380  William  Beatty  Thompson.  {A^Xi&rm' 
and  organic  substances,  constituted  them  objects  of  interest,  a  sort 
of  museum  to  the  mind  inquisitive. 
"  When  it  is  considered  that  the  physical  weariness  ©f  a  day  of 
labor  of  a  boy  had  to  be  followed  by  an  evening  of  study,  an  at- 
tendance upon  lectures  at  College,  the  journey  home,  the  return, 
and  the  return  again  to  home,  there  was  not  much  spirit  of  energy 
left.  To  one  in  such  a  position  desiring  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of 
the  manipulatory  art,  method  and  practice  of  operative  and  dispens- 
ing pharmacy,  the  knowledge  was  almost  a  sealed  book.  There  was 
positively  no  means  or  opportunity  except  self-study  without  an 
instructor  or  a  systematic  term  of  service  in  a  retail  drug  store. 
The  latter  was  seldom  resorted  to  by  those  in  the  wholesale  business 
if  they  could  hope  to  make  a  sufficiently  satisfactory  showing  to 
enable  them  to  pass  the  required  examinations.  Some  did  pass, 
but  I  remember  to  have  felt  a  consciousness  of  a  want  of  knowledge 
and  a  somewhat  presumptive  assumption  in  presenting  myself  to 
the  ordeal.  I  had,  it  is  true,  in  some  measure  qualified  myself  by  a 
gratuitous  service  in  retail  stores  where  large  prescription  patronage 
was  dispensed,  accepting  this  means  of  observation  and  practice  as 
an  equivalent  for  personal  service  and  application.  But  when  I  look 
back  and  reflect  upon  these  occurrences,  and  consider  how  much 
more  of  actual  knowledge  I  should  have  had,  I  can  only  account  for 
my  success  in  securing  the  college  diploma  by  the  fact  that  I  had 
commenced  business  for  myself."  And  here  we  may  add  that  there 
was  even  when  so  young  a  certain  sedateness  about  Wm.  B.  Thompson 
indicative  of  earnestness  and  sincerity  quite  sufficient  to  have  gained 
the  confidence  and  approval  of  the  then  Faculty  of  the  College,  for 
although  the  result  of  his  examination  was  not  of  the  highest,  his  sub- 
sequent business  career  and  his  reputation  as  a  pharmacist  abund- 
antly proved,  however,  that  this  implied  confidence  had  not  been 
misplaced. 
In  1856  William  B.Thompson  established  himself  in  business  at 
No.  1700,  the  S.  W.  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Mt.  Vernon  Streets. 
This  was  then  a  newly  settled  locality,  where  blocks  of  first-class 
dwellings  had  attracted  corresponding  residents,  and  for  thirty  years 
he  did  a  remunerative  business,  very  justly  enjoying  the  confidence 
of  that  section  and  of  the  medical  profession ;  but  then  an  appa- 
rently promising  opportunity  offering  to  engage  in  a  wholesale  drug 
store  and  no  doubt  affording  more  time  to  devote  to  his  family,  he 
