New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-05
Samuel Hopkins Adams
Revealed Chicago Spe-
cialist's Ways
PYORRHEA CURE
WAS GUARANTEED
Compromise Refused Med
icaI Concern After
Federal Hearing

A. the ofce or president OF the American
Institute of Quack Specialists, and who
dropped his modest practice Of max
ing the blind TO see" for $50 TO devote
his later years to curing pyorrhea by
mail for the small fec Of So. has been
barred from the use Of the mails by the
Post Office Department at Washington
A fraud order was issued on Decem
Der -. on the recommendation OF ). H.
Lamar. solicitor for the Postcfice De
partment. who submitted a lengthy re-
port Of hearing held in Chicago last
fall. The order was issued against
Dr. r. W. willard Inc, DR.. F. W. VIII
ard and the +. W. Willard Company, at
81 South Wabash Avenue. Chicago, but
IT, was shown a. the hearing that Or.
Oneal. who was expelled from the
American Medical Association many
wears ago for UnprofessIonsi conduct
was the real owner OF the concern
while DR.. willard. merely received a
salary as president and medical ad-
wiser
The action Of the Post Office Depart
ment is considered 10 be one OF us
most radical steps 10 curb the use OF
the mails for quackery. The pro-
prietors OF the so-called willard
Treatment" even went so far as 10
offer to amend their literature ana
methods so that the word "pyorrnea
would not be used and no remlttanees
would be solicited or accepted under
the guise Of being able TO cure this
disease. which reputable dentists ADMIT
il incurable in it's advanced stages;
But the Federal authorities were deal
TO all entreaties. The evidence was
there and J.; was the duty OF the fosc
Office Department. it was pointed out
90 protect the public.
AssaiIed in Collier"
As far back as 1906, while he was
writing on "Quacks and Quackery' for
"Collier's Weekly" before he levelled
his lance az advertising quacks Tor
The Tribune. Mr. Adams had discovered
DR.. Oneal. Then be had this TO say
Of him: ..
NO raw newspaper advertising for
him. He prefers the magazines ana
the bane Of his existence u that, one
bv one. they are closing their pages 10
him. al
",Dissolvent methods is the Onesl
slogan. 40 matter what the trouble
may be. he 'dissolyes' it away nov
Make the Blind 10 See and Cure All re
Diseases in Patients Own Home WIN,
out the Knife il the modest heading OF
one Of his advertisements ny TINS
mild and harmless treatment he an
nounces, 4 have restored signt 20 thou-
sands i'm all parts OF the world
l.. .,rfIf a
r-ice Of sometimes Tor S25-but
Inc patient must put down part OF the
money in advance. Give him hrs pay
snd OneaI will undertake the impossible
ON any ones eyes; not only this, put
he will undertake 10 cure cases wnieh
he knows to be incurable.'
Rut DR. Oneal's most recent enorS
FIN the mari order dental cure line are
probably known 20 residents OF New
York through advertisements In sueh
magazines as would take them, and one
which appeared in the World Almanac
for 1916. This one. published over Dr.
Wizards name. says;
81 am a dentist Of % years expert
ence. ! have perfected most success
ful home treatment of PyOrrhea, the
Terrible Tooth and Gum Disease, and All
its SYMPTOMS. ! have found very
successful home treatment for that
terrible disease, called Pyorrhea or
RigQs's Disease OF the gums. Most
dentists tell their patients there is no
cure for II; that there is no cure for
loose teeth, bleeding, spongy. shrinking
gums aud dropping out Of teeth; but
many who have used ny home treat
ment say there is AND PROVE IT.
Attached to the advertisement was
coupon which the reader was urged to
cut out and send for an illustrated
book" II he did so he received a
booklet setting forth the horrors Of
pyorrhea, and also an order blank for
"Dr. Wizards home treatment" The
fee was So. The treatment consisted
Of two kinds of medicine, one to be
taken internally and the other 20 be
used as mouth wash.
That the responses to the adyer-
tisements were numerous is shown by
Solicitor Lamar's report that the busl-
ness Melted about $4,000 annually
and the testimony OF the postmaster
al Chicago that about 100 pieces o.
mail addressed TO DR.. Willard passed
through that Office daily.
postofice inspector. who wrote Or.
Willard under assumed names and re-
ceiycd numerous replies, Dr. Samuel
Palkin, government chemist, who
anaiyZed the medicine sent out by the
concern, and Dr. Arthur Barton Crane.
OF Washington. one OF the leading oral
surgeons and Psychologists in the coun-
try. were among those who testified
az the hearing.
Dr.. Crane said that he would not
even recommend the medicine as
mouth wash for a patient with abso-
lutely healthy gums. II was shown
that the alleged pyorrhea cure was for
wsrded, regardless OF whether the pa
tient said he bad pyorrhes.
When the evidence was ali in things
we're looking so bad that the concern
promised TO be good, Offering TO amend
its literature and agreeing not 10 use
the mails 70 solicit remittances FOR the
sale OF the Willard treatment a. cure
for pyorrhea or for any other mail
order treatment, and TO return all re-
mittances received in the future for the
treatment of pyorrhea. Failing in this,
i, made second offer, 20 the effect
that the postmaster al Chicago be in
structed 20 treat as refused" all mail
for the firm arriving at his Office.
The Postofice Department decided.
however. 20 take equally "a drastic &C
ton in the matter and refused 10 accept
any modification OF scheme against
which a fraud order shO1,d be issued
"for the protection OF the public
Solicitor Lamar concluded:
In summary. II may be said that
the respondents are selling through the
mails worthless home treatment Tor
pyorrhea to any one who will buy IL. II
respective Of whether he has pyorrhea:
on. II he has pyorrhea, irrespective o.
whether il has reached that ineurable
stage which they admit exists; that to
increase their business they are lead
ing persons 20 suffering from minor
mouth disorders TO believe themselves