Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-06

would now get well in a short time, as
he had done his work thoroughly and the
influence of the evil eye had been shattered,
Asked whether he charged for his serv-
ices, the man said no, but pointed to a tin
box fastened to the wall and suggested that
the visitor give something for charity.
This One Meant Business.
Another of the wonder workers visited
was professional in every respect. His wife,
a plump woman. Intercepted the visitor in
a manner which showed that she had been
accustomed to handle people. She wanted
to know whether 1t was a love affair that
the visitor came to seek help in, or whether
it was sickness. Sickness, she said. was
the thing the man was especially skilful in.
But. Of course, he could help in all sorts
Of difficulties. business as well as love
troubles, and where husband and wife were
separated, no matter how far apart, he
could always use a charm or a prayer
which would turn the husbands mind back
to his home, to his wife and children once
more.
There were nearly a dozen women wait
ing in the room. They all drank in every
werd which the fat woman was saying.
Hope seemed to rise in the eyes Of even
the most detected of the women as they
listened. About half Of the women came
there because of illness.
One woman, holding an emaciated baby
in her arms, explained that doctors could
not help him and she was advised to try
this man. Just then a man entered. He
received preference over all others and was
admitted into the private office of the
wonder worker. The women evidently
knew the man and his mission, for they
soon began to guess that he would soon be
reunited with his wife.
A girl of is sat there with a swollen arm.
She explained that the man could cure
her arm much quicker than a doctor, for it
was clearly a case of an evil eye; other
wise why should a healthy arm become
swollen all of a sudden?
After a long wait the visitor finally
gained admittance to the devil chaser,
He was a man Of IS, with a silk skull cap
on his head and a flowing heard. He
explained that he was really modest about
Eis work but that people insisted that he
could do wonder II he wanted to. Well,
he was not sure he would care to actu-
ally perform miracles, but he certainly
could cure people OF all sorts Of ailments,
short of surgical operations. He used
cabalistic prescriptions which he made
them wear in the form Of charms,
His charges? They were not exorbitant,
In fact he did not take money from the
poor at all. Still he made a very nice
living from his practice and had four
daughters married and gave every one of
them a good big dowry.
How long had he been in this business?
About fifteen years. At first he was a
! scribe. Yes, he used TO write parchment
copies Of the Bible for use In synagogues.
Then people learned Of his gifts and began
to come to him to ask all kinds of cures.
He effected cures at first merely as a
favor to his friends, Soon he began to
find that he had no time to work at his
trade. His house was always crowded,
so he gave up working and became a
healer Of the sick and a p"eacemaker.
People came to him not only from New
York, but from other cities.
His methods? Oh, they came from ca
baltlstic books. These books contained
a cure for all sorts of ailments and were
infallible, With this he pointed out some
Of the books and the symbols in them.
An East side physician was asked wheth-
or 1t was true that doctors sent patients
to this man. y replied:
II should not be surprised, We have in
New York people from some Of the re-
hottest corners OF Europe. They have
with them many OF the medieval super
s%titions, You give them a prescription.
but they know beforehand that 1t won't
help them because al home when they
had such a sickness they were cured By
words OF the wonder worker.
You see these people in reality are
pining for some supsrstitious man TO come
and chase the devil out OF them. Well
would not you send them TO such a devil
chaser n you knew where he was?