ner could hardly
expect to wield any great social or political influence. In a remote
village like Morristown, things are quite different; a regular employer
of forty persons creates a considerable economic impact. For two
generations the Indian Root Pill factory supplied jobs, in an area where
they were always scarce, and at a time when the old forest and dairy
industries were already beginning to decline. But the recital of its
close associations with the village makes it clear that the pill factory
was more than a mere employer; for ninety years it provided a spirit
that animated Morristown, pioneered in the introduction of utilities and
certain social services, linked the village directly with the great
outside world of drug stores and hypochondriacs, and distinguished it
sharply from other, languishing St. Lawrence County villages. One may
wonder whether Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills really did anyone any good.
They certainly did heap many benefits upon all citizens of Morristown.

[Illustration: FIGURE 16.--Depot, Comstock Hotel, and factory buildings
(at right), about 1910.]

While there was only a single Comstock medicine business, operated as a
sole proprietorship until 1902, Comstock found it convenient to maintain
several dummy companies--really no more than mailing addresses--for some
years after the move to the North. Thus, in Morristown was to be found,
at least in business and postal directories, besides the Comstock
company itself, two other proprietary manufacturers: Judson Pill Co. and
E. Kingsland & Co.

The Judson Pill Co. preserved the name of Comstock's former partner,
while use of the name E. Kingsland perhaps flattered the vanity of the
former chief clerk and later plant superintendent. The major Kingsland
product was Chlorinated Tablets, a sure cure for coughs, colds,
hoarseness, bronchial irritation, influenza, diphtheria, croup, sore
throat and all throat diseases; these were especially recommended by Dr.
MacKenzie, Senior Physician in the Hospital for Diseases of the Throat
(was there any such hospital?) in London, England. The Kingsland pills
were also popularized under the name of Little Pink Granules.

Over on the Canadian side of the river, where another plant
approximately the same size as the Morristown facilities was in
operation, the Comstock Company had assimilated the Dr. Howard Medicine
Co. Dr. Howard's leading remedies were his Seven Spices for all
Digestive Disorders and the