From GREATER WHEELING AND VICINITY
By Charles A. Winegerter, 1912; pages 581-582.
     
Contributed by Linda Fluharty.

     H. FRED BEHRENS, president of the Neuralgyline Company, is 
one of the ablest business men of Wheeling and with his associates directs 
one of the most important groups of business enterprises in the city. 
     Mr. Behrens was born in the city of Wheeling, August 4, 1870, a son of 
H. F. and Marie (Ulrich) Behrens. While a boy he attended the public schools 
and later graduated from the Washington and Jefferson College with the class 
of 1891. For the next ten years he was associated with his father in the 
grocery business. In 1901, with other well-known business men of Wheeling, he 
helped to organize the Neuralgyline Company, and has been president of this 
company from the start. 
     Mr. Behrens is a director of the Peoples Bank of Wheeling and the South 
Side Bank of Wheeling. He is a member of the University and Fort Henry Clubs, 
and in politics is a Republican. He was married, June 23, 1891, to Miss 
Estella Eckhart, of Wheeling. Their residence is at Woodsdale. 
     The Neuralgyline Company, of which Mr. Behrens is president and Mr. W. 
E. Weiss general manager, and with the remarkable business record of which 
their ability and official activity have been very conspicuously identified, 
is the largest concern of the kind in the world. It was incorporated under 
the laws of West Virginia, May 14, 1901. Its authorized capital at the 
beginning was fifty thousand dollars. The capital stock, all of one class, 
has been increased to two and a half million dollars, all paid up. The 
official board consists of the following well-known citizens of Wheeling: H. 
F. Behrens, president; W. E. Weiss, general manager; A. H. Diebold, secretary 
and treasurer; and H. G. Stifel, Otto Schenk, F. D. Fredicks and C. A. Aull, 
directors. 
     The Neuralgyline Company owns the following properties: The 
Sterling Remedy Company, the Knowlton Danderine Company, the J. W. James 
Companv, the Neuralgyline Company, the Drake Company and the Pape-Thompson & 
Pape Company of Cincinnati, all the others except the last named being 
located in Wheeling. The Sterling Remedy Company manufactures the world-
advertised "Cascarets," also No-to-bac. Health Gum and Hobb's Asparagus 
Pills, and besides its plant in Wheeling also has laboratories in 
Walkerville, Canada, and a distributing agency in England. The Knowlton 
Danderine Company manufactures "Danderine" and also Danderine Toilet Soap and 
Knowlton's Massage Cream. This company also has laboratories at Walkerville 
and in London, England. The J. W. James Company manufactures Dr. James 
Miniature Headache Powders, Dr. James' Cough Syrup and a line of household 
remedies sold throughout the United States. The Neuralgyline Company 
manufactures Neuralgine. The Drake Company manufactures Drake's Palmetto 
Compound. The Pape-Thompson & Pape Company, with laboratories in Cincinnati 
and at Walkerville, Canada, manufactures Pape's Diapepsin, Pape's Diuretic 
and Pape's Cold Compound. 
     The management of the various companies controlled by the Neuralgyline 
Company includes men of long experience in the patent medicine business. All 
the products manufactured have been on the market a good many years. The 
persistent demand reinforced by world- wide advertising is indicated in the 
fact that a million boxes of cascarets are sold each month to the druggists 
of the United States. The trademarks are copyrighted everywhere, and millions 
of dollars are spent in advertising. 
     In its organization, its facilities of manufacture and distribution and 
the character of its products, the Neuralgyline Company is one of the most 
notable in Wheeling's commerce.