AmNoT*I877.rin'}  A  DrUg  St0re  in  tke  FaT  WeSt'  563 
eight  to  twelve  hundred  dollars  each,  in  one  year,  while  St.  Louis  would  not  receive 
more  than  three  in  the  same  length  of  time.  The  price  for  medicines  was  not  con- 
sidered so  extraordinaiy,  though  a  prescription  always  brought  four  bits  (fifty  cents) 
at  the  lowest,  no  matter  how  small,  or  for  what  purpose ;  a  four-ounce  mixture,  a 
dozen  and  a  half  of  blue  mass  and  colocynth  pills,  or  a  box  of  Seidlitz  powders 
were  considered  settled  for  with  six  bits  (seventy-five  cents).  Patent  medicines,  such 
as  Ayer's  pills,  pain-killer  (small),  garg'ing  oil  (small)  brought  four  bits,  while  the 
dollar  preparations  were  paid  for  with  one  dollar  and  a  half  without  grumbling. 
Coal  oil  sold  for  one  dollar  per  gallon.  Onion  seed  were  worth  their  weight  in 
gold  j  the  mountaineer  put  his  gold  dust  on  one  side  of  the  scale,  whatever  amount 
he  wanted  to  invest,  and  when  it  was  counterpoised  with  onion  seed  it  was  con- 
sidered he  had  value  received.  Even  exchange  was  no  robbery.  The  people  were 
all  very  liberal  in  their  dealings ;  ten  cent  customers  were  as  scarce  there  as  one 
dollar  customers  are  here ;  less  than  ten  cents'  worth  was  not  sold — ten  cents  or  no 
charge  was  the  rule. 
The  druggist  and  physician  was  looked  upon  as  a  somewhat  superior  being  j  his 
will  was  done,  his  word  was  law.  Whenever  there  was  a  public  meeting  or  a  social 
gathering,  it  was  not  considered  complete  until  the  doctor  was  identified  with  it  in 
some  way.  Many  a  meeting — political  or  for  the  organization  of  a  fire  company, 
base  ball  club,  dancing  club  or  church  festival — was  started  in  the  store,  subscrip- 
tions and  donations  received,  and  tickets  sold  for  one  or  all,  as  the  case  might  be. 
The  doctor's  name  was  always  on  the  ticket  for  coroner  ;  his  services  in  that  capacity 
were  frequently  called  into  use  after  there  had  been  what  they  called  a  neck-tie 
festival.  These  were  generally  held  after  horses  had  been  stolen  and  the  aggressors 
caught  by  the  Vigilantes. 
In  all  the  time  that  I  was  in  the  Far  West  I  do  not  remember  a  single  instance  of 
a  person  asking  for  simply  a  dose  of  oil,  as  it  is  called  here,  the  article  not  being 
put  to  use  in  that  way. 
Strychnia,  arsenic,  laudanum,  or  any  other  poisonous  drugs  were  sold  to  any  one 
that  pleased  to  buy,  and  no  questions  asked.  A  friend  of  the  doctor's  at  one  time 
sent  him  a  case  of  strawberries ;  these  he  was  to  sell  for  him  merely  as  an  experi- 
ment. They  sold  readily  at  one  dollar  per  quart,  and  the  individuals  considered 
themselves  favored  at  having  the  chance  to  buy,  there  not  being  enough  for  all. 
After  that  we  had  California  grapes,  pears  and  peaches  for  sale  in  their  season, 
which  brought  six  bits  and  one  dollar  per  pound. 
Everything  is  sold  by  the  pound  in  that  country,  excepting  eggs,  liquids  and  dry 
goods.  Water  was  sold  at  that  time  at  two  bits  (twenty-five  cents)  per  barrel,  and 
was  delivered  from  a  tank  on  wheels  or  by  placing  a  barrel  on  the  forked  branches 
of  a  tree,  drawing  it  to  the  river  by  horse,  filling  and  drawing  back  to  place.  This 
water  was  generally  very  muddy,  and  had  to  be  allowed  to  settle  or  else  be  clarified 
by  adding  alum,  before  it  could  be  used  for  ordinary  purposes,-  the  water  obtained 
from  wells  being  entirely  unfit  for  use,  as  it  is  very  alkaline. 
The  class  of  people  we  had  to  deal  with  were  as  various  as  were  their  wants, 
they  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  Texas,  New  Mexico  or  the  Colony, 
passing  through  our  town  on  their  way  to  the  mines,  and  as  a  matter  of  necessity 
