Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-10-27
IOWA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27 1871

skill in such complaints. He soon
became satisfied, united me, and we
entered to sick mans ch amber. My
hands were SO numb from the
tichtness of the cord which bound
my arms, that / walked up and
down the room for some minutes,
rubbing my hands and contempla-
ting the situation. The man lay
upon a bed Of straw, his arms and
legs bound to the bcdstcad to keep
him from injuring himself or others.
He had, in his agony, bitten his
tongue and lips, and his mouth was
covered with bloody froth, while
the glare f his eyes was fearful.
His wife, the only woman in the
house, sat near the bed with an in
fant upon her lap, her countenance
pale and anxious, while the COM
pany of men seemed to>bc the most
desperate set had ever seen.
] determined from the first to try
to impress them with the idea that
I derived my power to relieve pain
from some supernatural source.
While l was thus thinking the mat
ter over, "Cap" was limping up and
down the room, breathing an oath
at nearly every step, and finally
said to me: "Come, come, old boy,
| take hold right lively. l want to
get home, for this id old hip of
mine is raising HI with me-" l
said to them: "Now, gentlemen,
I'll give this man complete relief in
less than ten minutes from the time
l lay my hands on him; but l must
be permitted to retire to a room
alone, for l confess that have
dealings with the devil, and l must
consult with him." Nothing so
charms an ignorant people as some
thing that has about it the appear
ance Of superstition, and l did not
want these men to see the syringe,
or know Of its cxistance. The wo-
man at once lighted tallow candle,
handed it to cap" and pointed to
a small room. Tie man led the
way, set the light down, and left me
alone. now took out my case, ad-
justcd the needle to the syringe,
filled it with solution Of the ace
tate of morphia, put the little in
strument into my vest pocket, and
then returned to the room.
After waving my hands in the
air l said: "Gcntlcmcn, l want
your aid; give it to me and I'll per-
form cure that you'll never forget.
All of you now look upon that man
till say hold! Look him right in
the eye" All eyes were immediate
ly turned upon the invalid. Hav-
ing already taken my stand at the
foot Of the bed, l took hold of the
right leg near the calf, pinched up
the skin, inserted the needle, with
drew it after discharging the con
tents, slipped the syringe into my
pocket, and cried at the top of my
voice, "Hold!" The men now turn
ed to me, alternately viewing me
and the sick man. From the mo.
ment that the injection took place, the
rawlings began to cease, and in less
than ten minutes he was in perfect
ease. l continued to wave my
hands and to tell the devils to "dc-
part and leave this man in peace"
"Cap" was the first to break the
silence, and he did in All emphatic
manner, for he gazcd steadily at me,
then at the sick man, and exclaim-
ed: "Big thing! big thing boys;
ID if it aint" Another said, "a
conjurer, by III! You heard him
him say he deals with the devil"
now thought it was time to try
"Cap;" for, from his limp ng, groan-
ing and swearing about his hip, it
seemed to me to be a clear case OF
sciatica, and l thus informed him,
giving him description Of its
manner Of attack and progress, de-
failing to him the different stages
of suffering.
had early learned from the de-
ference paid to the man by his asso-
ciates that he was their leader, and
l was anxious to get my hands on
him, for l had resolved that if ever
l got him under the influence of the
drug he should never have an op-
portunity Of putting a rope around
my neck. cap" was SO captiva-
ting with my diagnosis of his COM
plant, that he said: 'Well, I'll
give you a trial, id if don't" |
informed him that | must be with
him alone. The woman remarked
that we could go to the adjoining
room. AS We left the company, one
of them said: ."You aint agoing to
kill Cap is you?" "Oh, no!" l re-
Piled. 1 said: "Now, Cap I'll
cure you, but l need your aid"
"Sir," returned he, "'ll do anything
you tell me-" told him to lay on
the bed, shut his eyes and cvunt
one hundred. He obeycd at once,
and while he was counting l was
filling the syringe with the morphia.
When he had finished counting, l
informing him that l would have to
pinch him on the lame leg, so as to
get the devil out Of it. "Oh!" re-
piled he, 'you may pinch as much
as you id please, for | have seen
and felt HI with this old hip" l
injected the morphia as had done
in the previous case, and began
singing noted Methodist hymn as
soon as l had finished. AS the
medicine took effect the man rapid
ly went off into a slumber from
which he did not awake while !
was there, for had given him a
double dose.
/ will here remark, that while
morphia will give most instant re-
lief in sciatica, it seldom performs
perfect cure. But in both cases
know it would serve my purpose.
AS soon as "Cap" was safe, | call
ed in his companions, who appeared
still more amazed than at first.
They held their faces to his to see
that he breathed, and would shake
their heads and go out. l told
them l should have to remain with
|