The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-03-21


curable Diseases? Should not the
Preacher who Lends His Aid and
influence to Quacks i'm Cheating
the Sick, be Turned out Of His
Holy Office?
We had O very pleasant call from gentle
man last week who is now agent for the
which, 1t Is claimed, by breathing through n
bottle OF water will euro consumption, anu
perhaps other diseases which the best inform
ed men in the medical profession agree IN
saying are incura5Ie The agent was very.
kind and entertaining In his explanation OF
the wonderful process whereby bis machine
would convey the life-giving properties OF the
air TO the lungs in o manner which would not
only arrest the destructive work OF the great
est enemy to the human ace.consumpt1on-
but which would even restore lost health, ana
impart new life and vigor even to those who
had SO near approached the end OF their jour
pey that they might almost hear the angelic
sy ymphony. All this sounded like q fairy tale,
and 1t was wonderful to US that man OF his
education could be 80 completely carried
away by his favorite medicine. He believes
that this:plan Of breathing through water in q
bottle cured him, and saved him from pre-
After showing his medicine and explaining
how the air passing through bottle OF medi-
Gated water carried the medical properties 10
the lungs, he exhibited tous his prescription
book, which book we presume he exhibits to
all customers or persons Whom ne treats
for the various hitherto incurable diseases, for
which his medicine is specific.
Never before In q lifetime do we remember
to have read book with more Interest. or.
dinarlly doctors prescription books are sacred
from the gaze Of laymen, but IN TINS instance,
we were Invited to look at the list OF those
who had certified to their own terrible bodily
ailments, and who were willing TO try an ex-
pertinent with his compound oxygen, (he
repudiating the idea Of Its being patent med
This little book impressed us with the bodily
frailty of great number OF our brother edl-
tors, who seem TO be suffering from the sever
have heretofore thought to be health persona
fed. In close connection too with O SIS pre-
scription for an afflicted country editor we
would generally see side note like this ~
n this medicine does not cure the brethren 1t
would seem that large per cent OF the
country printing Offices will be offered for sale
by their executors or administrators at no
It seems strange to US that intelligent men
will advertise their weakness, and we are sur.
prised that ministers OF the gospel and other
citizens VIII furnish bc wSch
they must necessarily know very little. We
are astonished that Intelligent men will give
certificate that they have been cured OF
that there are few newspaper readers of aver
age intelligence who do not know that the
medical profession pronounce consumption
to be q disease for which no specific has yet
Any pretense therefore that consumption,
fits, or brights disease can be cured, we be-
lieve to be nothing more nor less than pre-.
sumption on our ignorance. II there was
man on the face Of the earth who could cure
consumption he need not Notwithstanding
would there be any need Of agents to solicit
People W9uid 6cs 70 thaH ha@ ad l51id
come in such numbers that sentinels Would
have to be put on guard 10 keep the crowd
back, while greater and larger vaults than are
used to hold the government treasure at
Washington would have to be built In which
to store his fees. The earth itself would soon
lack little Of becoming bis sole property-a
cure for consumption would In fact, command
the treasure Of the world.
1t may not be uninteresting to say that we
are recently In receipt OF q pamphlet from q
hospital In New York. a large number OF
tlves-not one Of ,uhom ,oere cured, but In one
year one third OF them marched straight 10
the grave. About one-third were numbered
under the head OF improved" but none
In connection with this 1t might not be
| amiss to say word to persons suffering from
consumption. In the first place, let alone al
cod liver oil and shun every emulsion OF
which cod liver oil is a component part: Bet
ter spend the money for good beef and bread,
warm shoes and comfortable clothing.
tiers in the medical world, and we find In the
newspapers that cod liver oil Is not prescrlo-
ed for Consumption in more than one case In
sixteen. Does the man Of intelligence need
further proof that money spent for cod liver
oil is wasted, when no man can prove that he
has been benefited BY It, ,,-
Consumptives should take as little medicine
as possible. They should preserve the diges,,
wholesome blood d-making food. They should
keep warm. They should wear sufficient
clothing, and watch their feet with religious
care. II has been said that cold feet has put
| L., t..NIn n
that have ever been fought. Last and most
important, keep your window open at night
Never sleep all night in q close room-unless
the o Is nrht WHICH
is out Of doors, and the foul, putrid, disease.
producing night air which is to be found in
our closed sleeping rooms:
In a word, let consumptiyes obey the laws
OF health as nearly as possible. Medicines Of
all kinds should be avoided. The Doctors
can make no prescription Of medicine which
VIII 90 you gSod put sher aaVce ecb as to 20 one
For this reason consult the best physician OF
your acquaintance, but don't ask him to give
you medicine; If he prescribes meGieine, II
Is usually at the patients request. The doc
tor Is ordinarily fair enough TO admit that he
cannot cure consumption. He knows that
the most profound doctors and the most
learned men In medical science do not claim
that consumption can be cured by any known
human agency.
In these remarks we mean no unkindncss
to any one, nor do we mean TO reTect upon
any minister who may forget the proprieties
Incident to his profession. But we would
warn the people against accepting for the
truth any preachers cstimony as to the eifl-
cacy Of patent medicine about which he
knows nothing of It's power to heal stomach.
Of which he knows less. The signer OF
such certificates may be honest enough, but
he doesn't know what he is talking about
He only certlfies to his own Ignorance:
At present our greatest alarm Is for the well
fare Of the sick brethren OF the editorial fra
| ternity. Numbers and numbers OF them are
suffering from serious ailments.
We begin to have fears that the Press Asso-
citation will be broken up.
We would here note an exception from the
sick brethren, Col. T, b. Crews, OF the Luur-
snsviue Herald Is in good health, and he be-
lieves he needs no medicine, but his faith In
this new way OF breathing through n bottle.
| or his love for the agent, has induced him TO
look with favor upon compuond oxygen.
YIRTUOUS WARS.
H. Ty.~ft ,toto oro