The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-02-23

a fraud, and his death ana resurrection
is a snare and delusion. So say the
members of the church; so says Vestry-
man Morrison; SO says Rector Shines;
so says Dr. Cantrell, the attending ply
stefan, and so say all who know the
alleged Sick man.
Says one of his schoolmates, an up
town undertaken: "Joe Schrack is the
biggest liar on the face of the earth.
This suspended animation is only an
other one of the tricks that he has been
at all his life. Why, when he was sew
enteen years old he went to funeral
and made himself very officious. 1t
was soon discovered that jewelry and
silver in the house had disappeared, and
they were subsequently traced to the
over-zealous mourner. For this crime
he was sent to the House of Refuge and
remained there until he attained his
majority. Upon his release he again
went into the same business, and was
known as the funeral thief but es-
capped arrest until he went out of his
regular line and tried his hand at
pocket-picking. In attempting to steal
a watch during a fire he was arrested,
but for some reason or other the case
never came to trial. When his mys-
teriously-obtained wealth suddenly left
him, Schrack went on the religious
lay He joined the Spring Garden
Baptist Church and became very de-
vout. He never missed service and
was considered very exemplary mem
Der, having the fullest confidence of
Nn; 40
AS he was without money or work he
borrowed as long as he could, and
when that avenue was closed against
him he started his little game of fur
Their fleeing the members of the church.
During the services one Sunday the
congregation were startled by Schrack' S
falling to the floor with hemorrhage of
the lungs. He elected whole mouth
fuls of blood, and was removed to his
home and tenderly cared for by the Ia
dies of the congregation. His rent was
paid and money furnished him for liv-
ing expenses. Schrack had several of
these attacks, but played it once too
often. The pastor was suspicious and
set watch on the invalid's move
ments, and he was detected in the very
act of cutting his gums to produce the
fraudulent hemorrhages and was open
ly denounced as fraud and driven
from the church. The same perform
ance was gone through with at other
churches, and through the sympathy eX-
cited Schrack was enabled to live with
out doing a single days honest work"
Dr. j. A. Cantrell, Schrack's attend
ing physician, says:
"When l first saw j. Harry Schrack,
in bed at 1913 Mary street, my impress
sion was that the man was fraud, be-
cause l judged from his physical condi-
ton that he was well enough to be up
and about. The next day l waited on
Dr. Jones, his former physician, who
told me that Schrack was a reputable
man and that he was afflicted with some
pulmonary disease. When / again WIS.,
tied Schrack | found him really weak
and his tongue furred, and it is my
opinion now that he must have taken tar
tar emetic to superinduce that effect. |
found the symptoms changeable every
day; some days the pulse was very
weak and others it was of right good
volume, but not too much force, and in
the light of present events | am con-
WINGED that he was taking medicine Sc
cretly, other than that l gave him. By
the force of his will he has produced
spasms of the heart or weakened the
force of the organ. One day, for in
stance, l would feel his pulse and find
it strong, then would tell him that the
next day | would make thorough ex-
animation of his lungs, but when the
next day came the scoundrel would take
the tartar emetic or something else, and
would really be too weak for an exam
ination. The day previous to the sup
posed trance he was weak, and I'M
doubtedly he had taken tartar emetic
or similar drug that day. did not
see him during the four hours of 'sus-
pended animation nor until after his
return to life l have visited him
every day since, and found him to be a
perfectly sound man in every respect,
which he ascribes to divine interven-
ton, but which know to be nothing
more than a sequel to cleverly-done
trick. The man Schrack undoubtedly
had nervous spasms of the heart, but L
believe they were produced by an effort
of his powerful will. He is capable of
preventing to certain extent the full
volume of air going into his lungs, and
thus impairing the full action of his
heart. This he can do by drawing up
his shoulders, keeping his ribs still and
making the muscles between the ribs
rigid, and this | have detected by max
ing an examination of his lungs on Sat
urday, which is the first time he has
permitted me to do so. | found him to
be a perfectly healthy man, and l be-
lieve him to be an :mpostor and a
scoundrel, and a dangerous man to the
community. Concerning his trance
really and honestly believe that he car
ried this thing too far, and it was real
partial suspension of animation beyond
his control, and had it not been that the
cold air was allowed to circulate around
the body and shock the nervous system,
producing reaction. he would probably
have never recovered-and it would
have been a good thing for the com.
munity if he had not"
The members of Old Swedes' Church