Article on Des Moines Drug Co: 1914

^ " A'O
Section Mr The
(Koines Drog Co.
Special Section for The |
Des Molnes Drug Co.
VOL. XXXI..
DBS MOINES, IOWA, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20,
ENORMOUS CONCERN IS
THE DES MOINES DRUG CO.
D
LARGEST FLOOR SPACE OF
ANY DRUG HOUSE IN U. S.
ID you ever go through a large, modern wholesale drug
house? , It would be. worth your while to go through an
establishment like that conducted by the Des Moines
Drug company at Fourth and Vine streets; It isn't possible
to form much of a conception of the commercial immensity
ola concern like this by simply looking at the building, because* there «ro features lihat oaifnot be expressed in figures. You have lo see them for yourself. Figures give an
Idea of the stupendous volume of business done: they cannot, however, convey an idea, of the methods of such a concern. A 'house like the Des Moines Drug company stands in
ft class by itself. It is distinguished from plihcr houses Like
jit in much the same way .|)hat we distinguish any improvement of the present from sonic idoa. that may have been
conspicuous in the past. The business of the firm exceeds
,W,000,000 annually.
The firm was incorporated in 1896. That is a record for
any; business to be proud of. All kinds of things might 'happen to a business i" eighteen years, Things have happened
,to the Des Moines Drag company, but they have been of the
eorj that have enabled the management to write Hie slory
j on the credit side of the ledger. The firm commenced with a
capital of $200,000. lii 1911 this capital was increased to
$400,000. Today-the firm places its assets at over half .1
million—.$500,000 to be correct. The 'assets of a husmess are
practically what Che business owns. In tins case it includes
the magnificent building which it, now occupies. This structure is six stories 'high with a basement and ciovers a space
j.of 104x132 feet. W'hen one walks around a building of this
magnitude it impresses one with the idea, in the vernacular
!of lire street, dlial "it's some bui'lding.'"
The company not only owns the building Mid all l-he
equipment, but it is tho largest wholesale drug house and it
has fine largest
amount of floor space of any drug house in
the-' United1 States. This sounds like a rather strong slatement, but nevertheless i't. is true. Wo naturally conclude that
I because New York, or Chicago or San Francisco can put it
•over us in the matter of population that everything of .;ousf•quence must he located in these cilies. As a maltor of fact,
I St. Tjouis atone time hart the reputation of havim; the largjest drug house in Chei country with regard to floor space.
'St. Louis.isn't in it any more with Des Moines. At the time
the Des Moines company 'held its opening one of the guests
made the remark that Des Moines didn't know what a big
enterprise it had in this line. How true it is.' In fact we
often have to go away from home lo learn how great, we
really are. ff .(die Des Moines Drug company were located in
some other city that we had an opportunity to visit nboul
once or twice in a lifetime we'd think it quite a, privilege to
get a cliance to ga through the establishment. We'd make
special efforts for the event and tell the bootblack to give
the shoes an extra shine.
stair* but the pumps are on the first floor and measure tlioi1
oili automatically. All you have, to do is to set the needle
and turn the crank. Doesn't, make any difference whether
you are after a quart or a gallon; just turn tho crank and
Uio exact amount is released by line pump.
. ,
Turpentine in Big Tanks.
- In tho basement they .have two great steel tanks for turpentine alone. One holds 10,000 gallons; the other holds
7,000 gallons. When they 'are filling a tank of turpentine,
from the cars, they attach an electric moler and it measureaj
tihe product automatically. \Vlic-n Hmy.are filling a barrel
to sfiip out, they do tihe, same thing. No chance for short
measure or for mistakes. It's all registered on the) meter.l
The pumping is done by electricity. \o necessity fora man;
pumping his arms' off. Turpentine user! to come in wooden
barrels. That's the, old way. In fad it ' = shipped out in :
barre-ls yet, to some extent, hut there is a good deal ofj
leakage and loss in this way.• Today they use steel drums al
great, deal. Stcfil' is better. Xo leakage on loss, you know. ^
Glycerin i^ shipped in J.-OD-pounrf drum.* altogether
when it is bought in big lots likei a \\iinlesalf- (muse buys1 it.
Iti is also shipped in five-gallon tin cans. Glycerin is mean
stuff to 'handle. Oo/e.q out. It gives druggists lots of trou-'
ble. It will almost climb up Hie siiies of a bottle, and run
over if the bottle is not kept dean. .Makes the druggist sore.
Glycerin, owing to its specific gravity, weighs ten pounds to
the gallon. It is a by-product of the. big packing houses and;
of tihe large soap factories. One of its s t r i k i n g peculiarities!
is that i l i s a good-mixer. Mixes \vi!!i oil f>r water. This!
make* it very valuable in the arts.
.
Cars Load at the Doors.
'
The firm 'has its own steam tracks and cars are loaded
and unloaded right, at the door?, f i r a v i l y roller? take |3io.
goods from car to elevator.. Saves all Jiinil?, of time. Time,:
is a big t h i n g in a big wholesale house and the. firm is
equipped with time savers '>n n i l sidt.s. It, is one of tliei
features of the business. Xo lost motion, you see. Th*)!
firm 'has a spiral c h u t e extending from the top floor in the
basement for shooting down good^ filial are ready for sihip-j
ment. The. clmie. delivers the poods from any floor to any.
other floor below ami does if, almost instanUy. Therei are!
also dumb waiters for .hurry orders in the, office. Druggist]
may want a boti.ln of pil'ls quick. He has barely finished
giving the order when lie fhns t;he goods.
!
Auotlier great thing is tlie bottle filling 1 , plant. Bottle*
are washed by e l e c t r i c a l l y driven motor washers. Dozens''
of bottles are washed at a l i m e instead of t h e old slow way
of shaking the si raw out of each bottle r.ne al a time. Tho
liquor is pumped through filters by s u c t i o n instead of waiting for it to tiiku its lime to pen-olalr- through. The bottles
are automatically filled and Mien t-akeu by a belti conveyor)
to fihe labeling station, where the ^iiis label and wrap them.!;
The chemical laboratory .on the t h i r d floor is in c'harge of-al
graduate. Here the, firm grinds ils own drugs t,o any fine-!
nes.- by electricity in a b a t t e r y of drug mills, and makes the'
elixers and tilings that, the Inpy dnr-rsrist, rlo'esn't care to'
holjher w i t h . Labels iire kept in automatic e n b i n e t s that not';
only expedite, the work bnf. the cabinets e l i m i n a t e (.tie ohance-i
of mistakes. Makes errors impossible and that's a great,!
thing in a plant of this kind.
875,288 in Yeirly Salaries.
Juai, the si'ir os paid by fjhe firm 'amounted last year
to §75,288. That is a sum big enough to brag about. If .any
.one of us had tihat amount in the hank or well invested, we'd
; imagine we were worth being noticed. The firm began busjiness With four traveling salesmen. Today it has fifteen. .11
: sells goods all through Iowa, northern Missouri and soul hern
Minnesota. It takes a good, many salesmen to get over a
territory like that. It requires push.and energy, pluck and
business aoumen; in fact, it requires a good many things to
boost a business from four traveling salesmen to fifteen. A
•person not onjy haj tol do a lot of thinking but lie has to
think in 'his sleep. He has to be what the world has come to
I designate as a "•live! wire." M. E. Sherman is the business
' manager of tihe plant No special tribute to his business
sagacity is needed. The business speaks for itself.
You deal with modern immensities when you deal with
BUCIU an enterprise. Even the pumps that they loa.d and unload the tarpentinej roltih are modern. A person who has
never owned'a drug stare can't appreciate what these pumps
mean. In the old days tihe man grabbed a tin can, rushed
down cellar and-fined-a'gallon measure five times when he
I hbd an order for five gallons of.'oil. What oil you didn't
j get into the can jot on Ml* floor or on your clothes. It isn't
• that way any more. Under the present system you can
'drawany kind of oil with white ki'd gloves and in your new
spring suit and you wouldn't spill any. The. oils are down-
NO. 95.
1914.
Immense Humidor for Cigars.
DES MOINES DRUG CO.'S NEW BUILDING.
104x)132 Feet; 100,000 Square Feet Floor Space.
The Largest Selling 5-Cent Cigar in Iowa—Made in Nine Sizes
El Portana Cigars Are for Sale by All Druggists
Ask for and Demand Them
EL PORTANA Is the One 5-Cent Cigar That Contains
Real HAVANA TOBACCO
DES MOINES DRUG CO.
DISTRIBUTORS FOR
STATE OF IOWA
G. J. JOHNSON CIGAR CO, Makers
GRAND RAPIDS,
-
.
j
Leading from the'laboratory is a. tin-lined vault for cig-i
are. Xo chance for cigars to dry out. A .humidor is used io
keep a certain amount of moisture in the ainiosphere. This
is done automatically. An electric motor works the humidor
which seems to know more about, h u m i r l i l y than [tic- w-ealhec!
clerk. Keens tho air just, so al! the time.
;
Tin- employes ore well provided for on t h e first floor.
There are sejiarale quarters for men and women: large,
airy, well li^hte-i rooms wiUi steel lockers', luncheonette
chairs, mirror? where tihe female employes can put. on a ilab
of powder before- they ffo into the street, 1-and other conve-nierices and'comforts.- The sampTe room is also on /the .
first floor. This room has samples of everything that 19
sold by samples, including manicure -sets, surgeons' supplied,
school- supplies, brushes, leather goods, plasters, thennohi--1
eters. baseball goods, corkscrews and an amazing lot, of ;
small goods, including soda water founliiin supplies. !\fo?.tj
of the samples are in air-tight cases. Xo germs, you sc£k?
- M\ I C H I G A N
THE FAMOUS DUTCH MASTER CIGAR, IN 5 AND 10 CENT SIZES, WILL SOON BE ON THE MARKET
THE DBS MOKI8 CAPTTAt
THE DES MOINES DRUG CO.'S NEW
OPES
We Are Large
Manufacturers of All
Kiikls and
Grades of Envelopes.
Our Goods
Are Correct in Size,
Quality
and Work|nanship.
=FOR SALEBY=
DES MOINES DRUG CO.
GRAVITY CARRIER FOR UNLOADING CARS.
THE HOME OF THE
WHITE ROSE
GLYCERINE
SOAP
J. HUNGERFORD SMITH CO.
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
Manufacturers of "TRUE FRUIT" Soda Feuntain Requisites
insures a soft, clear,
beautiful skin. Three
generations of refined
woihen on both sides
of the ^Atlantic have
proven its merits. s
Once you
IOOK
through this pure,
transparent s o a p,
smell its delicate perfume, and feel its rich*
creamy lather, you
will never again be
satisfied with any
toilet soap less pure
and perfect.
No. 4711 White
Rose Glycerine Soap
is absolutely harmless
and its cleansing
properties are unequaled. Contains an
exceedingly l a r g e
amount of absolutely
pure glycerine. Prepared by the famous
Eau da Cologne and
Perfumery Manufactory of Ferd. Mulhens
of Cologne 0|R German}', purveyor to the
courts of Russia, Austria, Italy and Persia.
For a toilet soap of
unequaled b e a u t y ,
perfume,
brilliancy
and quality, buy No.
4711 White Rose Glycerine Soap at
We recommend "TRUE FRUIT" Syrups and Crushed
Fruits because ol' their unusual PURITY and QUALITY. The
factory in which they are made is the largest of its kind in the
world. All fruits and ingredients used are the choicest and pur.
est, handled under expert supervision, insuring absolute cleanliness and sanitation.
Patronize the Soda Fountain dispensing "TRUE FRUIT"
flavors. This will assure you of pure, "QUALITY" Soda and a
fresh, fruity flavor in all the dainties served.
Try a "TRUE FRUIT" CHERRY MELBA SUNDAE. The
most delicious dessert you ever tasted.
15c
the cake
NATIONAL ENVELOPE CO.
WAUKEQAN, ILL
"FIBERLOID"
E manufacture a very large
W
and complete line of Fiberloid--Combs, Brushes, Toilet Sets,
Etc. A good, representative line
of our goods is jobbed by
DES MOINES DRUG COMPANY
DES MOINES. IOWA
THE FIBERLOID COMPANY
NEW YORK
DES MOINES DRUG COMPANY
DES MOINES, IOWA
THE MOONSHINE COMPANY
ROYAL DUST SETTLER
Don't Take Chances!
Get the Best!
KOW PACKED IN STEEL DRUMS
and ono that will keep tho oompMlSi
Nicely painted-, haa no
can 'too 'used for many pun
pound la frone. prlco on I
when packed In 100-ilb. drul
c-wt. oVflr barrel iprlc*. A.
provomont over tho.wood b»"-q*,
'"Tin up-to-date and sa*e» you /«!»« *na
Hells your Compound too: •
_.
_
Can be used *or coyntlcJ* tMnci wh»n Oott*
pound USD i» thro-iwh; ^
^^^
1L
"'TTVlii hold tho asncs or tn* COM, tn»*o*AM*»
•or tlio wood;
It's Bomothina: late and nointtMtui *N»VM*d
(<et •• Invlad* • •mri
ST. LOUIS ASPHALT 01,
For Sole By DCS MoliM* Drug Co,
OTTUMWA, IOWA
When your lnws« or cattle are «lcJt
"ANTI-FEVER MEDICINE
Curu oolM coughs, chilli, tvrtti,
influnM^ory diseases. Pric« 5tic »nd
II per Bottle.
A"NTI-PAIN OR COLIC
MEDICINE ?H,1f.flC aiTSfi
' i «f Hke mturo. T>rl«
AMBER LINIMENT (AMBEROL)
•11 MtttnM pmlni.
Prfc« »c «
-
"
ttt«BC
- '—
The Somerville Veterinary Medicine Co.
1»I»M IMWI PlW^lilMH DM MdMK IMM,
The Best Drink Ever Sold
Over Any Fountain
tot Me By 0»Mota«« Drn« C*
IS