Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-24
NOT The REAL SCHLATTER
Dead Man at Hastings Said to Be the
Pretender.
ORIGINAL DIED SOME YEARS AGO
Faker Recently I'm Omaha and Tie l.
Relieved to ne The Man Whose
Body Calls for Identifi-
cation.

Several men are now in Omaha who
visited Denver in 1856 or 1@6 At the time
"schiatter' was creating such a sensation
there through his divine healing processes
at the Alderman Fox residence. and they
doubt extremely II the man now dead at
Hastings and who was recently in Omaha
is the original schlatter.
1t will be remembered that Schlatter dis
appeared from Denver just as suddenly as
he appeared there. He was reported to
have been seen afterwards in many parts
OF the country, and several men. processing
TO be the original Schlatter. undertook to
perform the cures attributed 10 him a few
weeks after his disappearance, but with
indifferent success.
One thing is certain: that there has been
for years another man, regarded as a
sheer charlatan, representing himself as
Schlatter. This man was very recently In
Omaha and In The Bee office, but finding
a poor harvest here he drifted on. and
there is a popular belief that this is the
man who died at Hastings.
Job Worked on Easy Ones.
I'd Wilson, formerly chief Of police at
Beatrice, (who had seen the original Schlat-
ter in DENVER, and who is now employed
VIII NV uNAttNlNt HEiNlC6 OF Ine burning
ton, tells a droll story regarding an al
legged schlatter appearing at Beatrice
shortly after the disappearance Of the
original Schlatter from Denver.
Some Joker had registered the name Of
"Schlatter" on the Paddock hotel register
and the story very soon spread that Schlat-
ter was in town and would do the healing
stunt at the Paddock hotel. There was a
German living in Beatrice at the time by
the name of Gus Schmidt, who everybody
knew and, vino was somewhat OF a practi-
cal joker. lie bore a fair resemblance to
Schlatter. wearing fairly long hair and a
blonde beard, and 1t occurred to some Of
the other practical jokers of Beatrice to
have Gus pose as Schlatter, and bless a
few handkerchief and do some divine heal
ing. Gus took up with the idea, and we
hired a room for him on the Court street
front on the third floor OF the Paddock
hotel. A placard was written and placed
in the lobby Of the hotel stating that Schlat-
ter would be ready for business at 10
o'clock that morning. and at 4 o'clock in
the afternoon he would do some long dis
lance healing from his window and bless
the poor and others who were unable to
meet him personally. The whole thing was
to be done without cost to those to be
pieSt anu heaieo' Duu IL takeF wen 4
guess yes.
Go to Get Double Dose.
The funniest part of the proceedings was
that Beatrice had sent thirty or forty
citizens to Denver to be cured by the real
Schlatter, and they knew him fairly we'll.
Many of them remaining there two or three
days to get a double dose or cure. Well,
practically all of these people who had
been to Denver to see the original Schlat-
ter, were willing to swear that Gus Schmidt
was the real thing and were among the
first to visit him at the Paddock hotel.
The door to Gus room was permitted to
be only partly open and he being dressed
in similitude to the real Schlatter could
only be seen i~ndistinctly through the half
opened door. Well, handkerchiefs went in
there by bales to be blessed. and the own
ers had the completest faith in the efficacy
OF the cure they would give.
The hotel was damned with the crazy
mob waiting for a blessing, and the thing
began to look serious. We manages to
get the crowd away on the representation
that Schlatter wanted a little rest before
beginning the public blessing from the win
dow. Well, when 4 o'clock came Court
street in front Of the Paddock hotel was
literally jammed with people waiting for
the blessing.
Bale Of Handkerchief.
1--WE had in the meanwhile bought an
other bale of cheap handkerchief, and got
Gus to stand between the partly opened