Page 10 Advertisements Column 1

Otago Witness, Issue 1778, 19 December 1885, Page 10

A MODEL NEWSPAPER. {Martin's Home and Farm, Attgtat.) A WORD FOR OUR ADVERTISERS. " Holdfast to that which is good." In a v foot-note on .one of our pages we advise out readers to write to or call on those firms who advertise in our paper. By this it is not insinuated that they are the only reliable houses of their kind in the Colony; but whitt we mean, and say plainly, is that we know of the reliability of every firm advertising with us, as we are at some trouble to find out that the firms who advertise, and the goods advertised, are genuine, before we admit them. We should like to go much farther, and expost . and denounce the rubbish which is constantly being sold by means of false advertisements and fraudulent testimonials ; but just here the ground is dangerous, as the libel law of New South Wales is all embracing, and compels silence where, in many cases, it would be greatly to t/ie interests of our people it the truth could be plainly told. We have therefore only one way of giving advice —that is to recommend what we know to bßgenuinp and good, and regret we cannot denounce tha* which is worthless and bad. This being so, we purpose noticing from time to time such articles ac are advertised, or firms advertising in our pages ; and, to remove any doubts our readers may have, we ask them to do their part, and, if they haVe reason to believe that in any case they do not get from our advertisers what they were led to expect, to report such case to us. and we shall have it properly attended to ; and should a satisfactory explanation not be obtainable, we shall cancel such advertisement. Having made this explanation, our readers will be prepared to believe that we are not likely to be influenced by any false claims put forward in the interests of any article or firm ; and when we undertake to say a good word for St. Jacobs Oil, our readers'.'can accept what we say, with our assurance, that " we know of what we speak." Like every other remedy, it has its friends and its foes, but we incline to the opinion that its best friends are its worst enemies ; as they claim for it more than the maker ever thought of, and so hurt instead of help what they advocate. That St. Jacobs Oil has a place— and that a large place — in relieving the bodily pains that " flesh is heir to " is admitted the world over ; but that it wijl relieve or cure every pain is absurd. Our experience with it has been somewhat extensive, and we will give a few instances. We know one gentleman who was so reduced in strength by long-continued rheumatics, that he/ despaired of ever again being able to work. That gentleman is to-day an active man, and if any of our readers asked him what cured him, he will say at once, St. Jacobs Oil We know another gentleman who suffered for two years with an acute pain in the lower back— the result of catching cold, by being chilled after active perspiration. That gentleman got almost instant relief from St. Jacobs Oil. So we say to our readers : It' you suffer as either of the above gentlemen did, try St. Jacob; but would here add a word on our own account, and advise you to foment or bathe the painful part with warm water first, then rub in the oil, taking care that whilst doing this the person being rubbed does not get chilled. We also know of several instances where the use of St. Jacob 3 Oil enabled the users to endure what they will each state they do not believe they could have accomplished, had it not been for this oil. A young friend of ours, aged 19, and weighing DnlySst 61b, completed a journey from Sydney to ' Rockhampton, 1306 miles, on a bicycle; and although it would be saying too much to say that he could not have done this journey without the assistance of this iil, yet he does say that the rnbbing down with 'the Ml after a long day's ride freshened him up so that the following morning he did not fell any ill effects fvom his previous work. We know two other cyclists who have each done from 500 to over 1000 miles hard, and almost continuous, riding, and both of them used St. Jacobs Oil freely. These two gentlemen are firm friends of the remedy which assisted them in their performance?- ■»" md always have a good word for St. Jacob. j Whilst this is so, we know of several cases which liave caused complaint. We know of one gentleman who dressed his wife's sprained ankle with St. Jacobs Oil in such quantity and in such a way that it acted worse than a strong mustard piaster, and was really doing more harm than good. But that was not the oil's fault : it was the fault of the person who applied it. From what we have said above, our readers will see that we believe in the merits of St. Jacobs Oil, especially in s,uch cases as we have named, but we wish to state plainly that we must not be understood to say that this oil is a " cure all." No such thing as a " cure all " exists, and he who claims such merit for any preparation should be avoided, as well as his preparation ; but what we do say is that, after considerable experience, we do nob hesitate to recommend our readers to give St. Jacobs Oil a trial. '