The National tribune., 1892-06-30
A RUSSIAN QUACK.
He Advertises Essence of Life which
Captures the Nobility and Even the Gar.

| He Advcrtises an Essence of Life which,
| Captures the Nobility and Even the Czar.
| Isl. Peters5ar1 correspondsnes.I
| The latest genius of this stamp is q civil en-
! gineer named Gatchkowsky. Sometime ago he
! went to Turkestan to work on the Transcaspian
Railroad. On his return he had wonderful
| tale to tell. He bad, in the course Of his
| travels, near the border of Thibet entered a
| hitherto unknown country, where fragments
of forgotten people dwelt." They were people
| who never fell ill and never grew old. Struck
| with amaZement he asked the secret of their
| perpetual health. At first they would not tell
| him. But on learning that he was on officer
OF the Great White Gar thoy recognized him
| to be the man of destiny. through whom tho
| secret OF unfailiug life was to be given to the
world. Accordingly, r lively young man of
four five hundreds Summers took Mr..
Gatchkowsky aside aud told him all about it.
| They kept themselves forever young by the
use of mysterious elixir. which they injected
into their veins The Mandarin--for these
were Chinese people-imparted to the Russian
the formula for making this elixir, aud sent
him back to Europe to conquer disease and
death. When Gstchkowsky returned with
this marvellous tale all Russia believed it and
came rushing to him for health aud youth. He
called his elixir vitaline" and charged an
enormous price for it. To manufacture it was
tedious and isborious task. Its ingredients
were extraordinarily costly and difficult to
obtain. But what price would one not pay for
the elixir of youth? So thousands of people
came to him to have their arms punctured
with his magic needle and immortal youth
sent coursing through their veins. To de-
scribe it as a mania is not too much.
Gatchkowskys Office was literally besieged
day and night In the throng were Grand
Dukes and Ministers of State, Generals Of the
army. millionaire bankers, diplomats cab
drivers, cooks, peasants, and beggars. The
most learned and most astute came with faith
rs implicit as that os the lowest moujik.
Ladies of rank and fashion came, crying, like
the man in Pilgrims Progress" Life :
Life," Even the Emperor himself became
believer in it and sent for his son, the Grand
Duke George, who was in the Caucasus, to
come and be treated for the ailments that
afflicted him. Before the Grand Duke received
treatment, however, startling event occurred,
which in twinkling changed the whole aspect
of the case. That event was the death of Gen.
Gresser.
The officer was Prefect of st. Petersburg and
was one of the best known men in the city.
He was a sufferer from no acute disease, but
general nervous debility and decline of vital
forces. So he went to Gatchkowsky for treat
ment in company with Gen. Baranof who also
wanted a dose of "vitaline." The illustrious
patients received hypodermic injections and
went away happy. Their example famed the
name OF the popular craze. Inc regular
physicians were abandoned by their patients,
and everybody wished for doses OF the wonder
full "vitaline"
Imagine, then, the CONSERVATION when it
was announced that Gen. Gres5er was dead and
Gen. Baranoff dying. Instantly the retreat be-
came as wild az the advance had been. There
was a perfect stampede away from Catch
kowsky's. But that was not all. Everyone
who had received the yitaline" were crazed
with fright, less ne. too, should share Gen.
Gressers fate. Hundreds OF them sent for
doctors and surgeons and begged to have tie
arms in which they had received the injections
cut OFF. And it was with difficulty that they
were persuaded not to take such an extreme
step. Thousands were thus frightened out OF
their wits, and not few became actually very
ill through sheer alarm. All this served greatly
to amuse those who had not used "vitaline-
But the best was yet to come. The police socn
arrested Gatehkowsky On charge OF having
caused Gen. Gresser's death by the administer
ing of dangerous medcament. Whereupon,
to save himself, the quack made a full confes-
sion. His story about the never dying people
in Asia sheer invention. The formula OF
"vitaline" had not been revealed to him by
mandarin. He had invented it himself. And
instead of being an elaborate and costly affair
it consisted of nothing in the world but borax
and glycerine. Chemical analysis proved the
truth of this. Then there was q universal
gufsw, partly at the expense of those who had
been scared out of their wits, and partly at the
expense of those who had solemnly declared
that "vitaline" had cured them of all sorts of
ills The victims of the fright are not over it
yet, and the laughter still continues.