e floor of
the abandoned factory give a suggestion of sales volume since 1900:

[Footnote 13: Dr. William's Pink Pills, also headquartered in
Brockville, were not so fortunate, as they were mentioned disparagingly
in both the _Collier's_ and American Medical Association articles. Among
numerous proprietary manufacturers who protested, blustered, or
threatened legal action against _Collier's_, the Dr. Williams Co. was
one of only two who actually instituted a libel suit.]

SALES OF DR. MORSE'S INDIAN ROOT PILLS

gross
| | Estimated
| | Dollar
| Domestic Foreign Total | Amount
-----+-------------------------------+------------
1900 | --- --- 6,238 | 100,000
1910 | 5,975 --- --- | 96,000
1920 | 3,243 --- --- | 52,000
1930 | --- 1,893 --- | 30,000
1941 | 316 --- --- | 5,000

The foregoing data show sales of the Indian Root Pills only; this was by
far the most important product, but the factory was also selling Worm
Pellets, Judson's Pills (up to 1920), and N & B Liniment. Also, this
tabulation excludes sales in quantities less than one gross, and there
were actually many such smaller orders. Only physical shipments were
shown in the records recovered, and the dollar volume is the author's
computation at $16 per gross, the price which prevailed for many years.
Through 1900 there was only a single order book; beginning prior to
1910, separate domestic and foreign order books were introduced, but
most of them have been lost. On the assumption that there was a fair
volume of foreign sales in 1910, total sales must have continued to
climb through the decade then ending, but by 1920 domestic sales--and
probably total sales--had dropped materially. The number of employees,
apparently about forty at the peak of the business, had dropped to
thirteen according to the 1915 paybook but recovered slightly to sixteen
in 1922. These fragmentary data suggest that the Morristown branch of
the Comstock enterprise probably never grossed much over $100,000, but
in an era when $12 or $15 represented a good weekly wage and the
clutching grasp of the income-tax collector was still unknown, this was
more than adequate to support the proprietor in comfort and to number
him among the more influential citizens of the district. It is not kn