364 
3Iemoi7-  of  W.  H.  File, 
(  Am.  Jrtiir.  I'harm. 
1       July,  1881. 
Soon  after  graduating  he  settled  in  Orwigsbiirg,  Schnylkill  county, 
to  pursue  tlie  practice  of  his  profession.  On  the  18tli  of  June,  1833, 
he  was  married  at  that  place  to  Miss  Jeannette  Shultz,  previously  of 
Philadelphia. 
From  Orwigsburg  he  writes :  "  I  have  also  an  apothecary  store, 
but  the  Dutchmen  about  here  believe  it  to  be  Pandora's  box,  and 
would  rather  eat  a  bucket  of  sourcrout  than  take  an  ounce  of  sal 
epsom."  ^ 
Not  meetino;  with  success  at  Orwio[:sbura:  he  removed,  in  Novem- 
ber,  1834,  to  Pidgeontown,  White  Marsh,  Montgomery  county.  Pa., 
on  account,  as  he  writes,  of  the  health  and  poverty  of  the  inhabit- 
antsof  his  former  place  of  residence.  ' 
From  Pidgeontown  Dr.  Pile  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and  taught 
in  the  Lombard  Street  School  for  Colored  Children,  and  afterwards  in 
the  Northeast  Public  School  (Key's  alley),  where  he  remained  for 
eight  or  nine  years. 
While  engaged  in  this  school  he  lectured  on  Physics,  Electricity, 
etc.  As  a  lecturer,  his  manner  is  described  as  earnest,  and  his  method 
clear  and  definite,  his  enunciation  distinct  and  his  language  appropri- 
ate to  the  subject  and  to  the  capacity  of  his  audience. 
About  1846  he  opened  a  store  at  Passyunk  road  and  German  street ; 
about  one  year  after  he  removed  to  the  northeast  corner  of  Pass3^unk 
road  and  Catharine  street,  where  he  remained  for  nearly  ten  years, 
when  he  removed  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  same  streets,  wliere 
the  business  was  continued  by  him,  with  his  son  as  his  partner,  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death. 
In  1857  Dr.  Pile  became  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy,  and  in  the  same  year  was  elected  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  College,  a  position  which  he  continued  to  hold  up  to  the  time 
of  his  decease. 
His  first  contribution  to  the  "  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  was 
in  1852,  ''On  the  Graduating  of  Hydrometers."  The  subject  of 
weights,  measures  and  graduated  instruments  for  accurate  observation 
was  a  favorite  subject  to  him,  and  from  observation  he  was  gradually 
led  to  the  manufacture  of  a  number  of  specialties  which  acquired  a 
high  reputation. 
For  his  hydrometers  and  specific  gravity  bottles  he  obtained  a  first 
class  medal  from  the  Franklin  Institute,  the  judges  reporting  them 
^'  to  be  equal  to  any  imported  from  Europe." 
