St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-03
MARVELLOUS HEALER.
A Little Nebraska Town Stir
red Up Over Alleged Won
depful Cures.
"~TreatmentS" Given a Nine
Year-0ld Girl by a Man OF
Seventy.
His Method Apparently About
That Of the Faith Cure
CrankS.
Running Sores on a Boy Are
Healed Up by the Doctor
by a Look.

NCUs. Aplii -O"hOSAi' A'N~''
is a rosperous village of 200 or 800
souls, located on the prairie IN the
the southern part of the state. Most OF
the inhabitants are Germans and Rus
slams. Among them lives John Pruder,
a mild-mannered old German, who earns
a scantv subsistence for himself and
family by laboring on the sheep ranch
of Peter Jansen. The only n OF the
family who understands English is little
Frelda, a girl of nine. Just before the
holidays Freida was taken i'll and con-
fined to her bed, and until ten days ago
she was the victim of a most mysterious
ailment. She was subject TO spasms, IN
which her fingers were cramped until
the nails were buried in her palms, ana
her toes were turned under her feet.
She lost sight. bearing and speech, ana
her little figure as wracked with a
variety of involuntary contortions. She
was entirely
Helpless for Hours
and days, aud for one period of six
weeks her life was sustained by pouring
milk down her throat. At other times
she imagined she saw visions. Some
times it was an angel, then a
rabbit, and again a woman in white
skirts. A physician ventured the opin-
ion that the child'S liver was affected, AN
other said it was typhoid fever, another
admitted he did not understand the
case. The circumstances of her sickness
are vouched for by American %neighbors
of responsibility, who can have no mo-
tive to misrepresent. One OF the super
stitions old women suggested that
Freida had been b%ewitched. In support
of her theory she urged that the
inside of the bed upon which the child
rested be examined. Acting upon
this suggestion, the Pruders opened
the tick from time to time, and
there, curiously enough, they found the
feathers matted into peculiar shapes.
The superstitiou5 neighbor suggested
that these feather objects be burned,
saying that the witch would be the hrst
person to visit the house after the burn
ing. The first caller happened to be a
Mrs. Miller. Her husband had at one
timeAmade a vain attempt to sell Prpder
a piece of property, and they readily
accepted the conclusion that Mrs. Miller
was
B~eWItching the Child
in revenge. News of the affair reached
a farmer named William Noltensmeyer,
formerly of Missouri. He advised the
Pruders to send for John Erinberg, OF
WarrensDurg, No., and told wonderful
tales of the cures wrought by him. Mr..
Erinberg arrived at Jansen last Satur-
day morning, and went to the Pruder
house. The stranger looked at the
child. said he could cure her and asked
for a room in which he could be alone.
An adjoining room was given up to him,
but although what he did in there is un-
known, when he. came out he was per-
spring as though he had undergone
some great physical eXertlon. Three
times that day did he give the
child this ''treatment," as ne
called his private operation. lie
neither touched the child nor gave her
medicine, and it is supposed that he de
voted himself to prayer while IN Sc
clusion. During the day there were
mutterings of ill-Will among the simple
minded foreigners, and at night a com
pany of twenty-four. organized with g
leader, called at the Pruder home ant
notified Erinberg that he
Must Leave the Town
the next morning or they would prose-
cute him. The stranger from Missouri
was a peaceful, w~hite-bearded man Of
seventy, and was evidently frightened
by these threats, but when Mr.. Bruel
and other intelligent citizens, salts
fed that he was at least do
tect him, he agreed to stay
Mr.. Erinberg gave little Freida three
treatments" Sunday morning, and il
the afternoon she was about playing
with the other children of the village
Sunday night she was at the house Of
Mr.. Bruer until IL o'clock romping
merrily with bis children, though sht
had not entirely! recovered her speech
The mob of Saturday night held a meet
ing Sunday and determined TO tar ant
feather Erinberg that night. Their
plotting was overheard by a neighbor
who notified Pruker's friends. These
gathered in force to protect the old man
aud his enemies were frightened from
| their purpose. Among the business mel
of Jansen is J. w. Marshall, a grain
buyer. He has a ten-year-Old son
Floyd, who suffered for three years
from
TWO Running Sores.
one OH each side of his neck. He hac
been treated by Omaha and Other
physicians at an outlay of many hun
dreds Of dollars, and without mucl
relief. The cure of Freida Prudel
naturally became the talk of the town,
and Floyd Marshall asked his father tC
take him to Erinberg for treatment
Mr.. Erinberg looked at the lad intently
| for a moment. chatted with him a few
minutes, told him TO be a good
boy and he would be cured
In this case the old man
did not retire to another room. This
meeting occurred about 10 O'clock last
| Tuesday morning. When Floyd came
| to his mother at 3 o'clock in the after
noon TO have his neck dressed she was
| surprised to find that the sores had
stopped running and the wound:
seemed to be closed. A lump as large
as a goose egg that had been gather
ing on the left side of the neck fol
three weeks previous had also dis
appeared. Hardly able 10 believe
her eyes, and not wishing to raise FALSE
hopes, Mrs. Marshall said nothing t
! her husband aboutthe wonderful change
4 until the next day, when the sores hat
entirely closed and the discharge
ceased. 1t is beyond dispute that boil
children were suffering from seriou.
ailments before Erinberg visited Jansen
1t is equally true that since his yisi
these diseases have left them, and the
feel apparently in good health.