Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-05-06
After Divine Healers.

\ Divine healers have come under the
ban of the Postoffice Department. and
in few days an order will be issued
declaring them from the Sc of the
mails. The department has been
gathering ipformati IN respecting the
methods of these divine healers for
month or more, ana 1t is now so well
convinced that their business Is illeg-
itimate that It is the purpose of the
officials to institute general raid.
The matter was first brought to the
attention Of the department by COM
plants coming from small town in
Missouri, where so-called divine
healer, conducting his business by
mail, endeavore dto collect payment
for treating o patient after the pa
tient was dead, although the fact OF
the death was unknown to the divine
healer. The case was that of an eld-
erly woman who was fatally i'll of fe-
yer.
The divine healer who lived in an
other part OF the state, was employed
and conducted his business negot!a-
tions with her relatives by mail. Each
week he would write to the family
that having given the womans case
prayerful attention he was convinced
she was improving and shortly would
recover. Then he would mention that
weekly payment Of IS. Unknown to
the divine healer the woman steadily
grew worse and finally died. The week
after her death there came another let
ter from the divine healer, explaining
as usual, that he was prayerfully con-
sidering the case and that, although
the woman might not know it herself
she was getting along nicely and short
ly would be fully recovered. lnas-
much as the woman had been buried
week, this struck her relatives as be-
ing rather singular presentation Of
the case, and they did not trouble
themselves to send the IS, which, a.
usual, the divine healer requested.
The second week along come anoth
er letter explaining again that the di
vine healer had been thinking about
the patient industriously, and no
only was convalescence proceeding
nicely but shortly the woman would
be quite we'll Shehad then been dead
two weeks. At the end of the third
week came another letter of exactly
the same import, and. as usual, ask
ing for SIS.
The relatives thought this was the
limit inasmuch as the woman, who
drew her last breath three week pre-
viously. was still dead. They com
municated with the PostofIice Depart.
ment, and in the investigation which
followed it was disclosed that exactly
the same scheme had been tried in the
case Of man whose Missouri rela
lives were asked to pay the divine
death of the patient. Still further in
vestigation convinced the PostofiicC
authorities that the business of divint
healing, as commonly practiced, rend.
ers the divine healers amenable to tho
| Postoffice laws, and a fraud order will
be issued shortly.
In Cincinnati there is divine heal.
er whose case has received especial at
tention at the hands of the authorities
This divine healer insists that his bus.
mess is quite legitimate because he
does not compel patients to take hi
treatment or to pay for it. He simply
offers to give them certain number
of treatments fer a specified sum
while he holds out no absolute prom
Use of cure. The authorities have NO
yet determined what action to take il
his case.