The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-31
TRYING A SEER.
The Strange Story of the Sleeper of
Dorlisheim.
From the New York tribune

CIOu the new lOIk lIlDuu6,
A curious trial at law has recently been
held at Zabelm, in Germany. in which tes-
timony of the occult sciences and discus
sion of supernatural powers were mingled
to arouse the highest interest of the pub
lie. The defendant in the case was one
Gottfried Jost, commonly known as The
Sleeper of Dorlisheim," and the charge
against him was fraud. He had prac-
ttced his peculiar arts for years, and his
clients were numbered by thousands,
scattered in all parts of the world. The
sensation caused by his arrest and trial
was, therefore, very great.
The Sleeper" was born at Dorlisheim,
in Alsace, and was in early life a tailor.
But twenty-five or thirty years ago he
went to Paris to live. There he attended
the meetings of a magnetic club" and
served the well-known Partisan hyp-
notist, DR.. Des. ardin, for two years. He
then returned TO Dorlisheim, and began
to practice the healing art under the
system of hypnotism. His reputation be-
came so great that patients hocked to
him from all points of the compass and
even from abroad. On an average, forty
to fifty persons consulted him daily. No
fee was demanded, but people were ac-
customed to pay a dollar for each consul
tation, of their own accord. His income
was estimated at $4,000 to S12, 900 year
He was assisted in his business" and
'hypnotiLed " first, by his mother, and
afterward by his niece, Caecilie Wolff, a
woman of Is, who was prosecuted as his
accom- pliCe. While he was in a hypnotized
condition his patients laid their hands on
his and brought hairs, rags and other OBJ
jects into contact with him. He even
professed to treat medically absent peo-
pie by means of his clairvOyaut intellect
and the objects brought into contact with
him. He had never studied medicine
His intercourse with his patients was
partly direct, partly through the medium
Of his niece. He made the diagnosis in a
hypnotized state The patients were
never questioned by the members of
Jost's family or his servants. Witnesses
declared that Jost had expressly forbid
den this. He has been assisted for two
years past by doctor of medicine named
Otto Crosse, who wrote prescriptions for
the remedies ordered by him. Dr. Crosse
was patient in DR.. Binswanger's famous
establishment for the treatment of
nervous diseases at Jena in 1889. He had
made 3 scientific study of hypnotism, and
declared himself convinced of the ehcacy
Of JOst's treatment.
Twice before the present time Jost has
been prosecuted and punished for fraudu-
lent practices. But never before has his
whole business been so thoroughly inves-
tigated and so great public interest been
manifested in the case. Every day dur
ing his trial the court was crowded, many
people coming from afar, even from for
eign lands. No less than forty-Uhree wit
nesses, some of them eminent scientific
experts, were put on the stand, and their
evidence was highly interesting, showing
as it did, says the London Standard
which-reports the case in how high de-
gree this worker of therapeutic miracles
enjoyed the confidence of his patients
One of the witnesses was Lieut.. Gen. Won
Bergman, governor Of the fortress Of
Strasburg He sta ed that he had visi-
ted JoSt on an excursion, rather for the
fun of the thing. >" Jost had made
an incorrect diagnosis. The general had
got the impression that the thing was a
fraud. Another witness, an innkeeper or
beerhouse keeper at Altkirch, had con-
suited JosJ about his wife, who had been
paralyzed by stroke of apoplexy. Jost
had gwen a true diagnosis, but failed to
cure the patient. The witnesses for the
defence unanimously declared that 1.-The
Sleeper" had, mostly without asking
questions, made correct diagnoses of their
diseases, anu Of those of absent patients,
whose hair etc, had been brought into
contact with him. In most cases com
provement, had resulted from the treat
ment. DIR. Won Langsdorf, of Freiburg,
who had studied hypnoJism for forty
years, had observed Jost for scientific
reasons, and had not got the impression
that ne was a sWindler. A notary from
Constance had consulted Jost about his
mOther-in-law, and had received cor
rect diagnosis and advice which led to
cure The wife OF another lawyer of
good standing t"counSelor OF Justice by
title) stated that Jost had cured her of
an ulcer in the .omech. The burgomas-
ter of Dorisheim gave him a brilliant
certificate of character. He had trea Ted
the poor for no hing. and his benedcenCe
had become proverbial in the neighbor-
hood. A woman whose doctors had said
that she had only two or three weeks to
live had been restored TO health by him.
One of the witnesses had consulted him
about his wife. From her hair Jost had
asCertaiued, not only the disease from
which she had been suffering when the
witness left her, but also another, which
had begun during his journey, and Of
which he knew nothing. All these wit
nesses emphaticaliy declared their faith
in the healing lower OF ."the Sleeper, -
though most of them said that they had
gone 10 him without any such faith, and
had had their douY Us dispelled.
Inc hrSt expert who was examined was
Prof. FLrstner, of Strasburg University
He had been very much struck by the
fact that so great an apparatus had been
necessary in order ito hypnotic
Jost. In the case Of persons well fitted
for hypnotization the process did not re
quire nearly so much time. No instance
of hypnotilation being continued for years
without in ihry to the intellect had ever
come to his knowledge. Jost had refused
to let himself be hypnotized by him, and
demanded that the operation should take
place in his own dwelling. At Zabern,
on the other hand he had at once de-
clared his willingness TO let himself be
hypnotized in court-that Is, amid sur
roundings certainly ill-ftted for the pur-