I think the pills should be entered here so as to avoid part of the
enormous duty. 30% is too much to pay. I think there might be an
understanding so that it might be done with safety. Goods coming to
me should come by Oswego and from thence by Steamer to Millport. By
this route they would save the delay they would be subject to
coming by Kingston and avoid the scrutiny they would give them
there at the customhouse.

[Footnote 5: Moore claimed later (his affidavit of November 22, 1859)
that he thought he was hired only by White personally, and did not
realize that A.J. White & Co. was controlled by the Comstocks.]

[Illustration: FIGURE 9.--"To Purchasers of Dr. Morse's Indian Root
Pills"--a warning by James Blakely, Canadian agent for A.J. White,
against the "counterfeit" pills manufactured by the Comstock firm.]

The great bulk of the notes and accounts which were assigned to Blakely
for collection were undoubtedly accounts originally established with the
old A.J. White & Co. and therefore in dispute with the Comstocks. But in
any case, Blakely went vigorously up and down his territory, frequently
crossing the paths of agents of the Comstocks, pushing the pills and
attempting to collect outstanding bills owed to A.J. White & Co. by
persuasion and threats. On July 2, 1860, he wrote that:

My sales have been pretty good. Comstock Pills are put in almost
every place, generally on commission at a low figure, but I get
them put aside in most cases and make actual sales so they will be
likely to get them back.

Meanwhile, back in New York City, the fight between the erstwhile