Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-18
RUBBED WITH RELICS.
They Effect a Marvellous Cure Which
Astounds the Doctors.
A PATENTS NERVES SHATTERED,
But He Was Made Whole by Suspended
Catholic Priest.
A MIRACLE THAT PUZZLES SCIENTISTS

NEW YORK, Feb. 17.-What is probably
one of the most remarkable cures on record
has just been effected by Rev. Father
Tom Adams, a suspended Catholic priest of
Brooklyn. The subject of this cure is
Michael B. Mccarthy, proprietor of the
West End Hotel. this city. For nearly
three years McCathy has suffered excruciat-
ing torture from a peculiar ailment that was
the result of a fall from an electric car IN
Boston. He was treated and examined by
leading physicians in Boston, New York
and cities in the South, including Balti-
more, Washington and Richmond, without
getting relief His case was pronounced
both unprecedented and incurable.
The doctors said his trouble was due to an
injury to the medulla oblongata caused by
his fall from the car In Boston. The nerves
which controlled the respiratory organs had
been shattered and had lost all control of
the lungs. While an apparently robust,
healthy man, McCsrthy's respiration was at
the rate of 1872 a minute, instead of the
normal rate of 18 a minute.
Walking About as Well as Ever.
To-day this man, whom scores of the
most skillful physicians in the North and
South pronounced incurable, walked into
local newspaper Office, and with a counte-
nance glowing with delight, declared him.
self a cured man.
Mccarthy told how he had been treated
by Father Tom Adams, of Brooklyn.
''He told me to kneel down before little
altar and pray, and he prayed also. 1 then
barred my body, and he rubbed me with ar
ticles which he said were relics Of our Savior
and the saints. Twas sick when went to him
and was sick when left, and was feeling
badly all the way home-so bad that when
was on the ferryboat was wishing that 1
had it all to myself. Passengers on the boat
who heard me breathing moved away from
me in apparent disgust, while others
crowded around me for moment or two,
and thought I was crazy. About o'clock
that evening sudden change came over me,
my rapid breathing stopped, and, to my as
tonishment, I found myself a we'll man
again. could hardly believe my senses.p
Relics Used in the Miracle.
Father Adams gave reporter list of
the relics that he used to cure Mccarthy.
The list was as follows: Particles of the
flesh of St. Francis, of Assist; particles of
the garments of st. Julia, the virgin mar
fyr; earth and coffin wood from the grave of
st. Teresa Alva, Spain; particles from the
coat of st. Joseph; q part of the coffin of
St. Margaret Mary, Of Alaquoque, France,
the founder of the order of the devotion of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus; particles from
the urn of st. Aloysius Gonzaza; particles
from the grave of the Virgin Mary; small
statuette of st. Teresa, made from the earth
of her grave; piece of stone from the tomb
of Christ; portion of the crib in which
Christ was placed in the stable at Beth
lehem; part of the garments worn by st.
Alfonso Signara. 4
Father Adams has what appear to be
proofs of the authenticity of these relics in
documents yellow with age, signed by
Roman cardinals, and containing the papal
seal Father Adams cites Holy Writ as his
authority for the use of the relics; said he
had the authority of the Holy Writ, and
quoted freely from the Bible in support Of
his statement.
The Testament Cited as Authority.
The New Testament, he said, abounds in
narratives of faith cures, and so do common
history and tradition. The suspended
priest has effected, if common report is true,
many wonderful cures He has no fixed
charges, it is said, but accepts for his serv-
ices any offer made to him.
Some of the physicians at Bellevue Hos
pital who had knowledge of McCarthy's
case were astonlsneo to-day Wncn reporter
informed them of the recovery of the hotel
keeper The doctors were incredulous, and
delegation of them headed by Doctors
Cooper and Black hurried down town on an
elevated train, to see Mccarthy. The
physicians congratulated Mccarthy on his
recovery, and asked him to appear before the
students of Bellevue Medical College
20 the reporter DR.. Cooper said Nc
Carthy's recovery was in all probability due
to the fact that his trouble was not organic,
but functional. They said that if he had
exercised as much will power at any time
before during his trouble. as he did when he
went to see the suspended priest he would
in all probability have recovered.