The record-union., 1896-08-24
WONDERFUL CURES.
Desire for Strong Drink Cured in Six
Hours.
Test of DR.. Oppenheimer's Discovery
on Drink Slave From
the Bowery.

the world has ever known will, in all
probability, be made possible by
New York doctors recently discovered
cure for alcoholism The attention of
scientists throughout the country was
attracted the other day by the report
that hopeless cases of alcoholism were
being cured in New York in less than a
day. All other cures for drunkenness
require several weeks of treatment, and
then can claim a proportion of only
from u to 20 per cent. of complete
cures.
The new treatment has SO far not
lost single case. The discoverer of the
new cure, DR.. Isaac Oppenheimer, has
attracted SO much attention from med
ical experts that an entire ward at
Bellevue Hospital has been placed at his
disposal for applying this treatment.
I Ne formula of the medicine is kept a
secret. The liquid is clear and odor-
less.
A SUCCESSFUL TEST.
The New York Sunday World" has
put the cure to the severest test it has
yet received. The most confirmed and
hopeless victim of drink to be found in
New York City was induced to undergo
the new treatment, and its effect and
the actual experiences of the man
throughout the entire experiment were
very carefully observed
1t was by no means as easy as it might
seem to find just the right kind of
subject for this experiment. A man
had to be found who was capable of
passing very eXacting examination
concerning his capacity for strong drink,
the length of his experience as a com
firmed drunkard, besides other qualifi-
cations.
The Bowery, which is the haven of
wretched humanity, had to be searched
carefully, and a number of candidates
examined before a satisfactory subject
could be found.
A great many very promising looking
subjects We're found who looked suffi-
GENTLY addicted to drink to answer
every purpose, but many of them re-
fused TO endanger their time -honored
thirst, while others said they were
afraid Of the medicine
A SUBJECT FROM THE BOWERY.
The mission at No 105 Bowery was
found to have, on the whole, the best as
sortment for this purpose. 1t was on
the personal recommendation of the Su-
perintendent in charge that the Sun
day Worlds" patient was finally Sc
lected
The man, William Wilcox, answered
every purpose. His case was one of the
most pitiable in the entire city. He had
commenced life with the brightest pros
poets His parents, who have now dis
owned him, gave him unusual advant-
ages of education.
When mere boy Wilcox acquired the
taste for strong drink, and has ever
since been a slave TO it. His appetite
gradually debauched him. He found he
could hold no position, and so drifted
into life of Wretchedness. There could
be no doubt as to the truth of his pitia-
bic narrative. The Superintendent OF
the Mission said it was only too true,
and his trembling hands and red, con-
gested face vouched for the rest.
Or. Oppenheimer has said that this
man is on the whole the most interesting
case that has ever come under his care.
Wilcox had reached q condition in which
he was able to go days without any de-
sire for food. His appetite for whisky
attracted attention even on the Bow
cry. He has frequently drank one hun
dred glasses of whisky a day, and sell
dom took less than twenty drinks every
twentyfour hours. Wilcox's friends
laughed at the idea OF curing him.
His case, it was afterward found, pre-
sented very unusual difficulties
A TIPPLER FOR THIRTY YEARS.
Wilcox is forty-three years of age,
and nearly thirty years of excessive
drinking have completely undermined
his system. When the organs are ro-
bust and healthy the transformation is
more immediate. The mans system
was accustomed to support itself with
out any food, and any ordinary alco-
holic cure would at best have required
considerable time 10 correct this state
of affairs
In order to put the treatment to the
! severest possible test Wilcox was pre-
| sented to DR.. Oppenheimer in his normal
condition. He had satiated his appetite
up to within a few minutes before meet
ing DR.. Oppenheimer.
| The treatment was commenced last
Monday afternoon. Wilcox spent all
day Monday in his usual haunts on the
Rowery. He first visited DR.. Open
HthACi, accompanied ny d SuHudy
World" reporter, at few minutes past
o'clock.
| WILCOX AT THE HOSPITAL.
| The word accompanied has greater
| Significance in this case than might at
first be imagined. Wilcox had during
the day consumed about forty very
| liberal glasses of Bowery whisky. The
effect of this extraordinary amount OF
drink even on this veteran drinker was
very noticeable.
| The journey from the lower Bowery
| to the doctors office, at Sixty-seventh
street and Madison avenue, was ac-
complished with much difficulty. The
casual observer and there were many
at every stage of the journey, could
not fail to notice the mans condition
and no one could doubt its genuine
nesS.
To appreciate the wonderful power
of this treatment it must be considered
| that DR.. Oppenheimer had never before
seen this man and, except from his own
story, could know nothing of his exact
| condition.
Wilcox was guided into the doctors
office with some difficulty. BY a rare
accident Commissioner O'Beirne of the
Department of Charities and Correc-
! ton chanced to be in the office at the
| time.
| The Commissioner was greatly inter
ested in Wilcox's case, and has been
| a witness of the mans recovery In