Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-22
FAMOUS HEALER
DIES PENNILESS
IN HOTEL ROOM
FRANCIS SCHLATTER EXPIRES
IN NEBRASKA
SOME DOUBT is CAST ON DEAD
MANS IDENTITY
Man Who Cured Thousands of lnVaIids
and Tasted Forty Days in
Denver May Be
Dissected
tBy Associated Press.l

TT ASTINGS, Neb., Oct. 21,-Francis
II Schlatter, who claimed to cure
IL ills by divine power, was found
dead today in a room at the Hastings
hotel, where he had been for about
month.
Doctors say he died of old age. Thou
sands of newspaper clippings, describ-
ing his visits to Boston, Denver and
other cities, were found in his room.
Schlatter was virtually penniless.
Unless relatives or friends claim the
body it will be turned over to some
college.
Francis Schlatter, as he was known
in the central west, made his nrst ap-
pearance as a healer among the IN
tensely religious and superstitious Mex
leans of New Mexico in July, 1895.
Schlatter's fame ultimately was
spread by telegraph and he went 10
Denver There he began fast that
lasted for forty days. All the while ne
continued to heal.
Persons of all classes gathered in
such numbers that the healer was un-
able to accommodate them in his house,
and they passed before him as he
stood upon the porch.
How He Cured Them
He would lean over and take the hand
of the patient, while he prayed with
each one He also blessed handker-t
ClletS, caps anu OlIlSI llSlSS, ~ ~
used as instruments of healing.
People came by the thousands. He
refused to take money and gave credit
for his work to "the Father.
ut is not L who does 1t, said he.
Schlatter was credited later with
having claimed to be the reincarnation
of Jesus Christ.
He travelled in various parts of the
country pursuing his healing wherever
he went.
Ultimately he disappeared, and for
several years was lost to public view.
He was reported to have perlshed on
a Mexican desert, while his friends de-
clared he had gone TO ranch LOT d
rest.
In the summer of 1902 Schlatter reap
peared in Chicago, after having lived
| in seclusion for five years. he decllnea
to say where he had been, merely stat
| inc he thought it better, in view of the
many false prophets who had arlseil'
that he disappear for time.
Little or nothing is known of Schlat-
| ters antecedentS.
Mystery Half Cleared
| The mystery surrounding the death
! of the man claiming to be Francis
Schlatter was partially cleared tonight
by the discovery of family album
containing a picture of the dead man
taken in 1871. ~,
Lean. A note was also found naming
David McNaughton of Chicago as the
custodian of his effects.
His literature and advertising cir
culars declare him to be FRANCIS
Schlatter, Divine Healer"
A receipt for an envelope deposited
with the Bay State Trust company OF
Boston was also found. This was
placed in the care of the company last
February. -
For three weeks he had been kept
at the expense of the city. He claimed
he was the original healer who ap-
peared in Denver and he aVerred thae
he caused the report to be spread
abroad that he had perished in the
desert He undertook to cure by di-
vine healing in several Nebraska
towns last summer.
Pictures, newspaper cuts and maya
zine illustrations seem to indicate that
he is the same man who caused the
sensation at Denver several years ago.