The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1896-01-17
HE HEALED NOBODY.
Schlatter an Ignorant Re-
ligious MOnOmaniac.
A COBBLER FROM EUROPE.
Not Single Well Authenticated Case
OF Cure From Chronic Trouble
Tho ''Healer'' Simply Crazy.
Denver Correspondence st. Louis Repub-

FRANCIS senator, the nedleT, WHO set
Denver in a turmoil of excitement for
many weeks, having disappeared for a
time from public view, can now be calmly
and diSpaSSionately judged. What virtue
for good he may have had can be made
known without injury either to himself or
to those who believed or had hope i'll his
power to cure diseases At the time those
who believed in him would not have lis
tened to the disbelievers and would not
permit allegations of cures to be doubted
Francis Schlatter is not a fraud He is
not a fallir. He is simply harmless mon
omaniac. He is illiterate He had read
but little before he left his native land on
the border country between France and
Germany. AS a fresh emigrant he had
landed in New York and had tried 10 make
a living at various occupations on Long
Island and the Sound country. He at that
time was liked for his good nature and
easy disposition.
He came to Denver and tried to make a
living cobbling shoes, but neither for him
self nor for his employers could he sue
coed in that, and finally he drfted away
to wander about the country under the in
fluence of his insane idea that he must
obey the spirit that inWardiy prompted
him to profess to be a healer. Pracdcing
first upon the supcrstitious and ignorant
Indians of the territory, he wandered in
to Hot Springs, Ark, where he was placed
IN the county jail as a lunatic. He re-
manned there all winter contented with
MS lot, doing odd jobs for the sheriff and
submitting uncOmriainingly to all the
rough treatment accorded him by the 9TH
prisoners. He was permitted to escape
in the spring and he wandered southwark
through Texas to FL PaSo, thence across
the deserts to Southern California. Among
the McXicanS in isolated villages he prac-
ticcd his healing and accepted aims from
the poor people who sought him out. He
was robbed by companion trampS, and had
many experiences which afterwards SEEM
ed TO him tc be humorous enough when
he recalled them. He went to San Fran
cisco by boat from San Diego, but did not
remain long in the city, going southwark
again across the mountains into the Mo-
jaVe desert finally appearing to the aston
ished Mexicans OF the dreary country
about Albuquerque.
IT was while down there that the news
papers, out of curiosity, first noticed him
and gave him a kindly mention as a new
variety of freak. Some credulous people,
reading in a Denver paper of his reported
cures, journeyed down there, became con-
WINGED of his powers and persuaded him
through flattery to come to Denver. Here
his reception was cordial and friendly He
took up his abode in quiet section of the
city, where he could not annoy nor dis
turb many people, and so it came about
that his career here was unbrol1en by dis
turbance or annoyance. New converts
further advertised the man, until he be-
came a subject of such general attention
that today every hamlet in the United
States has heard of this mysterious stran-
ger
Schlatter has been abused and mstreat-
ed so much that a kindly display of sym-
pathy and kindness warmed his whole be-
ing. Whenever he was surrounded by
group of sympathizers he was always
Ton inc md no nrir1 i1-n IT
was also extremely sensitive to fattery,
while anything antagonistic to him made
him instantly angry. The local reporters,
who attempted to mako fun of him, were
refused audiences afterward. He easily
withstood the fatigue of standing for six
hours a day shaking the throngS by the
hand so long as he had friends about to
flatter him or so long as the crowds smiled
upon him and filled his ears with words of
praise and adulation. Finally, becoming
frightened at the attention he was receiv-
Ing and the crowds that continued to in
crease in numbers about him, he disap-
peared unexpectedly, leaving thousands to
awake from their delrium of excitement
to wonder and reflect.
During his stay in the city the medical
profession, with one exception, left him
unnotfced. They may have given their
views in private to intimate friends and to
patients who inquired for an opinion, but
They were wise enough to know that it
was but a passing fancy of the deluded
and credulous people. None of them ever
anticipated that the interest in the ignor-
ant man would spread throughout the
city and per1neate all classes Of people.
The most prominent men of the city be-
came interested and believed in the
strange man, in so far that they believed
he was doing good and no harm to a liv-
Ing soul. The reports of cures and the
testimony of friends seemed to be con-
vincing enough.
Army officers and graduates of West
Point physicians, lawyers, clergymen,
public school teachers, railroad officials.
bankers, brokers, merchants, in fact,
every class of people, Joined in admira-
ton of the man, or in a belief that he was
doing remarkable work as healer
Though at first only the illiterate, ignor-
ant and superstitious fiocked to him, later
on the class of supplicants improved, I'M
til the very best people in the city were
standing in the long line for hours at a
time awaiting their turn to be grasped
by the big, fieshy, warm-blooded hands
of this man suffering under delusion of
the mind. Schlatter was invited to dine
on Sunday at some of the finest homes on
Capitol Hill. When he disappeared men
even shed tears because he had gone with
out warning. 1t is the most singular fea-
ture OF this remarkable spectacle this
power which Schlatter gained over the
Denver public.
And not alone from the Denver public
A prominent railway official of Omaha
was so greatly impressed with the mans
abilities as a healer that he gratefully Of
fered to grant passes to all EMPLOYEES OF
the road who wanted to go to Schlatter
for treatment. People came from almost
every town Of the West, and visitors and
tourists from all over the land testified
publicly and privately to the mans pow.
erS to relieve the distressed. The story NJ
the man from Ellsworth, Kan, who was
lifted off the train and carried to Schlat
ter, and who left the healer cured so thai
he could walk unassisted back to the trair
few about like wildfire during the las
week of the healer's sojourn in Denye,
and convinced many who until that time
ha1 ksS~ skeptical.
The Ellsworth man believed that Schlat
ter was the cause of his sudden recover,
to strength and the permanent use of hi.
limbs, and it is probably true that he still
continues to believe in the miraculou:
cure then and there effected Simila,
cases Of so many kinds were brought t.
the attention Of the spectators that doub
began to give way to credulity and il
many cases to absolute faith.
The conversation on streets, in privat r.
offices, in the markets, in church, societ,
and homes turned upon this remarkab hi
display of apparently superhuman pow
ers. 1t was easy to convince the doubtin,
mind by illustration, or if not to convinc
to mystify the disbeliever and cause hin
to suspend judgment
And how was this man regarded by tn
best informed specialists of nervous O
other diseases which tend toward insan
ity? A physician whose standing in thi
city is beyond cavil, and whose reputa
ton in the subjects of nervous disease
and insanity has spread throughout tn
land, has kindly given his opinion sine
Schlatter disappeared, upon request. I,