The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-01
LAME, HALT, DEAF, DUMB AND
BLIND FLOCK TO FATHER
JOURDAIN.
NEW HEALER'S WORK IN PARIS.
ALL MANNER OF DISEASES CURED
BY A SIMPLE PANA-
CEA.
HIS CURIOUS CERTIFICATES
Ready to Make Affidavit That He
Has Already Cured $4,000
People.

"A new nealef has appeared at Mont
martre, near Paris. He is known as
Father Jourdain, and he is in many re-
spects a singular individual. His repu-
tation has spread far and wide, and all
day long crowds of the lame. the deaf
and the blind, and many others suffer-
ing from all manner of real and imag-
mary maladies, gather at his door and
entreat him to make them whole. In
the crowds, too, are many who want re-
lief, not for themselves, but for their
relatives
AT first glance you note nothing pc
culiar about these persons, but look
more closely and you will see that each
of them bears a pound Of sugar. Go
with them into Father Jourdain's re-
ceptlon room, and you will see how
sugar is used. The healer, who is an
old man, and apparently poverty strick-
en-, summons each patient in turn and
asks him for his bag Of sugar. When
he has received it he opens it, and.
thrusting his fingers in, he fumbles
with the sugar for a. minute or two
meanwhile mumbling unintelligible
words, which make a great impression
on the silent and suffering crowd
thrOnged around him. This ceremony
over, he eVokes the spirits of Lamen-
na1s, SITS. Victorine and. Louis, these
being in his eyes the presentations of
Faith, Hope and Charity, and he con-
cludes his act of healing by handing
the bag of sugar back to the owner and
by receiving in it's stead whatever fee
the latter may be able or willing to give
him. The healer charges no fixed sum
h11t no
gratuity
HIS work, however, does not end
here. Each patient has to pass a reg
ular examination. AS they approach
him one by one the healer questions
them, touches them, feels their af-
Hlcted parts, prays over them, and not
until then does he take their bags of
sugar and accept their offerings. His
method of healing is simple, If not very
logical. He claims that once he knows
the ailment of a person he can, by sim
ply touching that persons bag of su-
gar, infuse into it a certain amount of
virtue or healing principle from his
own body. There is new life then, he
claims, in the sugar, and those pa
TENTS who put faith in their health
giving pounds of sugar will soon be-
come hale and hearty.
His patients firmly believe that he
possesses this power, and their pounds
of sugar after being touched by him
become to them the dearest treasures
on earth. Thus one old woman took
pound of sugar to him the other day
and begged him to touch it so that she
might send it to her grandson in Mad
agascar, and in this way save him
from the deadly fever Another old
man has given a certificate to the heal
er stating that "his daughter after
having been attended in vain bye the
greatest surgeons Of Paris, was cured
in six months by Father Jourdain'
This girl, it seems, was afflicted with a
grievous sore on the right foot. The
healer has several other certificates, al
most all of which, strange to say, extol
his ability to cure ailments of the
right foot
Father Jourdain gives a curious ex-
PLANTATION of the manner in which he
discovered that he possessed the heal
ing power. 81 am forester by trade"
he says, land I have spent all my
time in looping and trimming trees
1 can neither read nor write; I cannot
even spell out the name of a street.
Well, one day I happened to look ear
neStly at sick man, and, 10! he at once
became better. Others came to me and
all were relieved as soon as 1 had
touched them. I knew then that |
possessed some strange power. I de-
Ci0ed to leave the country and come
t., Paris. I had some money, and
therefore, my aim was not to make a
living, but to use my mysterious fluid
for the purpose of doing good to others
Al first my neighbors came to me, but
soon my reputation spread and today
patients are f1ocl<ing to me from all
parts. L f1atter myself that / have al
ready cured $4,000 persons