The record-union., 1893-03-06
REMARKABLE CURES.
Wonderful Career of Liable Kneipp
in Bavaria.
Masks of CLAW and the Power of Water
AS Demonstrated at the Village
of Woerishofen.

- - q uI4fG VI Nv lN-uN6 OF thirty
utes by carriage over rough road from
the railway station at Turkheim. On
either side, as far as the eye can reach.
are immense prairies. whose monotony
is hardly relieved by occasional clumps
| of FIR trees scattered here and there in the
distance. Soon, however, the figures OF
pedestrians are discerned. On coming
nearer il is noticed, with surprise, that
they are without shoes or stockings. The
men have rolled up the legs of their trou-
sers, and the women have tucked up
their skirts, and all march gravely along
over the stony road, or across the fields.
And yet these are neither beggars nor
tramps, nor even rustics. They have the
appearance of city people. Many of them
have refined air. Do not be astonished!
These are the patients of the Able Kneipp.
Already steeple is seen in the distance.
Ii soon grows nearer, and with it the
number OF barefooted people increases
you count them now by groups. The
nrst surprise passes away. one feels
amused at the sight OF these strange pro-
cessions, thanks to which they enter Wo-
erlshoten with a smile on the lips.
Liable KNEIPP.
The oracle, the idol, the shield of the
country. Large, strong, big every way;
wonderful head upon powerful body;
restless, piercing eyes under immense eye
brows; heavy lips, thick nose, full cheeks,
square chin; the shoulders of porter and
the hands Of Hercules. Such is physi-
caIy the Pfarrer (pastorl Sebastien
kneipp.
Everything about him exhales vigor
and energy. 1t is, in fact, owing to an in
domltable energy that he has reached his
present position. He is really a self
made man. The son of poor village
weaver he was intended by his father
to learn the same trade. His dream,
however, was to become priest. W hat
disputes every day between the stub
born father and the resolute but respect
1uI son! The young man conformed os-
tenslbly to the paternal will. In the
daytime he made the shuttle lily with dill
| lgence, but he studied far into the night
When Inc rest OF the family were asleep
ms life undermined his health, and
when at 20 he had an opportunity to
study Latin with an old vicar, in his
vicinity, who had become interested in
nm, he was III a very precarious condi-
tlon. So i'll was he that he was refused
admission to the seminary, when other
vase qualified, on account of his feeble
constitution. Almost anyone else would
have given up in despair. kneipp, on
the contrary, spurred on by this new OBJ
stacle, vowed to himself to overcome it as
he had others. He conceived the idea of
treating himself with cold water. and of
entirely curing his malady, with no other
guide than an obi treatise on hydropathv.
found, by chance, in the public library
OF Munich. he was so courageous as to
bathe every morning, during an entire
winter, in river whero he was obliged
to break the ice with heavy blows of the
heel of his boot.
Success crowned his effort so well that.
received finally at the seminary, he was
able, at about 30, to receive ordination
From that time hydropathy had in him a
| tervent advocate, and the study OF the
proper use Of water, warm as well as
cold, was the favorite occupation of his
leisure moments. OVerworked TODAY
| by the numbers of those who flock to
him from the most remote countries
Kueipp leads, at 20 years, a life which
few men in the flower OF their age could
sustain.
Rising, before o'clock, he attends to
| his ministerial duties until s: then. until
q in the evening, he belongs to his inva-
lids, only reserving one hour toward
noon to receive at his table the bishops
and persons Of distinction sojourning at
Woerishoten. In the evening he writes,
| attends to his vast correspondence, drinks
water and goes to bed late.
I1C llNCS Win lNO ulGCeS, VINO Keep
close watch over him, and prevent the
importunate from disturbing their uncle
at unreasonable hours, and trenching
upon the moments of repose and study
that he reserves to himself.
kneipp is a peasant, and he glories in
the fact. He has the brusqueness, the
shrew good nature, the caustic humor,
the distrust of the rustic. You will meet
him on the road walking with his rather
heavy step, the gait of the OK under the
yoke, never hurried. You salute him: if
he does not know you he looks at you
and goes on. Apparently this man does
not care to be recognized; it annoys him
to have TO take OF his hat. If any one
accosts him he responds simply, briefly,
but with kindness. On occasion he does
not object to a joke, he likes a hearty
laugh. If you render him some slight
service, pick up his handkerchief, for in
stance, pass him his snuff-boX, offer him
light for his cigar, he will not say;
THANK youn' What would be the use?
Always a peasant! but a peasant of a
large heart; under this rude exterior are
the finest traits Otlcharacter. He charity is
without limit and his pity for the un-
happy inexhaustible. tie loves plants
and flowers, is fond of animals, and de-
lights to be surrounded with little chill
dren. kneipp possesses a little white
long-haired dog, which adores him, and
follows him like shadow; perhaps he
has cured him also? History does not saw
Spitz ut is his name) has tor special
mission the waking OF his master at a
regular hour. With the regularity of Il
watch every morning at $3.50 he takes
hold of the bed clothes of the pastor
pulls them off and rolls with them on
the floor, then sees that the good old man
gets up and goes to say mass at O. clock
in the neighboring convent 1t is the
nnl1y nlona harn bn hgE N fIa rio
follow him, and he knows it. At public
meetings he places himself under the
seat OF his master and never moves.
fRN Whoever wishes TO win the favor of
kneipp pets his dog. But the best means
to get into his good graces is through
Marichen. AIarichen is the little niece of
the cure, charming, bare-iooted blonde
whom her uncle has brought up and
keeps with him; frolicsome, sprightly
| and bustling, a real squirrel in cage
she is the joy of the parsonage. Marichen
has the ear of the cure, and her childish
protection is all powerful with the great
man. At table she jumps upon his
knees and pliers from his plate. At his
audiences, where she is admitted, she
tugs at the skirt of his cassock and warns
him that the hour has struck, and that
it is time to end the session. =
THE CONSULTATION.
Consultations are had on the ground
floor, where there are two small low
rooms, separated by corridor. One is
used as waiting room: the patients
gather there long before the appointed
hour; the corridor even is crowded with
them. Each one holds in his hand a
number which has been assigned him,
! and also little book bearing his name,
at the beginning of which his disease is
described, and where the prescribed
remedy is noted down after each consul
tation. Pretty soon bare-footed beadle
it is necessary to conform TO the tradi-
tions of the house, calls the patients in
the order of their numbers, and intro