Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-11-01
W. Y ~ :.
DIVINE DIN !! :. HEALER AHuMRuG.
LaChance Loses @ His y Libel
SUIT Against the St.
Paul Globe.

0uInOug ana h frQu0.'
He was so defined today by Judge
Bum, who has been presiding at the
trial o! his suit against the st. Paul
Globe, an action from which La
Chance sought to realize no less 4
profit than the sum IF $4,000 DAM
ages for an alleged libel.
Just before the clock struck IL this
forenoon. the attorney for the Globe.
CD. O'Brien, asked the court to IN
struct the jury to bring In u verdict
for The defendant.
The attorney based his argument
on the fact that the healer had. by
bis own testimony, demonstrated
that he was a humbug, and that the
money he had received from his al
legged patients had been obtained on
false pretenses; that the article In the
Globe complained Of by the healer
was substantially true, and that
therefore, the plaintiff had no stand
ing In court, and could not recover
damages. g.:
Mr.. Calhoun controverted this prop
ositfon, and sought to introduce wit
nesses who would testify that they
had been cured by LaChance.
The court, after a little reflection,
took tho view advanced by counsel
for the defendant, and recited 1t In
brief in his verbal order. This order.
delivered from th~ bench wa" as FOL
lows:
The article that IL alleged to be
libelous accases the plaintiff Ut pre-
tending that he has the Divine power
of healing, through prayer. directly
from the Lord Almighty. The article
ridicules the possessions of this d.
vine power and says, in 80 many
words, that the plaintiff in making
that pretense is obtaining money un-
der false pretenses and is, in effect, a
fraud and humbug.
OF coure, the article is, ON it's face,
libelous. and is therefore presumably
false; but the plaintiff Is sworn rs a
witness in this case, and testffies
that he has this Divine power. that
he has it directly from God, and that
he uses 1t. and uses it exclusively In
trea ting his so.calied patients. The
plaintiff does claim that he uses what
is known as Christian science or any
form of mental healing or bypno'
tism, but his claim is that he. prays
to God and that through the inter
position of God, and God alone, the
patient is cured. I think that that
testimony disposes of this case. and
proves, conclusively, that the alleged
libelous article IL 10 substance true;
in other words, thatnO such claim as
that made by plaintiff in this case
can be true. That is not saying that
II no had claimed to be a hypnotist
or Christian scientist or to possess
the power of mental healing it W ould
not he question for the jury whether
he did possess that power or did do
any good, and the question in this
case is not whether the plaintiff did
any good in this world, but, did he
get money under false pretenses-is
he a humbug? He may have possess
ed some power that he does not
claim. that we know nothing about
in this case, through which he did
some of his patients good, but he did
not claim to exercise 1t, Reclaimed to
exercise the Divine power OF God, and
he made those representations to his
patients, and through those repre-
sensations he got b apiece from his.
patients. l think. gentleman OF the
jury, that 1t is therefore concluslvely
proved in this case that the article
published In the Globe ia in substance
true. that the plaintiff is guilty of
getting money under false pretenses,
that he is q humbug and fraud.
Therefore, instruct you to return a
verdict in this case for the defendant.
That ended the case. The fore
man of the jury came forward, signed
the verdict for the defendant paper,
and tho incident was closed until
such time as the plaintiff moves fora
trial and takes the case to the su-
preme court. i
La Chance made no sign when the
court indicated that he was a hum
bug. There was q little CLEAN
from his dropping eyes, for he 10 al
ways meditative and dropping, but
he showed no outward sign of sur
prise or resentment.-St.P Paul Dis
patch.
The State Federation ofWomen's
clubs will meet in st. Cloud in 1899.
Mrs. A. r. Blanchard Dead.
Mrs. Lixzie Thacher Blanchard,
wife Of A. p. Blanchard. died this