14  Liquor  Selling  by  Pharmacists,  {^"jlr"i8^7^""' 
drug  sign,  and  under  that  shield  continue  his  business.  After  other  un- 
important discussion  the  subject  was  dropped. 
It  is  not  the  writer's  purpose  to  discuss  the  justice  or  injustice  of  the 
law  compelling  the  conscientious  druggist  to  place  himself  on  a  level 
with  the  saloon-keeper,  by  requiring  him  to  pay  the  same  license,  or 
subject  himself  to  the  risk  of  a  heavy  fine  and  the  disgrace  attending  a 
prosecution,  though  he  endeavors  to  confine  his  sales  of  liquors  to  the 
actual  requirements  of  them  as  a  medicine. 
The  present  stringent  laws  have  been  caused  by  the  abuse,  by  many 
druggists,  of  the  privileges  afforded  to  the  profession.  We  believe  that 
the  greater  number  of  druggists  confine  their  sales  to  its  legitimate 
requirements  ;  but  there  are  still  a  large  number  who  do  disgrace  the 
profession  by  using  their  titles  as  a  cover  under  which  they  carry  on  an 
extensive  liquor  traffic,  and  in  some  cases  so  remunerative  that  many 
saloon  keepers  might  envy  it.  Some  druggists  make  no  secret  of  this 
department,  and  sell  without  restrictions  ;  but  this  is  rarely  the  case  ; 
usually  there  is  a  back  room,  where  the  right  customer  can  get  what- 
ever he  wants,  but  a  good  watch  is  kept  that  they  don't  let  the  wrong 
men  into  their  secrets.  Some  sell  to  their  customers  in  bottles,  and 
allow  them  to  be  concealed  in  a  convenient  place  about  the  back  room, 
so  that  customers  with  their  friends  can  have  easy  access  and  resort  to 
it  ad  libitum.  A  very  popular  custom,  for  several  years  past,  is  that  of 
selling  liquors  from  the  soda  fountain,  under  the  disguise  of  some  mys- 
terious name,  so  that  the  favored  customer  can  get  his  drinks  without 
calHng  for  them  as  he  would  at  an  ordinary  bar.  There  are  many 
other  devices  resorted  to  by  which  they  manage  to  escape  the  tangles 
of  the  law  and  just  censure  of  the  public. 
It  seems  unreasonable  that  champagnes  and  other  fancy  liquors 
should  be  included  in  the  stock  of  the  legitimate  pharmacist,  but  we 
frequently  find  them  there.  Not  only  are  such  pharmacists  a  disgrace 
to  the  profession,  but  they  are  casting  an  atmosphere  of  suspicion 
about  it  so  that  we  not  unfrequently  see  the  name  coupled  with  that 
of  the  saloon-keeper.  The  following  is  an  abstract  from  a  circular 
issued  by  the  liquor  dealers  of  Chicago,  during  the  enforcement  of  the 
eleven-o'clock  and  Sunday  liquor  law,  and  was  addressed  to  the  druggists 
of  that  city.  "  It  shows  that  the  drug  store  is  considered  the  resort 
when  the  doors  of  the  saloons  are  closed.  The  present  agitation  of 
the  vexed  liquor  question  is  of  far  more  importance  to  the  druggist 
than  is  generally  supposed  ;  at  the  present  time  the  trouble  is  confined 
