The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-07-05

Eriest VINO Is a lAOst Remarkable Man
He Seems to Care Only to Do Good.
Worishofen, the now famous ABavarian
village, was almost unknown 1 o years ago,
but the TRANSACTIONS OF the works of its
cure, DR.. KnclgJp, and his wonderful eares
have brought its name into pro i nence.
Z Thousands OF inxalids now fieck to V oris-
hofen to be cured by the doctor priest
They came from almost all countries, rep
resenting all classes, from The archbishop
Of Prague and the great banker Rothschild
of Vienna to the humble priest and the
common workman, and from princesses
daughters of Don Carlos, down to peasant
girls And they all go barefootedl Even
the Asiatic in his national costume can be
seen in this village.
But it lis in front of the Kurhaus that
the spectacle is most extraordinary This
Kurhaus is a sort of hospital built by the
Cure Kneipp. Here we find all sorts of in
valids crowding the entrance and filing
the waiting room and the corridors Some
are brought in carriages; others are carried
like babies. The poor creatures present
pitiable appearance. REMAINDER seeing on
the day of my first arrival q little cripple
of years carried about in a basket. Now
she skips the rope and is almost completely
cured. As a fact such cases are frequent
dn Worishofen.
But let US go into the consultation
room. It is a,rather small, sw3litewashed
apartment, without fHTnitureother than
long table, at which doctors and scientific
men arc seated. In the center sits the Alb
be Kneipp. At first sight his rustic ap-
pearance is somewhat surprising. He still
looks like an old weaver in the gaZb of
priest. His features are strongly accentu-
ated Enormous bushy black eyebrows
add to the austerity of their expression.
But his eye, singnlarly soft, becomes at
times wonderfully penetrating. Hesmokes
an enormous cigar and nibbies fruit while
his PAYMENTS one by one,defiie before him.
The consultation is'neyer long. The pa
hent in few words tells his trouble.
Kneipp looks at him, rarely questions him
and still more rarely examines him. In
his cavernous voice he dictates the treat
ment to his secretary, who sits by his side,
and that is all The'whole thing lasts
scarcely two minutes. In,silence the doc
tors listen and take notes. 1t isdn real
ity a clinic, and theysare simply students
Of the doctor priest, WHO, astonisies them
with the accuracy of .hissdfagroses. They
admire the power OF his quasi divination
and admit his profound knowledge of the
human body.
On coming out of the consultation room
we see number Of people barsfooted and
barelegged wading about in a stream
men with their trousers tucked up above
their knees, priests with their 9soutanes
shortened and women co1rendingWfth the
difficulties presented By their garments.
Indeed one would fancy that they were,a
lot Of big children trying to -amuse them
selves If it were not for their serious coun-
tenances. They are simply obeying their
orders, taking their walk in the water. -
The spectacle presented inGhe exercising
room is still more comical. In one large
and well lighted apartment a crowd of pa
tents go through the widest ma1leuvers
and contortions, accompanied by the
Itrangcst gestures. Some jump others
work their arms; Others, dance They look
like group of dervishes.or pack of cir
Gus performers going through some ex-
traordinary rehearsal In utter amaze
ment you press your forehead and ask your
self if all these people are crazy or if you
yourself have lost your senses. But keep
cool. You arc simply in the presence OF the
Kneippists al exercise Attic close of it
they become once more EkeOrdinary indi-
viduals, except that they are always bare
footed
The number of lame persons, cripp1es Of
all sort, to be found insW orishofen is some
thing extraordinary. We have heard of
Lourdes and OF the impression that one
derives there, but Werishofen has this pc
culiarity-it asks nothingef the supernat-
ural If I may be pardoned the expression
1t is tha place of lay miracles and has
nothing to do with divine intervention.
After Dr.. Kheipp himself, cold water and
bare feet are the agents.
At the Close of the consultation a re
spectfa crowd surrounds the doctor and
follows him. Women knee, down to kiss
his hands. He gently brushes them aside.
On looking at the old priest, clothed in his
well worn soutane indifferent to all these
demonstrations of gratitude, one cannot
help feeling admiration and respect for
him. He seems to care for nothing except
the relief he can give to the suffering
But let us follow him. He is NOW going
to his conference On littaet plank plat
form a rustic chair is placed. Here Is
where Or. Kneipp develops his system In
his conferences, which are half scientific
Rndhalf popular. Even after the conference
his iabors are by no means ended. The
people grab at his soutane and catch his
hanQS. one wants to know some detail IN
the treatment, another begs him to visit
some sick friend. He replies ito one and
follows the ether, forgetful of the 70 years
of his own existence, .and thinking only Of
relieving his patients: \
With the money that he received hebuilt
hospital for the poor, and his only recre-
alton is in the Kinder Asy, among the poor
children that he gathers in and cares for in
the large building that he has had erected
for them. In this asylum found many
French children. Indeed there are chill
drsn there Of all nationalities. The charity
of Kneipp knows no frontiers
AS for iaunors, the good cure cares little
for them. In preef of this one example is
sufficient. When he was recently appoint
ed chamberlain Of the pope, he did not even
open the envelope that contained the docu-
ment conferring the dignity upon him IN
til the day after he had received it and not
even then until several clerical friends who
were aware of the fact came to congratu-
late him In his own blunt manner he
nskcd the meaning of the congratulations.
They called his attention to the letter. He
cook it out Of his pocket, opened it, read
it and tears flied his eyes. He did not
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