Inaself-gratulatorydis-
sertation
the Peruna Company observes in substance that, while the leading minds of the nation have hitherto shrunk from the publicity attendant on commending any patent medicine, the transcendent virtues of Peruna have overcome this amiable modesty, and one and all, they stand forth its avowed champions.
Adams-Great-American-Fraud
The sale of Pernna, wldcl) is on the lists of several tiaders, is hereby absolutely prohibited.
As a me<iicin<'.
something else can be sulxstituted ; as an infoxicant, it has been fiaind too templing a.
nd effective.
Anything of the sort under another name which is found to lead to intoxication you will please repv)rt to this Office.
When a compound of that sort gets a had name it is liabb' ivj be put on the market with, some sliglit change t'f form arid a ?
*'-w nanie.
Jamaica ginger and Ibivoring extracts of vanilla, lemon, and so forth, should be kept in only small quantities and in small hollies and slnjuid not be sold to Indians, or nt least only sparingly to those who it is known will us*' them only for legitimate purposes.
,
Of C(>urse. you will (Hiiitinue to give attention to the labeling of poison- ous drugs with skull and cross-bones as per Office circular of January
rj, 1905
(. . ^opies of this circular leiter are herewith to be lurnished the traders.
Yours, respectfully.
C. F. LARRABEE, Ading Chmmimoner.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT THINKS OF PERUNA.
Note, in the fifth paragraph, these sentences: "The sale of Peruna, which is on the list of sev- eral traders, ? . ? herehy absolutely prohibited. As a medicine' something else can be substituted : as an mtoxicant it has been found too tempting and effective. "
? ^'5
to the proprietary medicines and other compounds which the traders keep in stock, Avith special reference to the liability of their misuse by Indians onaccountofthealcoholwhichtheycontain. ThesaleofPeruna,whichis on the lists of several traders, is hereby absolutely prohibited. As a medi- cine, something else can be substituted; as an intoxicant, it has been found too tempting and effective. Anything of the sort, under another name, which is found to lead to intoxication, you will please report to this office. "[Signed] F. C. Larrabee, Acting Commissioner. "
Specific evidence of what Peruna can do will be found in the following report, verified by special investigation:
PiNEDALE, Wyo. , Oct. 4. --[Special. ) --"Two men suffering from delirium tremens and one dead is the result of a Peruna intoxication which took place here a few days ago. C. E. Armstrong, of this place, and a party of three others started out on a cainping trip to the Yellowstone country, taking with them several bottles of whisky and ten bottles of Peruna, which one of the members of the party was taking as a tonic. The trip lastedoveraweek. Thewhiskywasexhaustedandfortwodaystheparty was without liquor. At last some one suggested that they use Peruna, of which nine bottles remained. Before they stopped the whole remaining supply had been consumed and the four men were in a state of intoxication, the like of which they had never known before. Finally, one awoke with terrible cramps in his stomach and found his companions seemingly in an almostlifelesscondition. Sufferingterribleagony,hecrawledonhishands and knees to a ranch over a mile distant, the process taking him half a day. Aid was sent to his three companions. Armstrong was dead when the rescue party arrived. The other two men, still, unconscious, were brought totowninawagonandarestillinaweakandemaciatedcondition. Arm- strong's body was almost tied in a knot and could not be straightened for burial. "
Here is the testimony from a druggist in a "no license" town:
"Peruna is bought by all the druggists in this section by the gross. 1 have seen persons thoroughly intoxicated from taking Peruna. The com- mon remark in this place when a drunken party is particularly obstrep- erous is that he is on a 'Peruna drunk. ' It is a notorious fact that a great many do use Peruna to get the alcoholic effect, and they certainly do get it goodandstrong. Now,thereareotherso-calledremediesusedforthesame purpose, namely, Gensenica, Kidney Specific, Jamaica Ginger, Hostetter's Bitters, etc. "
So well recognized is this use of the nostrum that a number of the Southern newspapers advertise a cure for the "Peruna habit," which is probably worse than the habit, as is usually the case with these "cures. " In southern Ohio and in the mountain districts of West Virginia the "Peruna jag" is a standard form of intoxication.
Two Testimonials.
A testimonial-hunter in the employ of the Peruna company was referred byaMinnesotadruggisttoaprosperousfarmerintheneighborhood. The farmer gave Peruna a most enthusiastic "send-off;" he had been using it for several months and could say, etc. Then he took the agent to his barn and showed liim a heap of empty Peruna bottles. The agent counted them. There were seventy-four. The druggist added his testimonial. "That old boy has a 'still' on all the time since he discovered Peruna," said he. "He's mystarcustomer. " Thedruggist'stestimonialwasnotprinted.
At the time when certain Chicago drug stores were fighting some of the leading patent medicines, and carrying only a small stoclf of them, a boy
? IC
ALCOHOL IN "MEDICINES" AND IN LIQUORS.
These diagi-ams show what would be left in a hottle of patent medicine if everything was poured out except the alcohol ; they also show the quantity of alcohol that would he present if the same bottle had contained whisky, cham- pagne, claret or beer. It is apparent that a bottle of Peruna contains as much alcohol as five bottles of beer, or three bottles of claret or champage--that is, bottles of the sa. me size. It would take nearly nine bottles of beer to put as much alcohol into a thirstj'- man's system as a temperance advocate can get by drinking one bottle of Ilostetter's Stomach Bitters. While the "doses" prescribed by the patent medicine manufactxirers are only one to two teaspoonfuls several times a day, the opportunity to take more exists, and even small doses of alcohol,
taken regularly, cause that craving which is the first step in. the making of a drunkard or drug fiend.
ir
called one evening at one of the downtown shops for thirtj^-nine bottles of Periina. "There's the money," he said. "The old man wants to get his before it's all gone. " Investipation showed that the purchaser was the night engineer of a big downtown building and that the entire working staff had "chipped in" to get a supply of their favorite stimulant,
"But why should any one who wants to get drunk drink Peruna when he can get whisky? " argues the nostrum-maker.
There are two reasons, one of which is that in many places the "medi- cine" can be obtained and the liquor can not, Maine, for instance, being aprohibitionstate,doesabigbusinessinpatentmedicines. SodoesKan- sas. So do most of the no-license coimties in the South, though a few have recently thrown out the disguised "boozes. " Indian Territory and Okla- homa, as we have'seen, liave done so because of Poor Lo's predilection toward curing himself of depression with these remedies, and for a time, at least, Peruna was shipped in in unlabeled boxes.
United States District Attorney Mellette, of the western district of Indian Territory, writes: "Vast quantities of Peruna are shipped into this coun- try, and I have caused a number of persons to be indicted for selling the same, and a few of them have been convicted or have entered pleas of guilty. IcouldgiveyouhundredsofspecificcasesofTerunadrunk'among the Indians, It is a common beverage among them, used for the purposes of intoxication. '^
The other reason why Peruna or some other of its class is often the agency of drunkenness instead of whisky is that the drinker of Peruna doesn't want to get drunk, at least she doesn't know that she wants to get drunk, I use the feminine pronoun advisedly, because the remedies of this class are largely supported by women, Lydia Pinkham's A'ariety of drinkdependsforitspopularitychieflyonitsalcohol, Paine'sCeleryCom- pound relieves depression and lack of vitality on the same principle that a cocktail does, and with the same" necessity for repetition. I know an estimable lady from the middle West who visited her dissipated brother in Kew York^"--dissipated from her point of view, because she was a pillar of the W. C, T. U. , and he frequently took a cocktail before dinner and came back with it on his breath, whereon she would weep over him as one lost toTiope. One day, in a mood of brutal exasperation, when he hadn't had his drink and was able to discern the flavor of her grief, he turned on her:
"I'll tell you what's the matter with you," he said. "You're drunk-- maudlin drunk! "
She promptly and properly went into hysterics. The physician who at- tended diagnosed the case more politely, but to the same effect, and ascer- tained that she had consumed something- like a half a bottle of Kilmer's Swamp-Eoot that afternoon. Xow, Swamp-Eoot is a very creditable "booze," but much weaker in alcohol than most of its class. The brother was greatly amused until he discovered, to his alarm, that his drink- abhorring sister couldn't get along without her patent medicine bottte! She was in a fair way, quite innocently, of becoming a drunkard.
Another example of this "unconscious drunkenness" is recorded by the Journal of the American Medical Association: "A respected clergj-man fell ill and the family physician was called. After examining the patient carefully the doctor asked for a private interview with the patient's adult son.
" "I am sorry to tell you that your father undoubtedly is suffering from chronic alcoholism,' said the physician.
"? 'Chronic alcoholism! Why, that's ridiculous! Father never drank a drop of liquor in his life, and we know all there is to know about his habits. ' " "Well, my boy, it's chronic alcoholism, nevertheless, and at this present
-
? "
? 18
moment your father is drunk. How has his health been recently ? Has he been taking any medicine? '
" 'Why, for some time, six months, I should say, father has often com- plained of feeling unusually tired. A few months ago a friend of his recommended Peruna to him, assuring him that it would build him up. Since then he has taken many bottles of it, and I am quite sure that he has taken nothing else. '
From its very name one would naturally absolve Duffy's INialt Whiskey from fraudulent pretence. But Duffy's Malt Whiskey is a fraud, for ft pretends to be a medicine and to cure all kinds of lung and throat diseases. It is especially favored by temperance folk. "A dessertspoonful four to
A SALOON WINDOW DISPLAY AT AUBURN, N. Y.
This bar-room advertised Duffy's Malt Whiskey, the beverage "indorsed" by the "distinguishecl divines and temperance workers" pictured below, and displays it with other well-known brands of Bourbon and rye--not as a medicine, but purely as a liquor, to be served, like others, in 15-cent drinks across the bar.
six times a day in water and a tablespoonful on going to bed" (personal prescription for consumptive), makes a fair grog allowance for an ab- stainer.
Medicine or Liquor?
"You must not forget," writes the doctor in charge, by way of allaying the supposed scruples of the patient, "that taking Dufi'y's Malt Whiskey in small or medicinal doses is not like taking liquor in large quantities, or as it is usually taken. Taking it a considerable time in medicinal doses,
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THREE '-DISTINGUISHED TEMPERANCE WORKERS" WHO ADVOCATE THE USE OF WHISKEY.
Of these three "distinguished divines and temperance workers," the Rev. Dun- ham runs a Get-Married-Quicli Matrimonial Bureau, while the "Rev. " Houghton derives his income from his salary as Deputy Internal Revenue Collector, his business being to collect Uncle Sam's liquor tax. The printed portrait of Houghton is entirely imaginary ; a genuine photograph of the "temperance worker" and whiskey indorser is shown above. The Rev. McLeod lives in
Greenleaf, Mich. --a township of 893 inhabitants, in Salina County, north of Port Huron, and of the railway line. Mr. McLeod was called to trial by his presbytery for indorsing Duffy's whiskey and was allowed to "resign"' from the fellowship.
? 20
as we direct, leads to health and happiness, while taken the other way it often leads to ruin and decay. If you follow our advice about taking it you will ahvays be in the temperance fold, without qualm of conscience. "
It has testimonials ranging from consumption to malaria, and indorse- mentsoftheclergy. OntheprecedingpagewereproduceaDuffyadvertise- ment showing the "portraits" of three "clergymen" who consider Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey a gift of God, and on page 18 a saloon-window display of tMs product. For the whisky has its recognized place behind the bar, being sold by the manufacturers to the wholesale liquor trade and by them to the saloons, Avhere it may be purchased over the counter for 85 cents a quart. This is cheap, but Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey is not regarded as a high-class article.
REV. W. N. DUNHAM.
Born in Vermont eighty-two years ago, Mr. Dunham was graduated from the Boston Medical College and prac- ticed medicine until about thirty years ago, when he moved west. There he became a preacher. He occupied the pulpit of the South Cheyenne, Wyoming. Congregational Church for ten years. Two years
ago he retired from the pulpit and established a marriage bureau for the accommodation of couples who come over from Colorado to be mar- ried. No money was paid by the Duffy's Malt Whiskey people for Dunham's testimonial ; but he re- ceived about . $10 "to have his pic- ture taken. "
"REV. " M. X. HOUGHTON.
This is the actual likeness of the "distinguished divine" with the side whiskers in the Duffy whiskey ad- vertisement. Mr. Houghton was for a number of years pastor of the Church of Eternal Hope, of Bradford, Pa. He retired six years ago to enter politics, and is now a deputy Internal Revenue collector. Although a mem- ber of the Universalist Church, Mr. Houghton is a spiritualist and deliv- ered orations last summer at the Lily Dale assembly, the spiritualistic "City of Light" located near Dunkirk, N. i. Mr. Houghton owned racehorses and was a patron of the turf.
Its status has been definitely settled in New York State, where Excise Commissioner Cullinane recently obtained a decision in the supreme cOurt declaring it a liquor. The trial was in Rochester, where the nostrum is made. Eleven supposedly reputable physicians, four of them members of the Health Department, swore to their belief that the whisky contained drugs which constituted it a genuine medicine. The state was able to show concln-. iv(ly that if remedial drugs were present they were in such small
? 21
quantities as to be indistinguishable, and, of course, utterly without value; in short, that the product was nothing more or less than sweetened whisky. Yet the United States government has long lent its sanction to the "medi- cine" status by exempting Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey from the federal liquor tax. In fact, the government is primarily responsible for the formal establishment of the product as a medicine, having forced it into the patent medicine ranks at the time when the Spanish war expenses were partly raised by a special tax on nostrums. Up to that time the Duffy product, while asserting its virtues in various ills, made no direct pretence to be anything but a whiskey. Transfer to the patent medicine list cost it, in wartaxes,morethan$40,000. Bywayofgettingaquidproquo,thecom- pany began ingeniously and with some justification to exploit its liquor as "the only whisky recognized by the government as medicine," and con- tinues so to advertise, although the recent decision of the Internal Revenue Department, providing that all patent medicines which have no medicinal properties other than the alcohol in them must pay a rectifier's tax, rele- gates it to its proper place. While this decision is not a severe financial blow to the Duffy and their congeners (it means only a few hundred dol- lars apiece), it is important as officially establishing the "bracer" class on thesamefootingwithwhiskeyandgin,wheretheybelong. Other"drugs" there are which sell largely, perhaps chiefly, over the bar, Hostetter's Bit- ters and Damiana Bitters being prominent in this class.
When this series of articles was first projected Collier's received a warning from "Warner's Safe Cure," advising that a thorough investigation wouldbewisebefore"makinganyattack"onthatpreparation. Ihaveno intention of "attacking" this company or any one else, and they would have escaped notice altogether, because of their present unimportance, but for their letter. The suggested investigation was not so thorough as to go deeply into the nature of the remedy, which is an alcoholic liquid, but it developed this interesting fact: Warner's Safe Cure, together with all the Warner remedies, is leased, managed and controlled by the New York and Kentucky Distilling Company, manufacturers of standard whiskies, which do not pretend to remedy anything but thirst. Duffy's Malt Whiskey is anothersubsidiarycompanyoftheNewYorkandKentuckyconcern. This statement is respectfully submitted to temperance users of the Malt Whis- key and the Warner remedies.
Some Alcohol Percentages.
Hostetter's Bitters contain, according to an official state analysis, 44 per cent of alcohol; Lydia Pinkham appeals to suffering womanhood with 20 per cent, of alcohol; Hood's Sarsaparilla cures "that tired feeling" with 18 per cent. ; Burdock's Blood Bitters, with 25 per cent. ; Ayer's Sarsa- parilla, with 26 per cent. , and Paine's Celery Compound, with 21 per cent. The fact is that any of these remedies could be interchanged with Peruna or with each other, so far as general effect goes, though the iodid of potas- sium in the sarsaparilla class might have some effect (as likely to be harm- fulashelpful) whichwouldbelackinginthesimplermixtures.
If this class of nostrum is so harmful, asks the attentive reader of news- paper advertising columns, how explain the indorsements of so many people of prominence and reputation? "Men of prominence and reputation" in this connection means Peruna, for Peruna has made a specialty of high governmentofficialsandpeopleinthepubliceye.
Inaself-gratulatorydis- sertation the Peruna Company observes in substance that, while the leading minds of the nation have hitherto shrunk from the publicity attendant on commending any patent medicine, the transcendent virtues of Peruna have overcome this amiable modesty, and one and all, they stand forth its avowed champions. This is followed by an ingenious document headed.
? 23
"Fifty Members of Congress Send Letters of Indorsement to the Inventor of the Great Catarrh Remedy, Pe-ru-na," and quoting thirty-six of the let- ters. Analysis of these letters brings out the singular circumstance that in twenty-cne of the thirty-six there is no indication that the writer has ever tasted the remedy which he so warmly praises. As a sample, and for the benefit of lovers of ingenious literature, I reprint the following from a
humorous member of Congress:
"My secretary had as bad a case of catarrh as I ever saw, and since he
has taken one bottle of Peruna he seems like a different man.
"Taylorville, N. C. Romulus Z. Linn^ey. " The famous letter of Admiral Schley is a ease in point. He wrote to
the Peruna Company:
"I can cheerfully say that Mrs. Schley has used Peruna, and I believe
with good efi'ect. [Signed] . W. S. Schley. "
This indorsment went the rounds of the country in half-page blazonry, to the consternation of the family's friends. Admiral Schley seems to have appreciated that this use of his name was detrimental to his standing. He wrote to a Columbus religious journal the following letter:
"1826 I Street, Washington, D. C, Nov. 10, 1904. "Editor Catholic Columbian:--The advertisement of the Peruna Com- pany, inclosed, is made without any authority or approval from me. When it was brought to my attention first I wrote the company a letter, stating that the advertisement was ofifensive and must be discontinued. Their representative here called on me and stated he had been directed to assure me no further publication would be allowed, as it was without my sanction. "I would say that the advertisement has been made without my knowledge
or consent and is an infringement of my rights as a citizen.
"If you will kindly inform me what the name and date of the paper
was in which the inclosed advertisement appeared I shall feel obliged. "Very truly yours, W. S. Schley. " Careful study of this document will show that this is no explicit denial
of the testimonial. But who gives careful study to such a letter? On the face of it, it puts the Peruna people in the position of having forged their advertisement. NinetJ^-nine people out of a hundred would get that im- pression. Yet I have seen the testimonial, signed with Admiral Schley's name and interlined in the same handwriting as the signature, and I have seen another letter, similarly signed, stating that Admiral Schley had not understood that the letter was to be used for such advertising as the recipient based on it. If these letters are forgeries the victim has his recourse in the law. They are on file at Columbus, Ohio, and the Peruna Company would doubtless produce them in defense of a suit.
What the Government Can Do.
One thing that the public has a right to demand in its attitude toward the proprietary medicines containing alcohol: that the government carry out rigidly its promised policy no longer to permit liquors to disguise themselves as patent medicines, and thereby escape the tax which is put on other (and probably better) brands of intoxicants. One other demand it should make on the purveyors of the concoctions: that they label every bottle Avith the percentage of alcohol it contains; then the innocent clergy- man who writes testimonials to Duffy, and the W. C. T. U. member who indorses Peruna^ Lydia Pinkham, Warner, and their compeers, will know when they imbibe their "tonics," "invigorators," "swamp roots," "bitters," "nerve-builders," or "spring medicines," that they are sipping by the table- spoon or wineglassful what the town tippler takes across the license-paying bar.
? Eczema-- Fevers,
Tumors--
Reprinted from Collier's Weekly, Nov. 18, 10o5
III--LIQUOZONE.
Twentyyearsagotheniiciobewasmakingagreatstirintheland. The public mind, ever prone to exaggerate the importance and extent of any new scientific discovery, ascribed all known diseases to microbes. The infinitesimal creature with the mysterious and unpleasant attributes became the leading topic of the time. Shrewdly appreciating this golden oppor-
tunity, a quack genius named Eadam invented a drug to slay the new enemy of mankind and gave it his name. Radam's Microbe Killer filled the public prints with blazonry of its lethal virtues. As it consisted of a
mixture of muriatic and sulphuric acids, with red wine, any microbe Avhich took it was like to fare hard; but the ingenious Mr. Radam's method of administering it to its intended prey via the human stomach failed to commend itself to science, though enormously successful in a financial sense through flamboyant advertising.
Liquozone "Cures" Thirty-seven Varieties.
In time some predaceous bacillus, having eluded the "killer," carried off its inventor. His nostrum soon languished. To-day it is little heard of, but from the ashes of its glories has risen a mightier successor, Liquozone. Where twenty years ago the microbe reveled in publicity, to-day we talk of germs and bacteria; consequently Liquozone exploits itself as a germi- cide and bactericide. It dispenses with the red wine of the Radam con- coction and relies on a weak solution of sulphuric and sulphurous acids, with an occasional trace of hydrochloric or hydrobromic acid. Mostly it ia water, and this is what it "cures":
"Asthma, Abscess--Anemia,
Gallstones, Goiter--Gout,
Hay Fever--Influenza, La Grippe, Leucorrhea,
Skin Diseases, Tuberculosis,
Bronchitis,
Blood Poison^
Bowel Troubles, Coughs-- Consumption, Contagious Diseases, Cancer--Catarrh, Dysentery--Diarrhea, Dyspepsia--Dandruff,
Cclds,
Malaria Neuralgia, Piles--Quinsy, Rheumatism, Scrofula,
Erysipelas,
Ulcers, Throat Troubles
"
--
--all diseases that begin with fever--all inflammations--all catarrh--all contagious diseases--all the results of impure or poisoned blood. In nerv- ous diseases Liquozone acts as a vitalizer, accomplishing what no drugs can do,"
These diseases it conquers by destroying, in the human body, the germs which cause (or are alleged to cause) them. Such is Liquozone's claim.
Yet the Liquozone Company is not a patent medicine concern. We have their word for it:
"We wish to state at the start that we are not patent medicine^ men, and their methods will not be employed by us. . . . Liquozone is too important a product for quackery. "
The head and center of this non-patent medicine cure-all is Douglas Smith.
? 24:
Mr. Smith is by profession a promoter. He is credited with a keen vision for profits. Several years ago he ran on a worthy ex-piano dealer, a Cana- dian by the name of Powley (we shall meet him again, trailing clouds of glory in a splendid metamorphosis), who was selling with some success a mixture known as Powley's Liquefied Ozone. This was guaranteed to kill any disease germ known to science. Mr. Smith examined into the possi- bilities of the product, bought out Powley, moved the business to Chicago, and organized it as the Liquid Ozone Company. Liquid air was then much in the public prints. Mr. Smith, with the intuition of genius, and some- thing more than genius' contempt for limitations, proceeded to catch the public eye wnth this frank assertion: "Liquozone is liquid oxygen--that is all. "
It is enough. That is, it would be enough if it were but true. Liquid oxygen doesn't exist above a temperature of 229 degrees below zero. One spoonful would freeze a man's tongue, teeth and throat to equal solidity before he ever had time to swallow. If he could, by any miracle, manage to get it down, the undertaker would have to put him on the stove to thaw him out sufficiently for a respectable burial. Unquestionably Liquo- zone, if it were liquid oxygen, would kill germs, but that wouldn't do the owner of the germs much good, because he'd be dead before they had time to realize that the temperature was falling. That it would cost a good many dollars an ounce to make is, perhaps, beside the question. The object of the company was not to make money, but to succor the sick and suffering. They say so themselves in their advertising. For some reason, however, the business did not prosper as its new owner had expected. A wider appeal to the sick and suffering was needed. Claude C. Hopkiiis, formerly advertising manager for Dr. Shoop's Restorative (also a cure-all) and perhaps the ablest exponent of his specialty in the country, was brought intotheconcernandarecord-breakingcampaignwasplanned. Thiscostno littlemoney,buttheeventproveditagoodinvestment. PresidentSmith's next move showed him to be the master of a silver tongue, for he persuaded the members of a very prominent law firm who were acting as the com- pany's attorneys to take stock in the concern, and two of them to become directors. These gentlemen represent, in Chicago, something more than tha high professional standing of their firm; they are prominent socially and forward in civic activities; in short, just the sort of people needed by President Smith to bulwark his dubious enterprise with assured respect- ability.
The Men Who Back the Fake.
In the Equitable scandal there has been plenty of evidence to show that directors often lend their names to enterprises of which they know prac- tically nothing. This seems to have been the case with the lawyers. One point they brought up: was Liquozone harmful? Positively not, Douglas Smith assured them. On the contrary, it was the greatest boon to the sick in the world's history, and he produced an impressive bulk of testi- monials. This apparently satisfied them; they did not investigate the testimonials,butacceptedthemattheirfacevalue. Theydidnotlookinto the advertising methods of the company; as nearly as I can find out, they never saw an advertisement of Liquozone in the papers until long after- ward. They just became stockholders and directors, that is all. They did as hundreds of other upright and well-meaning men had done in lending themselves to a business of which they knew practically nothing.
While the lawyers continued to practice law, Messrs. Smith and Hopkins were running the Liquozone Company. An enormous advertising campaign was begun. Pamphlets were issued containing testimonials and claiming
? 25
the soundest professional backing. Indeed, this matter of expert testi- mony, chemical, medical, and bacteriologic, is a specialty of Liquozone. To- day, despite its reforms, it is supported by an ingenious system of pseudo- scientific charlatanry. In justice to Mr. Hopkins it is but fair to say that he is not responsible for the basic fraud: that the general scheme was devised and most of the bogus or distorted medical letters arranged before hisadvent. ButwhenIcametoinvestigatetheproductafewmonthsago I found that the principal defense against attacks consisted of scientific statements that would not bear analysis and medical letters not worth the paper they were written on. In the first place the Liquozone people have letters from chemists asseverating that the compound is chemically
scientific.
Faked and Garbled Indorsements.
Messrs. Dickman, Mackenzie & Potter, of Chicago, furnish a statement to the eflfect that the product is '"'made up on scientific principles, contains no substance deleterious to health and is an antiseptic and germicide of the highestorder. " AschemiststheDickmanfirmstandshigh,butifsulphuric
ANALYSIS OF LIQUOZONE.
SULPHURIC ACID - SULPHUROUS ACID - WATER
-
About nine-tenths of one per cent. About three-tenths of one per cent. Nearly ninety-nine per cent.
Sulphuric acid is oil of vitriol. Sulphurous acid is also a corrosive poison. Liquozone is the comljina-
tion of these tico heavily diluted.
and sulphurous acids are not deleterious to their health there must be some- thingpeculiaraboutthemashumanbeings. Mr. DeavittofChicagomakes affidavit that the preparation is not made by compounding drugs. A St. Louis bacteriologist testifies that it will kill germs (in culture tubes), and that it has apparently brought favorable results in diarrhea, rheu- matism, and a finger which a guinea-pig had gnawed. These and other technical indorsements are set forth with great pomp and circumstance, but when analyzed they fail to bear out the claims of Liquozone as a medicine. Any past investigation into the nature of Liquozone has brought a flood of "indorsements"downontheinvestigator,manyofthemmedical. Myinqui- ries have been largely along medical lines, because the makers of the drug claim the private support of many physicians and medical institutions, and such testimony is the most convincing. "Liquozone has the indorsement of' an overwhelming number of medical authorities," says one of the pam- phlets.
One of the inclosures sent to me was a letter from a young physician on the stafl: of the Michael Eeese Hospital, Chicago, who was paid $25 to make bacteriologic tests in pure cultures. He reported: "This is to certify that the fluid Liquozone handed to me for bacteriologic examination has shown bacteriologic and germicidal properties. " At the same time he in-
26
formed the Liquozone agent that the mixture would be worthless medicinally. He writes me as follows: "I have never used or indorsed Liquozone; fur- thermore, its action would be harmful when taken internally. Can report a case of gastric ulcer due probably to its use. "
Later in my investigations I came on this certificate again. It was quoted, in a report on Liquozone, made by the head of a prominent Chicago laboratory for a medical journal, and it was designated, "Report made by the Michael Reese Hospital," without comment or investigation. This surprising garbling of the facts may have been due to carelessness, or it may have some connection with the fact that the laboratory investiga- tor was about that time employed to do work for Mr. Douglas Smith, Liquozone's president.
Another document is an enthusiastic "puff" of Liquozone, quoted as being contributed by Dr. W. H. Myers in The 'New York Journal of Health. There is not nor ever has been any such magazine as The Weiv York Jour- nal of Health. Dr. W. H. Myers, or some person masquerading under that name, got out a bogus '"dummy" (for publication only, and not as guaran- teeofgoodfaith, atasmallchargetotheLiquozonepeople.
)
For convenience, I list several letters quoted or sent to me, with the
result of investigations.
The Suffolk Hospital and Dispensary of Boston, through its president,
Albert C. Smith, writes: "Our test shows it (Liquozone) to possess great remedial value. " The letter I have found to be genuine. But the hospital medical authorities say they know nothing of Liquozone and never prescribe it. If President Smith is prescribing it he is liable to arrest, as he is not an M,. D.
A favoring letter from "Dr. " Fred W. Porter of Tampa, Fla. , is quoted. The Liquozone recipients of the letter forgot to mention that "Dr. " Porter is not an M. D. , but a veterinary surgeon, as is shown by his letter head.
Dr. George E: Bliss of Maple Rapids, Mich. , has used Liquozone for cancer patients. Dr. Bliss writes me, under the flaming headline of his "cancer cure," that his letter is genuine, and "not solicittated. "
Dr. A. A. Bell of Madison, Ga. , is quoted as saying: "I found Liquozone to invigorate digestion. " He is not quoted (although he Avrote it) as say- ing that his own personal experience with it had shown it to be ineffective. I have seen the original letter, and the unfavorable part of it was blue- penciled.
For a local indorsement of any medicine, perhaps as strong a name as could be secured in Chicago is that of Dr. Frank Billings. In- the offices of Collier's and elsewhere Dr. Billings has been cited by the Liquozone peojile as one of those medical men who were prevented only by ethical consid- erations from publicly indorsing their nostrum, but who nevertheless, pri- vately avowed confidence in it. Here is what Dr. Billings has to say of this
Chicago^ III. , July 31, 1905.
To the Editor of Collier's Weekly:
Dear Sir:--I have never recommended Liquozone in any way to any one, nor
have I expressed to any representative of the Liquozone Company, or to any Other person, an opinion favorable to Liquozone. (Signed).
Frank Billings^ M. D.
Under the heading, "Some Chicago Institutions which Constantly Employ Liquozone," are cited Hull House, the Chicago Orphan Asylum, the Home for Incurables, the Evanston Hospital, and the Old People's Home.
Letters to the institutions elicited the information that Hull House bad
:
? :
? 27
never used the nostrum, and had protested against the statement; that the Orphan Asylum had experimented with it only for external applica- tions, and with such dubious results that it was soon dropped; that it had been shut out of the Home for Incurables ; that a few private patients in the Old People's Home had purchased it, but on no recommendation from the physicians; and that the Evanston Hospital knew nothing of Liquozone and had never used it.
Having a professional interest in the "overwhelming number of med- ical indorsements" claimed by Liquozone, a Chicago physician, Dr. W. H.
Of C(>urse. you will (Hiiitinue to give attention to the labeling of poison- ous drugs with skull and cross-bones as per Office circular of January
rj, 1905
(. . ^opies of this circular leiter are herewith to be lurnished the traders.
Yours, respectfully.
C. F. LARRABEE, Ading Chmmimoner.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT THINKS OF PERUNA.
Note, in the fifth paragraph, these sentences: "The sale of Peruna, which is on the list of sev- eral traders, ? . ? herehy absolutely prohibited. As a medicine' something else can be substituted : as an mtoxicant it has been found too tempting and effective. "
? ^'5
to the proprietary medicines and other compounds which the traders keep in stock, Avith special reference to the liability of their misuse by Indians onaccountofthealcoholwhichtheycontain. ThesaleofPeruna,whichis on the lists of several traders, is hereby absolutely prohibited. As a medi- cine, something else can be substituted; as an intoxicant, it has been found too tempting and effective. Anything of the sort, under another name, which is found to lead to intoxication, you will please report to this office. "[Signed] F. C. Larrabee, Acting Commissioner. "
Specific evidence of what Peruna can do will be found in the following report, verified by special investigation:
PiNEDALE, Wyo. , Oct. 4. --[Special. ) --"Two men suffering from delirium tremens and one dead is the result of a Peruna intoxication which took place here a few days ago. C. E. Armstrong, of this place, and a party of three others started out on a cainping trip to the Yellowstone country, taking with them several bottles of whisky and ten bottles of Peruna, which one of the members of the party was taking as a tonic. The trip lastedoveraweek. Thewhiskywasexhaustedandfortwodaystheparty was without liquor. At last some one suggested that they use Peruna, of which nine bottles remained. Before they stopped the whole remaining supply had been consumed and the four men were in a state of intoxication, the like of which they had never known before. Finally, one awoke with terrible cramps in his stomach and found his companions seemingly in an almostlifelesscondition. Sufferingterribleagony,hecrawledonhishands and knees to a ranch over a mile distant, the process taking him half a day. Aid was sent to his three companions. Armstrong was dead when the rescue party arrived. The other two men, still, unconscious, were brought totowninawagonandarestillinaweakandemaciatedcondition. Arm- strong's body was almost tied in a knot and could not be straightened for burial. "
Here is the testimony from a druggist in a "no license" town:
"Peruna is bought by all the druggists in this section by the gross. 1 have seen persons thoroughly intoxicated from taking Peruna. The com- mon remark in this place when a drunken party is particularly obstrep- erous is that he is on a 'Peruna drunk. ' It is a notorious fact that a great many do use Peruna to get the alcoholic effect, and they certainly do get it goodandstrong. Now,thereareotherso-calledremediesusedforthesame purpose, namely, Gensenica, Kidney Specific, Jamaica Ginger, Hostetter's Bitters, etc. "
So well recognized is this use of the nostrum that a number of the Southern newspapers advertise a cure for the "Peruna habit," which is probably worse than the habit, as is usually the case with these "cures. " In southern Ohio and in the mountain districts of West Virginia the "Peruna jag" is a standard form of intoxication.
Two Testimonials.
A testimonial-hunter in the employ of the Peruna company was referred byaMinnesotadruggisttoaprosperousfarmerintheneighborhood. The farmer gave Peruna a most enthusiastic "send-off;" he had been using it for several months and could say, etc. Then he took the agent to his barn and showed liim a heap of empty Peruna bottles. The agent counted them. There were seventy-four. The druggist added his testimonial. "That old boy has a 'still' on all the time since he discovered Peruna," said he. "He's mystarcustomer. " Thedruggist'stestimonialwasnotprinted.
At the time when certain Chicago drug stores were fighting some of the leading patent medicines, and carrying only a small stoclf of them, a boy
? IC
ALCOHOL IN "MEDICINES" AND IN LIQUORS.
These diagi-ams show what would be left in a hottle of patent medicine if everything was poured out except the alcohol ; they also show the quantity of alcohol that would he present if the same bottle had contained whisky, cham- pagne, claret or beer. It is apparent that a bottle of Peruna contains as much alcohol as five bottles of beer, or three bottles of claret or champage--that is, bottles of the sa. me size. It would take nearly nine bottles of beer to put as much alcohol into a thirstj'- man's system as a temperance advocate can get by drinking one bottle of Ilostetter's Stomach Bitters. While the "doses" prescribed by the patent medicine manufactxirers are only one to two teaspoonfuls several times a day, the opportunity to take more exists, and even small doses of alcohol,
taken regularly, cause that craving which is the first step in. the making of a drunkard or drug fiend.
ir
called one evening at one of the downtown shops for thirtj^-nine bottles of Periina. "There's the money," he said. "The old man wants to get his before it's all gone. " Investipation showed that the purchaser was the night engineer of a big downtown building and that the entire working staff had "chipped in" to get a supply of their favorite stimulant,
"But why should any one who wants to get drunk drink Peruna when he can get whisky? " argues the nostrum-maker.
There are two reasons, one of which is that in many places the "medi- cine" can be obtained and the liquor can not, Maine, for instance, being aprohibitionstate,doesabigbusinessinpatentmedicines. SodoesKan- sas. So do most of the no-license coimties in the South, though a few have recently thrown out the disguised "boozes. " Indian Territory and Okla- homa, as we have'seen, liave done so because of Poor Lo's predilection toward curing himself of depression with these remedies, and for a time, at least, Peruna was shipped in in unlabeled boxes.
United States District Attorney Mellette, of the western district of Indian Territory, writes: "Vast quantities of Peruna are shipped into this coun- try, and I have caused a number of persons to be indicted for selling the same, and a few of them have been convicted or have entered pleas of guilty. IcouldgiveyouhundredsofspecificcasesofTerunadrunk'among the Indians, It is a common beverage among them, used for the purposes of intoxication. '^
The other reason why Peruna or some other of its class is often the agency of drunkenness instead of whisky is that the drinker of Peruna doesn't want to get drunk, at least she doesn't know that she wants to get drunk, I use the feminine pronoun advisedly, because the remedies of this class are largely supported by women, Lydia Pinkham's A'ariety of drinkdependsforitspopularitychieflyonitsalcohol, Paine'sCeleryCom- pound relieves depression and lack of vitality on the same principle that a cocktail does, and with the same" necessity for repetition. I know an estimable lady from the middle West who visited her dissipated brother in Kew York^"--dissipated from her point of view, because she was a pillar of the W. C, T. U. , and he frequently took a cocktail before dinner and came back with it on his breath, whereon she would weep over him as one lost toTiope. One day, in a mood of brutal exasperation, when he hadn't had his drink and was able to discern the flavor of her grief, he turned on her:
"I'll tell you what's the matter with you," he said. "You're drunk-- maudlin drunk! "
She promptly and properly went into hysterics. The physician who at- tended diagnosed the case more politely, but to the same effect, and ascer- tained that she had consumed something- like a half a bottle of Kilmer's Swamp-Eoot that afternoon. Xow, Swamp-Eoot is a very creditable "booze," but much weaker in alcohol than most of its class. The brother was greatly amused until he discovered, to his alarm, that his drink- abhorring sister couldn't get along without her patent medicine bottte! She was in a fair way, quite innocently, of becoming a drunkard.
Another example of this "unconscious drunkenness" is recorded by the Journal of the American Medical Association: "A respected clergj-man fell ill and the family physician was called. After examining the patient carefully the doctor asked for a private interview with the patient's adult son.
" "I am sorry to tell you that your father undoubtedly is suffering from chronic alcoholism,' said the physician.
"? 'Chronic alcoholism! Why, that's ridiculous! Father never drank a drop of liquor in his life, and we know all there is to know about his habits. ' " "Well, my boy, it's chronic alcoholism, nevertheless, and at this present
-
? "
? 18
moment your father is drunk. How has his health been recently ? Has he been taking any medicine? '
" 'Why, for some time, six months, I should say, father has often com- plained of feeling unusually tired. A few months ago a friend of his recommended Peruna to him, assuring him that it would build him up. Since then he has taken many bottles of it, and I am quite sure that he has taken nothing else. '
From its very name one would naturally absolve Duffy's INialt Whiskey from fraudulent pretence. But Duffy's Malt Whiskey is a fraud, for ft pretends to be a medicine and to cure all kinds of lung and throat diseases. It is especially favored by temperance folk. "A dessertspoonful four to
A SALOON WINDOW DISPLAY AT AUBURN, N. Y.
This bar-room advertised Duffy's Malt Whiskey, the beverage "indorsed" by the "distinguishecl divines and temperance workers" pictured below, and displays it with other well-known brands of Bourbon and rye--not as a medicine, but purely as a liquor, to be served, like others, in 15-cent drinks across the bar.
six times a day in water and a tablespoonful on going to bed" (personal prescription for consumptive), makes a fair grog allowance for an ab- stainer.
Medicine or Liquor?
"You must not forget," writes the doctor in charge, by way of allaying the supposed scruples of the patient, "that taking Dufi'y's Malt Whiskey in small or medicinal doses is not like taking liquor in large quantities, or as it is usually taken. Taking it a considerable time in medicinal doses,
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THREE '-DISTINGUISHED TEMPERANCE WORKERS" WHO ADVOCATE THE USE OF WHISKEY.
Of these three "distinguished divines and temperance workers," the Rev. Dun- ham runs a Get-Married-Quicli Matrimonial Bureau, while the "Rev. " Houghton derives his income from his salary as Deputy Internal Revenue Collector, his business being to collect Uncle Sam's liquor tax. The printed portrait of Houghton is entirely imaginary ; a genuine photograph of the "temperance worker" and whiskey indorser is shown above. The Rev. McLeod lives in
Greenleaf, Mich. --a township of 893 inhabitants, in Salina County, north of Port Huron, and of the railway line. Mr. McLeod was called to trial by his presbytery for indorsing Duffy's whiskey and was allowed to "resign"' from the fellowship.
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as we direct, leads to health and happiness, while taken the other way it often leads to ruin and decay. If you follow our advice about taking it you will ahvays be in the temperance fold, without qualm of conscience. "
It has testimonials ranging from consumption to malaria, and indorse- mentsoftheclergy. OntheprecedingpagewereproduceaDuffyadvertise- ment showing the "portraits" of three "clergymen" who consider Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey a gift of God, and on page 18 a saloon-window display of tMs product. For the whisky has its recognized place behind the bar, being sold by the manufacturers to the wholesale liquor trade and by them to the saloons, Avhere it may be purchased over the counter for 85 cents a quart. This is cheap, but Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey is not regarded as a high-class article.
REV. W. N. DUNHAM.
Born in Vermont eighty-two years ago, Mr. Dunham was graduated from the Boston Medical College and prac- ticed medicine until about thirty years ago, when he moved west. There he became a preacher. He occupied the pulpit of the South Cheyenne, Wyoming. Congregational Church for ten years. Two years
ago he retired from the pulpit and established a marriage bureau for the accommodation of couples who come over from Colorado to be mar- ried. No money was paid by the Duffy's Malt Whiskey people for Dunham's testimonial ; but he re- ceived about . $10 "to have his pic- ture taken. "
"REV. " M. X. HOUGHTON.
This is the actual likeness of the "distinguished divine" with the side whiskers in the Duffy whiskey ad- vertisement. Mr. Houghton was for a number of years pastor of the Church of Eternal Hope, of Bradford, Pa. He retired six years ago to enter politics, and is now a deputy Internal Revenue collector. Although a mem- ber of the Universalist Church, Mr. Houghton is a spiritualist and deliv- ered orations last summer at the Lily Dale assembly, the spiritualistic "City of Light" located near Dunkirk, N. i. Mr. Houghton owned racehorses and was a patron of the turf.
Its status has been definitely settled in New York State, where Excise Commissioner Cullinane recently obtained a decision in the supreme cOurt declaring it a liquor. The trial was in Rochester, where the nostrum is made. Eleven supposedly reputable physicians, four of them members of the Health Department, swore to their belief that the whisky contained drugs which constituted it a genuine medicine. The state was able to show concln-. iv(ly that if remedial drugs were present they were in such small
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quantities as to be indistinguishable, and, of course, utterly without value; in short, that the product was nothing more or less than sweetened whisky. Yet the United States government has long lent its sanction to the "medi- cine" status by exempting Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey from the federal liquor tax. In fact, the government is primarily responsible for the formal establishment of the product as a medicine, having forced it into the patent medicine ranks at the time when the Spanish war expenses were partly raised by a special tax on nostrums. Up to that time the Duffy product, while asserting its virtues in various ills, made no direct pretence to be anything but a whiskey. Transfer to the patent medicine list cost it, in wartaxes,morethan$40,000. Bywayofgettingaquidproquo,thecom- pany began ingeniously and with some justification to exploit its liquor as "the only whisky recognized by the government as medicine," and con- tinues so to advertise, although the recent decision of the Internal Revenue Department, providing that all patent medicines which have no medicinal properties other than the alcohol in them must pay a rectifier's tax, rele- gates it to its proper place. While this decision is not a severe financial blow to the Duffy and their congeners (it means only a few hundred dol- lars apiece), it is important as officially establishing the "bracer" class on thesamefootingwithwhiskeyandgin,wheretheybelong. Other"drugs" there are which sell largely, perhaps chiefly, over the bar, Hostetter's Bit- ters and Damiana Bitters being prominent in this class.
When this series of articles was first projected Collier's received a warning from "Warner's Safe Cure," advising that a thorough investigation wouldbewisebefore"makinganyattack"onthatpreparation. Ihaveno intention of "attacking" this company or any one else, and they would have escaped notice altogether, because of their present unimportance, but for their letter. The suggested investigation was not so thorough as to go deeply into the nature of the remedy, which is an alcoholic liquid, but it developed this interesting fact: Warner's Safe Cure, together with all the Warner remedies, is leased, managed and controlled by the New York and Kentucky Distilling Company, manufacturers of standard whiskies, which do not pretend to remedy anything but thirst. Duffy's Malt Whiskey is anothersubsidiarycompanyoftheNewYorkandKentuckyconcern. This statement is respectfully submitted to temperance users of the Malt Whis- key and the Warner remedies.
Some Alcohol Percentages.
Hostetter's Bitters contain, according to an official state analysis, 44 per cent of alcohol; Lydia Pinkham appeals to suffering womanhood with 20 per cent, of alcohol; Hood's Sarsaparilla cures "that tired feeling" with 18 per cent. ; Burdock's Blood Bitters, with 25 per cent. ; Ayer's Sarsa- parilla, with 26 per cent. , and Paine's Celery Compound, with 21 per cent. The fact is that any of these remedies could be interchanged with Peruna or with each other, so far as general effect goes, though the iodid of potas- sium in the sarsaparilla class might have some effect (as likely to be harm- fulashelpful) whichwouldbelackinginthesimplermixtures.
If this class of nostrum is so harmful, asks the attentive reader of news- paper advertising columns, how explain the indorsements of so many people of prominence and reputation? "Men of prominence and reputation" in this connection means Peruna, for Peruna has made a specialty of high governmentofficialsandpeopleinthepubliceye.
Inaself-gratulatorydis- sertation the Peruna Company observes in substance that, while the leading minds of the nation have hitherto shrunk from the publicity attendant on commending any patent medicine, the transcendent virtues of Peruna have overcome this amiable modesty, and one and all, they stand forth its avowed champions. This is followed by an ingenious document headed.
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"Fifty Members of Congress Send Letters of Indorsement to the Inventor of the Great Catarrh Remedy, Pe-ru-na," and quoting thirty-six of the let- ters. Analysis of these letters brings out the singular circumstance that in twenty-cne of the thirty-six there is no indication that the writer has ever tasted the remedy which he so warmly praises. As a sample, and for the benefit of lovers of ingenious literature, I reprint the following from a
humorous member of Congress:
"My secretary had as bad a case of catarrh as I ever saw, and since he
has taken one bottle of Peruna he seems like a different man.
"Taylorville, N. C. Romulus Z. Linn^ey. " The famous letter of Admiral Schley is a ease in point. He wrote to
the Peruna Company:
"I can cheerfully say that Mrs. Schley has used Peruna, and I believe
with good efi'ect. [Signed] . W. S. Schley. "
This indorsment went the rounds of the country in half-page blazonry, to the consternation of the family's friends. Admiral Schley seems to have appreciated that this use of his name was detrimental to his standing. He wrote to a Columbus religious journal the following letter:
"1826 I Street, Washington, D. C, Nov. 10, 1904. "Editor Catholic Columbian:--The advertisement of the Peruna Com- pany, inclosed, is made without any authority or approval from me. When it was brought to my attention first I wrote the company a letter, stating that the advertisement was ofifensive and must be discontinued. Their representative here called on me and stated he had been directed to assure me no further publication would be allowed, as it was without my sanction. "I would say that the advertisement has been made without my knowledge
or consent and is an infringement of my rights as a citizen.
"If you will kindly inform me what the name and date of the paper
was in which the inclosed advertisement appeared I shall feel obliged. "Very truly yours, W. S. Schley. " Careful study of this document will show that this is no explicit denial
of the testimonial. But who gives careful study to such a letter? On the face of it, it puts the Peruna people in the position of having forged their advertisement. NinetJ^-nine people out of a hundred would get that im- pression. Yet I have seen the testimonial, signed with Admiral Schley's name and interlined in the same handwriting as the signature, and I have seen another letter, similarly signed, stating that Admiral Schley had not understood that the letter was to be used for such advertising as the recipient based on it. If these letters are forgeries the victim has his recourse in the law. They are on file at Columbus, Ohio, and the Peruna Company would doubtless produce them in defense of a suit.
What the Government Can Do.
One thing that the public has a right to demand in its attitude toward the proprietary medicines containing alcohol: that the government carry out rigidly its promised policy no longer to permit liquors to disguise themselves as patent medicines, and thereby escape the tax which is put on other (and probably better) brands of intoxicants. One other demand it should make on the purveyors of the concoctions: that they label every bottle Avith the percentage of alcohol it contains; then the innocent clergy- man who writes testimonials to Duffy, and the W. C. T. U. member who indorses Peruna^ Lydia Pinkham, Warner, and their compeers, will know when they imbibe their "tonics," "invigorators," "swamp roots," "bitters," "nerve-builders," or "spring medicines," that they are sipping by the table- spoon or wineglassful what the town tippler takes across the license-paying bar.
? Eczema-- Fevers,
Tumors--
Reprinted from Collier's Weekly, Nov. 18, 10o5
III--LIQUOZONE.
Twentyyearsagotheniiciobewasmakingagreatstirintheland. The public mind, ever prone to exaggerate the importance and extent of any new scientific discovery, ascribed all known diseases to microbes. The infinitesimal creature with the mysterious and unpleasant attributes became the leading topic of the time. Shrewdly appreciating this golden oppor-
tunity, a quack genius named Eadam invented a drug to slay the new enemy of mankind and gave it his name. Radam's Microbe Killer filled the public prints with blazonry of its lethal virtues. As it consisted of a
mixture of muriatic and sulphuric acids, with red wine, any microbe Avhich took it was like to fare hard; but the ingenious Mr. Radam's method of administering it to its intended prey via the human stomach failed to commend itself to science, though enormously successful in a financial sense through flamboyant advertising.
Liquozone "Cures" Thirty-seven Varieties.
In time some predaceous bacillus, having eluded the "killer," carried off its inventor. His nostrum soon languished. To-day it is little heard of, but from the ashes of its glories has risen a mightier successor, Liquozone. Where twenty years ago the microbe reveled in publicity, to-day we talk of germs and bacteria; consequently Liquozone exploits itself as a germi- cide and bactericide. It dispenses with the red wine of the Radam con- coction and relies on a weak solution of sulphuric and sulphurous acids, with an occasional trace of hydrochloric or hydrobromic acid. Mostly it ia water, and this is what it "cures":
"Asthma, Abscess--Anemia,
Gallstones, Goiter--Gout,
Hay Fever--Influenza, La Grippe, Leucorrhea,
Skin Diseases, Tuberculosis,
Bronchitis,
Blood Poison^
Bowel Troubles, Coughs-- Consumption, Contagious Diseases, Cancer--Catarrh, Dysentery--Diarrhea, Dyspepsia--Dandruff,
Cclds,
Malaria Neuralgia, Piles--Quinsy, Rheumatism, Scrofula,
Erysipelas,
Ulcers, Throat Troubles
"
--
--all diseases that begin with fever--all inflammations--all catarrh--all contagious diseases--all the results of impure or poisoned blood. In nerv- ous diseases Liquozone acts as a vitalizer, accomplishing what no drugs can do,"
These diseases it conquers by destroying, in the human body, the germs which cause (or are alleged to cause) them. Such is Liquozone's claim.
Yet the Liquozone Company is not a patent medicine concern. We have their word for it:
"We wish to state at the start that we are not patent medicine^ men, and their methods will not be employed by us. . . . Liquozone is too important a product for quackery. "
The head and center of this non-patent medicine cure-all is Douglas Smith.
? 24:
Mr. Smith is by profession a promoter. He is credited with a keen vision for profits. Several years ago he ran on a worthy ex-piano dealer, a Cana- dian by the name of Powley (we shall meet him again, trailing clouds of glory in a splendid metamorphosis), who was selling with some success a mixture known as Powley's Liquefied Ozone. This was guaranteed to kill any disease germ known to science. Mr. Smith examined into the possi- bilities of the product, bought out Powley, moved the business to Chicago, and organized it as the Liquid Ozone Company. Liquid air was then much in the public prints. Mr. Smith, with the intuition of genius, and some- thing more than genius' contempt for limitations, proceeded to catch the public eye wnth this frank assertion: "Liquozone is liquid oxygen--that is all. "
It is enough. That is, it would be enough if it were but true. Liquid oxygen doesn't exist above a temperature of 229 degrees below zero. One spoonful would freeze a man's tongue, teeth and throat to equal solidity before he ever had time to swallow. If he could, by any miracle, manage to get it down, the undertaker would have to put him on the stove to thaw him out sufficiently for a respectable burial. Unquestionably Liquo- zone, if it were liquid oxygen, would kill germs, but that wouldn't do the owner of the germs much good, because he'd be dead before they had time to realize that the temperature was falling. That it would cost a good many dollars an ounce to make is, perhaps, beside the question. The object of the company was not to make money, but to succor the sick and suffering. They say so themselves in their advertising. For some reason, however, the business did not prosper as its new owner had expected. A wider appeal to the sick and suffering was needed. Claude C. Hopkiiis, formerly advertising manager for Dr. Shoop's Restorative (also a cure-all) and perhaps the ablest exponent of his specialty in the country, was brought intotheconcernandarecord-breakingcampaignwasplanned. Thiscostno littlemoney,buttheeventproveditagoodinvestment. PresidentSmith's next move showed him to be the master of a silver tongue, for he persuaded the members of a very prominent law firm who were acting as the com- pany's attorneys to take stock in the concern, and two of them to become directors. These gentlemen represent, in Chicago, something more than tha high professional standing of their firm; they are prominent socially and forward in civic activities; in short, just the sort of people needed by President Smith to bulwark his dubious enterprise with assured respect- ability.
The Men Who Back the Fake.
In the Equitable scandal there has been plenty of evidence to show that directors often lend their names to enterprises of which they know prac- tically nothing. This seems to have been the case with the lawyers. One point they brought up: was Liquozone harmful? Positively not, Douglas Smith assured them. On the contrary, it was the greatest boon to the sick in the world's history, and he produced an impressive bulk of testi- monials. This apparently satisfied them; they did not investigate the testimonials,butacceptedthemattheirfacevalue. Theydidnotlookinto the advertising methods of the company; as nearly as I can find out, they never saw an advertisement of Liquozone in the papers until long after- ward. They just became stockholders and directors, that is all. They did as hundreds of other upright and well-meaning men had done in lending themselves to a business of which they knew practically nothing.
While the lawyers continued to practice law, Messrs. Smith and Hopkins were running the Liquozone Company. An enormous advertising campaign was begun. Pamphlets were issued containing testimonials and claiming
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the soundest professional backing. Indeed, this matter of expert testi- mony, chemical, medical, and bacteriologic, is a specialty of Liquozone. To- day, despite its reforms, it is supported by an ingenious system of pseudo- scientific charlatanry. In justice to Mr. Hopkins it is but fair to say that he is not responsible for the basic fraud: that the general scheme was devised and most of the bogus or distorted medical letters arranged before hisadvent. ButwhenIcametoinvestigatetheproductafewmonthsago I found that the principal defense against attacks consisted of scientific statements that would not bear analysis and medical letters not worth the paper they were written on. In the first place the Liquozone people have letters from chemists asseverating that the compound is chemically
scientific.
Faked and Garbled Indorsements.
Messrs. Dickman, Mackenzie & Potter, of Chicago, furnish a statement to the eflfect that the product is '"'made up on scientific principles, contains no substance deleterious to health and is an antiseptic and germicide of the highestorder. " AschemiststheDickmanfirmstandshigh,butifsulphuric
ANALYSIS OF LIQUOZONE.
SULPHURIC ACID - SULPHUROUS ACID - WATER
-
About nine-tenths of one per cent. About three-tenths of one per cent. Nearly ninety-nine per cent.
Sulphuric acid is oil of vitriol. Sulphurous acid is also a corrosive poison. Liquozone is the comljina-
tion of these tico heavily diluted.
and sulphurous acids are not deleterious to their health there must be some- thingpeculiaraboutthemashumanbeings. Mr. DeavittofChicagomakes affidavit that the preparation is not made by compounding drugs. A St. Louis bacteriologist testifies that it will kill germs (in culture tubes), and that it has apparently brought favorable results in diarrhea, rheu- matism, and a finger which a guinea-pig had gnawed. These and other technical indorsements are set forth with great pomp and circumstance, but when analyzed they fail to bear out the claims of Liquozone as a medicine. Any past investigation into the nature of Liquozone has brought a flood of "indorsements"downontheinvestigator,manyofthemmedical. Myinqui- ries have been largely along medical lines, because the makers of the drug claim the private support of many physicians and medical institutions, and such testimony is the most convincing. "Liquozone has the indorsement of' an overwhelming number of medical authorities," says one of the pam- phlets.
One of the inclosures sent to me was a letter from a young physician on the stafl: of the Michael Eeese Hospital, Chicago, who was paid $25 to make bacteriologic tests in pure cultures. He reported: "This is to certify that the fluid Liquozone handed to me for bacteriologic examination has shown bacteriologic and germicidal properties. " At the same time he in-
26
formed the Liquozone agent that the mixture would be worthless medicinally. He writes me as follows: "I have never used or indorsed Liquozone; fur- thermore, its action would be harmful when taken internally. Can report a case of gastric ulcer due probably to its use. "
Later in my investigations I came on this certificate again. It was quoted, in a report on Liquozone, made by the head of a prominent Chicago laboratory for a medical journal, and it was designated, "Report made by the Michael Reese Hospital," without comment or investigation. This surprising garbling of the facts may have been due to carelessness, or it may have some connection with the fact that the laboratory investiga- tor was about that time employed to do work for Mr. Douglas Smith, Liquozone's president.
Another document is an enthusiastic "puff" of Liquozone, quoted as being contributed by Dr. W. H. Myers in The 'New York Journal of Health. There is not nor ever has been any such magazine as The Weiv York Jour- nal of Health. Dr. W. H. Myers, or some person masquerading under that name, got out a bogus '"dummy" (for publication only, and not as guaran- teeofgoodfaith, atasmallchargetotheLiquozonepeople.
)
For convenience, I list several letters quoted or sent to me, with the
result of investigations.
The Suffolk Hospital and Dispensary of Boston, through its president,
Albert C. Smith, writes: "Our test shows it (Liquozone) to possess great remedial value. " The letter I have found to be genuine. But the hospital medical authorities say they know nothing of Liquozone and never prescribe it. If President Smith is prescribing it he is liable to arrest, as he is not an M,. D.
A favoring letter from "Dr. " Fred W. Porter of Tampa, Fla. , is quoted. The Liquozone recipients of the letter forgot to mention that "Dr. " Porter is not an M. D. , but a veterinary surgeon, as is shown by his letter head.
Dr. George E: Bliss of Maple Rapids, Mich. , has used Liquozone for cancer patients. Dr. Bliss writes me, under the flaming headline of his "cancer cure," that his letter is genuine, and "not solicittated. "
Dr. A. A. Bell of Madison, Ga. , is quoted as saying: "I found Liquozone to invigorate digestion. " He is not quoted (although he Avrote it) as say- ing that his own personal experience with it had shown it to be ineffective. I have seen the original letter, and the unfavorable part of it was blue- penciled.
For a local indorsement of any medicine, perhaps as strong a name as could be secured in Chicago is that of Dr. Frank Billings. In- the offices of Collier's and elsewhere Dr. Billings has been cited by the Liquozone peojile as one of those medical men who were prevented only by ethical consid- erations from publicly indorsing their nostrum, but who nevertheless, pri- vately avowed confidence in it. Here is what Dr. Billings has to say of this
Chicago^ III. , July 31, 1905.
To the Editor of Collier's Weekly:
Dear Sir:--I have never recommended Liquozone in any way to any one, nor
have I expressed to any representative of the Liquozone Company, or to any Other person, an opinion favorable to Liquozone. (Signed).
Frank Billings^ M. D.
Under the heading, "Some Chicago Institutions which Constantly Employ Liquozone," are cited Hull House, the Chicago Orphan Asylum, the Home for Incurables, the Evanston Hospital, and the Old People's Home.
Letters to the institutions elicited the information that Hull House bad
:
? :
? 27
never used the nostrum, and had protested against the statement; that the Orphan Asylum had experimented with it only for external applica- tions, and with such dubious results that it was soon dropped; that it had been shut out of the Home for Incurables ; that a few private patients in the Old People's Home had purchased it, but on no recommendation from the physicians; and that the Evanston Hospital knew nothing of Liquozone and had never used it.
Having a professional interest in the "overwhelming number of med- ical indorsements" claimed by Liquozone, a Chicago physician, Dr. W. H.
