742 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



HEALTH NOTE! 



" LOOK OUT FOR PICKPOCKETS." 



1 suppose our friends take it for granted 

 that the only danger from pickpockets is 

 getting into a big o'owd of people; but the 

 kind of pickpockets T have in mind that I 

 am going to talk about just now are the 

 ones who get your money when you are in 

 your own home by your own fireside, far 

 away from the wicked city or the crowded 

 fairground. 



I have been swindled and taken in pretty 

 much all of my life, and I do not know but 

 I shall continue to be swindled. Again and 

 again I think I will learn better; but as 

 fast as I learn better the pickpockets learn 

 to be sharpei'. Here is a little story I have 

 to tell you now which illustrates very forci- 

 bly the ways some people work. 



I have had a great deal to say about 

 " robbing sick people." Inasmuch as I have 

 mentioned my deafness many times in my 

 writings I presume I am marked by the 

 pickpockets who make their living by bleed- 

 ing deaf people. In fact, I am led to be- 

 lieve that they hunt up names and pay 

 people for hunting up and giving them the 

 addresses of those who are hard of hearing. 

 A few days ago one '"f my good friends 

 mailed me a booklet y i about 16 pages. I 

 think he said he fouW t son:ewh?re. I am 

 sure he sent it to lij vnh tlie oest inten- 

 tions. It was writcei • . a woman who '.md 

 been deaf, but recov'^red her hearing. L 

 made up my mind beiore I began reading it 

 that 'it was an advertisement for some new 

 medicine or treatment. I had heard about 

 getting people to go to the drugstore for 

 something that no druggist knows any thing 

 about; therefore I telephoned my druggist 

 to know if he kept such a medicine as "fluid 

 enserol." He replied he had it in stock, and 

 had kept it on sale for some time. Then I 

 ventured to read the booklet all through, 

 and I gave it to Mrs. Root to read. It was 

 almost plaintive in its description of her 

 trouble with her ears; but as her address 

 was not given at the end of the book one 

 was almost forced to believe it was really 

 an honest effort to help people who are 

 troubled with defective hearing. Let me 

 make a few extracts : 



A woman's story. 



If it were not for the hope that this little story 

 which I a meausing to be published would not ben- 

 efit the reader, nothing would tempt me to have it 

 printed, but I do hope that every one who reads my 

 story will receive benefit from so doing, and all I 

 ask in return is that they spread the good news 

 whicli my story contains. 



It wa^ something over a year ago that I had rea- 

 8oa to visit New York City personally, and while 



thei'e I thought I would make one last effort to see 

 if something could not be done to relieve me of the 

 head noises. 



I went to one of the hospitals and asked to see the 

 most expert physician who could give me his atten- 

 tion. I was directed to one, and after giving me a 

 thorough examination, and after listening to as much 

 of my story as he had time to, he finished by telling 

 me to take the prescription which he had given me, 

 and have it filled at the drug store, and use it ac- 

 cording to directions. 



I shall never forget the time when I sat in a chair 

 and found that the head noises had almost disap- 

 peared. It was such a relief that I broke down and 

 cried. 



If I attend the divine services, and sit away for- 

 ward in church, I can hear nearly every thing that 

 is said. This is so much better than I could a few 

 years ago that I am thankful, oh, so thankful 1 for 

 this great relief. 



This is the copy of the prescription given me: 



Pure glycerine, % ounce; fluid enserol, 1 ounce; 

 boiled water, 2 V2 ounces. Mix. 



Put one drop in both ears, night and morning. 



Wet the forefinger, and rub the solution full 

 strength, behind and below the ears. 



Pour ten drops of solution in one-fourth glass 

 of warm water, put some in palm of hand, and snuff 

 up the nostrils, night and morning; also gargle the 

 throat with the same strength solution as used in 

 the nostrils, night and morning. 



Please note she mentions attending divine 

 service, indicating that she was a Christian 

 woman. My good old father used to get 

 uncharitable, and I can recall the expression 

 he sometimes used about " using the livery 

 of heaven to serve the Devil in." I went to 

 the drugstore and asked them to put up the 

 '; reseription as above. As glycerine and 

 " boiled water " are cheap I supposed, of 

 course, that fluid enserol would not cost very 

 much. When he handed me the little botile 

 I threw down fifty cents; but he replied 

 something as follows : 



" Mr. Root, perhaps you do not know that 

 this enserol is a very expensive medicine. 

 It costs us over a dollar an ounce." 



I think the prescription cost about $1.40. 

 It looked like water and glycerine, and 

 tasted like water and glycerine. But I 

 dropped it into my ears, snuffed it up my 

 nose, etc., according to directions. It did 

 not do my hearing a particle of good. ]\Iay 

 be it was due to a " lack of faith." But 

 now listen. Our Ohio Agricultural Com- 

 mission at Columbus sends out an official 

 bulletin quarterly, I think. In their issue 

 for August, page 113, they have taken up 

 the business of exposing fraudulent medi- 

 cines. I ran o^'er it carefully to see if there 

 was any thing said about fluid enserol. Here 

 is what I found : 



Fluid En-Ser-Ol- 

 and boric acid. 



-Composed of cinnamon water 



The above gives us the clue to the whole 

 scheme. The proinotors of enserol leave it 



