The morning news., 1892-02-10
THE WATER CURE.
The Abbe Ssoastien Rneipp and ais
Patients IN a Bavartan Hamlet

OF enthusiasm and fresh remedies for their
ailments, whether real or imaginary, in
strange and distant countries The cure
per Sc is remaT kably uninviting, but never
tneless. lt has become common. Sufferers
are willing to leave their camforta-
bic homes, to renousce the habits
OF lifetime and the pleasures Of
the Riviera to bury themselves ~ the primi-
tive village Of Woerishofen and place them
selves under the strict rule Of the Able
Kneipp. 1t is but fair to state that the
priest has worked miracles In the treat
ment OF lupus, and that he has in many ia
stances caused stiff. impotent limbs TO re-
gain supplenesS and activity. He has re-
stored power and purity to enfeeblsd or
vit.ated blood. but whether his drastic
measures are suitable fer all constitutions
has not been proved, and some patients may
try the experiment at their Feril.
Woerishofen is small village in Bavaria
with about 500 inhabitants. The last rail-
way station before the the sinuous carriage
route is Turkeim. and from thai point broad
Hat meadows, sparcely dotted with clumps
OF hrsr constitute nournful and lonely
landscape. AS soon as the village spire ap-
pears in the distance the stranger is almost
startled to find the solitude invaded by
pedestrians. taking exercise deliberately
without shoes or stockings, although, in
other respects comfortably and sometimes
elegantly dressed. The men turn up their
trousers and the women tuck up their skirts.
Near the central part of the hamlet the
health seekers are moro numerous, and
what seemed to be at first deserted locality
is In reality a populous hive.
The oracle, the idol of the whole country
side, is the Able KneIpp. Strongly built,
with massive head, robust shoulders,
bnshy eye brows, full lips, u broad fore
head, a square chin. the hands Of an athlete,
Sebastien Kneipp has indomitable energy
ard perseverance that lifted him from an
obscure origin to bis present position. His
parents were poor weavers, who intonded
that their son should follow their occupa-
ton; but his dream had been to become
priest, and while submitting to his fathers
orders aud standing at the loom all day
worked for the achievement Of
his cherished purpose and spent the greater
part Of the night in study. The double ex-
penditure OF energy nearly exhausted his
strength, and when his parents allowed
him to learn Latin from kind cure who
took him in. his health was shattered.
When ready, at the age Of 20 years, to
enter seminary, he was refused admit
tance on the plea of his extreme delicacy.
Undeterred, Sebastien still harbor I'd his
one hope. He was determined to get well,
and, imbued with notious he had
gathered in an ola hydro-therapic
treaties, found accidentally in the public
library of Munich. be began to treat him.
self with cold water. He bathed in the
river throughout the whole of severe win
'ter, breaking the ice with his hobuailed
shoes In order to take his plunge He re-
gained his health. became a strong and
hardy man, embraced holy orders at the
age of 80 and while performing his religious
duties he never forsook the study OF hydro
pathy duDing his leisure moments, and in
course OF time he made many converts TO
his system. Patients from the four quarters
of the globe rush to the presbytery of
Woerishofen TO ask his advice
The abbe is 10 years old. he rises before
a, and he is the priest till s q. m, and from
that hour until in the evening is the physi-
clan, with the exception of an hour at noon,
when he takes his meal, and occasionally
admits to his frugal board bishops, scien-
fists, functionaries, and the distinguished
foreigners passing through his village. In
the evening he attends to his voluminous
correspondence, takes notes aud reads, re-
tiring late. he lives with two neices, who
jealousy guard mis- privacy and allow no
one to disturb him at the hours reserved
for himself, be they for rest, study or
prayer. He was the outward appearance
the roughness, the lolhomie aud
the causticity of the peasant; he never
hurries, nor does he lose minute; he wastes
no time in conventional courtesles. If adj
dressed he answers briefly, but not harshly;
he laughs heartily at any simple, honest
joke; he has q warm, excellent heart, a
boundless charity and inexhaustible SYM
pethy for suffering. He loves plants flo wers
and children. His dog Spitz awakens him
every morning by pulling the sheets and
blankets of his bed, aud then, sitting down
upon them, waits patiently until the Able
returns from saying mass in the neighbor-
ing convent-the cnJy place where he is not
allowed to follow him. Anywhere else
Spitz is the abbes companion.
On the ground floor OF the presbytery are
two small rooms divided by passage. In
one the patients are received. They crowd
III long before the appointed hour, and are
provided with numbered tickets and books
in which their names are written, with de-
scriptlonS OF their diseases. In each book
the directions to be follow ed are inscribed
after each visit. They are summoned to
the next room in groups of twelve or fifteen,
according TO the numbers on their tickets,
and without any other distinction what
ever. In that apartment tho walls are
whisewashed, and the furniture consists of a
few straw chairs and a long deal
table, at which three or four assistant
physicians are seated. Behind them
several monks and priest take
notes. endeavoring to master the methods
Va SuOAi AhuotSi' IL VIC C6uIot Jus EADD6
leans back i'll his arm chair, with cigar
between his lips, a snuff bcx in one hand,
and large tumb(er OF cold water before
hun. When a patient approaches the table
an assistant physician takes his book, reads
brief synopsis Of the case, and as rapidly
as possible states any changes, each CONSUL
tation lasting only three minutes. Men,
women and children are treated
alike. Sometimes delicately nurtured
women hesitate to expose their
ailments SO publicly, but on
learning that there is nothing strange ia
that, and. moreover. being compelled to
speak by the overmastering dominance Of
the abbe, they soon regain confidence. The
priest does not appear to look at his patients,
but the questions he puts and the directions
he gives show thai he has. surely aud ex-
haustively searched them through and
through. He rapidly indicates the treat
ment to be pursued, an assistant physi-
oian writes IL in the book, and the
consultation is ended. From sixty to eighty
patients are interviewed at each sitting.
The methods of the abbe are to re-estab-
lish perfect circulation OF the blood from
one extremity of the body to the other.
Forty years of experience and close obser-
walton have convinced him that noxtous
elements in the system vitiate its most i'm
portant prinoiple-the blood-and that the
only possible cure is in restoring the blood
10 its original purity. He does not admit
that the human body is a piece of clock
work that can be kept in order il damaged
wheel he roDaireH He daclaras that auv