564  A  Drug  Store  in  the  Far  West.      { Al\fc8P7h7arm' 
would  stop  and  replenish  their  stock  of  medicines,  this  being  the  only  drug  store 
within  seventy-five  miles  or  more  around.  All  owners  of*  sheep,  horse  and  cattle 
ranches  were  purchasers  of  large  quantities  of  medicines  for  both  man  and  beast. 
The  Indians  and  Mexicans  would  come,  complaining  of  being  muncho  mala  (very 
sick)  If  we  took  pity  on  poor  Lo,  and  gave  him  a  Seidlitz  powder  in  separate 
doses  until  the  froth  came  out  of  his  mouth,  he  thought  it  a  good  joke,  and  would 
go  off  and  return  with  another  buck,  who  would  likewise  complain  of  being  sick, 
and  when  treated  in  the  same  way  would  go  and  do  likewise  5  and  so  on  until  the 
thing  became  monotonous.  The  Indians  also  frequently  came  to  swap  (trade)  furs, 
pelts,  skins  and  robes  for  paint  5  these  in  turn  we  would  sell  for  cash.  The  Mexi- 
cans' wants  were  generally  limited  to  blue  ointment,  agua  dienta  (whiskey),  medi- 
cena  per  granis  (medicine  for  itch),  or  pietra  infernal  (nitrate  of  silver).  The 
arrival  of  a  soda  fountain  and  generator  for  the  drug  store  created  quite  an  excite- 
ment, and  on  the  day  the  charging  of  the  fountain  for  the  first  time  took  place 
there  were  a  considerable  number  of  spectators  standing  around  the  back  of  the 
store,  where  the  performance  was  going  on.  As  none  of  us  had  ever  charged  a 
fountain  before,  we  made  quite  an  awkward  piece  of  business  of  it,  and  when  the 
pipes  got  choked  up  with  marble  dust,  necessitating  our  taking  off  one  of  the  nuts, 
the  marble  dust  and  water  were  blown  out  with  such  violence  that  an  alarm  was 
given  that  the  place  had  blown  up,  and  a  general  stampede  resulted.  After  we 
succeeded  in  making  the  soda  water,  we  for  several  reasons  found  ready  sale  for  it 
at  fifteen  cents  per  glass,  or  tw  o  bits  a  glass  with  a  stick  in  it.  The  ice  for  our  use 
we  had  stored  ourselves,  or,  when  such  was  not  the  case,  bought  and  paid  at  the 
rate  of  three  dollars  per  hundred  pounds  for  the  same. 
Things  were  not  alone  in  this  shape  in  Pueblo,  but  Denver,  the  largest  city  in 
Colorado,  had  but  little  to  boast  of.  With  the  coming  of  the  railroad,  things 
changed  ;  goods  could  be  had  on  quicker  time  and  much  cheaper,  and  a  gradual 
improvement  in  the  conducting  of  the  drug  business  was  noticeable.  Whereas 
heretofore  the  proprietor's  formula  book  had  ruled  supreme,  it  was  now  replaced 
by  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  and  preparations  that  were  heretofore  bought 
in  the  East  we  now  prepared  according  to  its  directions.  Prescriptions  began  to 
take  the  place  of  patent  medicines,  other  physicians  having  located  in  the  meantime. 
Goods  not  proper  to  the  drug  store  were  discarded  as  opportunities  would  permit, 
and  replaced  by  a  more  complete  stock  of  drugs.  At  the  present  time  the  drug 
business  is  carried  on  in  a  more  legitimate  manner  in  Colorado  than  in  many  of 
the  Eastern  States.  Druggists  get  a  good  price  for  what  they  sell,  and  can  afford 
to  sell  a  good  and  pure  article  at  the  price,  and  such  is  the  intention  of  the  average 
druggist  j  when  he  fails  to  do  so,  it  is  in  ignorance  and  not  knowingly  that  the 
fraud  is  committed. 
In  no  other  part  of  the  country  can  a  thorough  druggist  and  pharmacist  apply 
his  knowledge  and  ability  to  so  good  an  advantage  as  in  the  Far  West.  There  he 
has  no  wholesale  stores  at  hand  to  send  to,  where  he  can  get  whatever  he  happens 
to  want  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  but  is  thrown  on  his  own  resources  and  ability 
to  manufacture. 
