AmASn?if97arm"}    Common  Sense  on  the  Alcohol  Question.  213 
he  constitute  himself  a  purveyor  of  pure  drinking  water  to  his  cus- 
tomers and  neighbors  by  supplying  them  with  filtered  water.  He 
can  either  sell  this  pure  filtered  water  at  a  merely  nominal  price, 
say,  4  or  5  cents  a  gallon  at  his  store,  not  delivered,  or  else  give  it 
away  as  an  advertisement,  and  which,  I  think,  would  be  more  pro- 
fitable than  the  selling  of  postage  stamps  for  a  similar  purpose. 
There  are  several  good  filters  on  the  market  that  can  be  attached 
to  the  hydrant  in  the  store,  and  need  no  attention  except  for  clean- 
ing every  two  or  three  days,  and  a  proper  receptacle  for  the  filtrate  ; 
they  will  work  on  day  and  night  alone.  From  this  arrangement 
down  to  simple  filtration  through  paper  with  a  little  magnesia,  many 
ways  of  filtration  will  occur  to  the  competent  and  skilful  gentlemen 
for  whose  information  and  ultimate  benefit  this  hint  is  intended. 
I  fancy  I  can  see  an  extensive  and  profitable  application  of  this 
hint  to  the  business  of  many  pharmacists. 
A  little  admixture  of  plain  carbonated  water  added  to  the  filtrate 
would  make  it  sparkle  and  be  an  improvement  possibly. 
The  highest-priced  filter  on  the  market  that  I  know  of,  filtering 
about  10  gallons  an  hour  when  clean,  can  be  put  up  for  $25,  per- 
haps less,  and  from  this  through  an  endless  variety  of  filters  and 
methods,  home-made  or  otherwise,  the  outfit  can  be  reduced  to  a 
very  small  sum,  according  to  quantity  of  filtered  water  required  or 
attention  needed  to  keep  the  work  continuously  going  on. 
Yours  truly, 
Pro  Bono  Publico. 
COMMON  SENSE  ON  THE  ALCOHOL  QUESTION.1 
However  temperate  a  man's  own  views  may  be  on  any  such  question 
as  that  of  the  use  of  alcohol,  he  is  tempted  to  lean  in  his  public 
utterances  toward  the  contention  of  fanatics.  He  may  not  go  to  the 
extremes  that  they  contend  for ;  indeed,  he  is  almost  sure  not  to. 
But  he  is  apt  to  make  statements  by  which  they  can  strengthen 
their  case  with  the  public  and  especially  with  the  legislators.  It  is 
refreshing  to  notice  a  recent  exception  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Pellew,  of 
the  department  of  chemistry  of  Columbia  University,  who  recently 
Editorial  in  New  York  Medical  Journal,  March  8,  1897. 
