially. As recently as 1918, years after the passage of the Federal Food and Drug Act of 1906, they were still being recom? mended as a cure for: Biliousness Dyspepsia Constipation Sick Headache Scrofula Kidney Disease Liver Complaint Jaundice Piles Dysentery Colds Boils Malarial Fever Flatulency Foul Breath Eczema Gravel Worms Female Complaints Rheumatism Neuralgia La Grippe Palpitation Nervousness Further, two entire pages were taken in the almanac to explain how, on the authority of "the celebrated Prof. La Roche of Paris ," appendi? citis could be cured by the pills without resort to the surgeon's knife. Besides the almanacs, almost every known form of advertising in the preradio era was employed. Announcements were inserted in newspapers?apparently mostly rural news? papers?all over the country; the two remedies pushed most intensively were the Indian Root Pills and Judson's Mountain Herb Worm Tea. The latter always bore a true likeness of Tezuco, the Aztec chief who had originally conferred the secret of the medicine upon Dr. Cunard. Be? sides the Mountain Herb Worm Tea, there were also Mountain Herb Pills; it is not clear how the pills differed from the tea, but they were recommended primarily as a remedy for Bowel Complaints Coughs Colds Chest Diseases Costiveness Dyspepsia Diarrhoea Dropsy Debility Fever and Ague Female Complaints Headaches Indigestion Influenza Inflammation Inward Weakness Liver Complaints Lowness of Spirits Piles Stone and Gravel Secondary Symptoms with particular stress upon their value as a "great female medicine." Besides the major ad? vertisement of the pills, consisting of an eight- inch column to be printed in each issue of the paper, smaller announcements were provided, to be inserted according to a specified monthly schedule among the editorial matter on the in? side pages. Sample monthly announcements from the Judson Mountain Herb Pills contract used in 1860 were: JANUARY THE GREAT FEMALE MEDICINE The functional irregularities peculiar to the weaker sex, are invariably corrected without pain or incon? venience by the use of Judson's Mountain Herb Pills. They are the safest and surest medicine for all the diseases incidental to females of all ages, and more especially so in this climate. Ladies who wish to enjoy health should always have these Pills. No one who ever uses them once will ever allow herself to be without them. They remove all ob? structions, purify the blood and give to the skin that beautiful, clear and healthful look so greatly admired in a beautiful and healthy woman. At certain periods these Pills are an indispensable companion. From one to four should be taken each day, until relief is obtained. A few doses occasionally, will keep the system healthy, and the blood so pure, that diseases cannot enter the body. MARCH DISEASES OP THE CHEST AND LUNGS These diseases are too well known to require any description. How many thousands are every year car? ried to the silent grave by that dread scourge Consump? tion, which always commences with a slight cough. Keep NUMBER 2 2 33 FIGURE 19.?Card used in advert ising Judson's Mountain Herb Pills. the blood pure and healthy by taking a few doses of JUDSON'S MOUNTAIN H E R B PILLS each week, and disease of any kind is impossible. Consumption and lung difficulties always arise from particles of corrupt mat? ter deposited in the air cells by bad blood. Purify tha t stream of life and it will soon car ry off and destroy the poisonous ma t t e r ; and like a crystal r iver flowing through a desert, will br ing with it and leave through? out the body the elements of health and s trength. As the river leaving the elements of ferti l i ty in its course, causes the before bar ren waste to bloom with flowers and fruit, so pure blood causes the f rame to rejoice in s t rength and health, and bloom with unfading beauty. Any person who read the notices for both medicines carefully might have noticed with some surprise that the Mountain Herb Pills and the Indian Root Pills were somehow often recommended for many of the same diseases. In fact, the Mountain Herb Pills and the Indian Root Pills used identical text in explaining their effect upon several disagreeable conditions. Always prominent in this advertising were re? minders of our fragile mortality and warnings, if proper medication were neglected, of an un? timely consignment to the silent grave. Unfortunately, newspapers in the South had been utilized extensively just on the eve of the Civil War, and it undoubtedly proved impossible to supply customers in that region during the ensuing conflict. However, other advertising was given a military flavor and tied in with the war, as witness the following (for 1865) : GENERAL ORDERS?No. 1 Headquarters Department of th is Continent and adjacent Islands Pur suan t to Division and Brigade orders issued by 8,000 Field Officers, "On the Spot", where they a re sta? tioned. All Skedadlers, Deserters, Skulkers, and all others?sick, wounded and cripples?who have fore- saken the cause of General Health, shall immediately report to one of the aforesaid officers nearest the point where the delinquent may be a t the time this order is made known to him, and purchase one box of J U D S O N ' S M O U N T A I N H E R B P I L L S and pay the regulation price therefor. All who comply with the terms of this order, will receive a free pardon for pas t offences, and be restored to the Grand Army of General Health. By order Dr. Judson, Ad j utant- General A. GOOD H E A L T H Lieutenant-General Sold by all dealers. Twenty years later, when the Civil War had passed out of recent memory and Confederate currency was presumably becoming a curiosity, Comstock printed facsimiles of $20 Confederate bills,0 with testimonials and advertisements upon the reverse side; it can be assumed that these had enough historical interest to circu? late widely and attract attention, although each possessor must have felt a twinge of disappoint? ment upon realizing that his bill was not genu? ine but merely an advertising gimmick. 0 These facsimile bills were registered as a t r ademark at the United States Pa ten t Office. In his registrat ion application, Mr. Comstock described himself as a citizen of the United States, residing a t Morristown, N.Y.? although he had served three terms as mayor of Brock? ville, Ontario, prior to this time. 34 SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY Back in the 1850s, the Comstock Company in lower Manhattan had an advertising agent, one Silas B. Force, whose correspondence by some unexplained happenstance was also deposited in the loft of the Indian Root Pill building in Morristown, even though he was not an exclu? sive agent and served other clients besides the Comstocks. One of these was Dr. Uncas Brant, for whom Force had the following announce? ment printed in numerous papers: AN OLD I N D I A N DOCTOR WHO HAD made his fortune and retired from business, will spend the re? mainder of his days in curing t h a t dreadful disease? C O N S U M P T I O N ? F R E E OF C H A R G E : his earnest desire being to communicate to the world his remedies tha t have proved successful in more than 3,000 cases. He requires each applicant to send him a minute descrip? tion of the symptoms, with two Stamps (6 cts) to pay the re tu rn letter, in which he will r e tu rn his advice prescription, with directions for p repar ing the medi? cines &c. The Old Doctor hopes tha t those afflicted will not, on account of delicacy, refrain from consulting him because he makes No Charge. His sole object in advert ising is to do all the good he can, before he dies. He feels tha t he is jus t ly celebrated for cure of Consumption, Asthma, Bronchitis, Nervous Affections, Coughs, Colds, &c. Address DOCT. U N C A S BRANT Box 3531, P.O., New York This type of an apparently free diagnosis of medical ills, prompted solely by the benevolence of some elderly or retired person, was a familiar petty swindle around the middle of the last century. The newspapers carried many such an? nouncements from retired clergymen, old nurses, or Indian doctors, frequently persons who had themselves triumphed over dread diseases and had discovered the best remedies only after years of search and suffering, always offering to com? municate the secret of recovery to any fellow sufferer. The victim would receive in reply a recipe for the proper medicine, always with the advice that great care must be taken to prepare it exactly as directed, and with the further ad? vice that if the ingredients should not prove to be conveniently available the benevolent old doc? tor or retired clergyman could provide them for a trifling sum. Invariably, the afflicted pa? tient would discover that the ingredients speci? fied were obscure ones, not kept by one druggist in a hundred and unknown to most of them. Thus, he would be obliged, if he persisted in the recommended cure, to send his money to the kindly old benefactor. Frequently, he would re? ceive no further reply or, at best, would receive some concoction costing only a few cents to com? pound. The scheme was all the safer as it was carried on exclusively by mail, and the swindler would usually conclude each undertaking under any given name before investigation could be initiated. Besides participating in such schemes, Force apparently devoted a large part of his energy in collecting accounts due him or, in turn, in being dunned by and seeking to postpone pay? ment to newspapers with whom he was de? linquent in making settlement. Other forms of advertising employed over the years included finely engraved labels, circulars and handbills, printed blotters, small billboards, fans, premiums sent in return for labels, a con? cise?very concise?reference dictionary, and trade cards of various sorts. One trade card closely resembled a railroad pass; this was in the 1880s when railroad passes were highly prized and every substantial citizen aspired to own one. Thus, almost everyone would have felt some pride in carrying what might pass, at a glance, as a genuine pass on the K.C.L.R.R.; although it was signed only by "Good Health" as the gen? eral agent, entitled the bearer merely to ride on foot or horseback and was actually an adver? tisement of Kingsland's Chlorinated Tablets. Another card played somewhat delicately but still unmistakably on the Indian Root Pills' capacity to restore male virility. This card pic? tured a fashionably dressed tomcat, complete with high collar, cane and derby, sitting some? what disconsolately on a fence as the crescent moon rose behind him, with these reflections: How terr ibly lonesome I feel! How queer, To be s i t t ing alone, with nobody near , Oh, how I wish Maria was here, Mon dieu! The thought of it fills me with horrible doubt, I should smile, I should blush, I should wail , I should shout, J u s t suppose some fellow has cut me out! Me out! And undernearth the lesson is given: Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills The Best Family Pill in use NUMBER 2 2 35 - /V,^^Y <.??*?'?' WBm ~9ShwMciHP o> THE BEARER WHENEVER YOU MEET HIM, Until January'/