Cures what ails ya'

On Wednesday March 1, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Foggy-cool. German submarine program goes into effect today. Paid some bills. Preparing to move. Rec'd letter from Moving Picture Corp. Wrote Leo. Delaney. Packing up to move. Went to pay bills and to see Pitzer. Norman improved. Put $1.00 in bank for Annah Lee. Gave John Hicks a hat & a cap. Had shoes fixed. Mr. Brown disconnected gas pipes. Bought sweet spirits of nitre. Today is one of those days when I think Bonnie has left us with all sorts of gems. He starts with a line about World War I. The program I believe Bonnie is referring to, is one where German U-boats (submarines) would start attacking armed and unarmed merchant ships in the Atlantic unannounced. Some of this was already being done, but it apparently intensified in March 1916. Prior to this, U-boats were to surface before firing on an "enemy" ship. During the intensification this "cruiser" policy of surfacing before firing torpedoes was done away with. Today in 1916 was a day of errands and getting ready to move for Bonnie and Mary, Norman and Annah Lee. Bonnie is still writing to and receiving letters from movie companies. Pitzer is a long time moving company here in Roanoke, VA. I was surprised to see that they were in business in 1916. I am not sure that they still are in 2010. Mr. Brown is the landlord. I had a lot of fun looking up "sweet spirits of nitre". It appears that in 1916 this was a drug of sorts that basically cured whatever ailed ya'. I found that it was common ether and can be used for gun blackening and electroplating and metal coloring. From the pharmacology stand point it was used for fevers, horse colic, trouble with urination, bee stings, breaking up congestion, etc. The FDA has ruled that it is useless and dangerous and so it is very hard to find these days. In fact, a lot of people have never heard of it. Maybe Bonnie was anticipating being really sore and having some blisters after the move. Blisters was also another of the things mentioned that it supposedly helped cure. Maybe Caleb needs some. He has badly sprained knee and will be out of soccer for about a week to 10 days.