1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



525 



a minute, not even touching the patient ; and if it is a 

 had case he dips his fingers into a glass of water 

 (which he says is pure, and he puts nothing into it), 

 and has the patient drink it This man is one of the 

 State Rangers, and is stationed here for the purpose of 

 putting down a mob that is said to exist in that coun- 

 ty. It is said that he has treated several thousand 

 cases in the last twelve months, and charges each pa- 

 tient $1.00 for each treatment of rubbing his fingers 

 over the clothing and drinking a glass of water that 

 he has had his na.sty fingers in. Of course, it's like all 

 cases of this kind — there are hundreds of people who 

 .say that he can cure any disease, and that they have 

 been cured by him, while I have seen many others 

 who sav he did them no good, and worse than robbed 

 them of their money. The worst part of it is, people 

 are coming from all parts of the State to be gulled out 

 of their money by him. One poor fellow came all the 

 wav from Georgia to be treated by him for rheuma- 

 tism in one of his legs, which had made a had cripple 

 of him ; and after paying out many hard-earned dol- 

 lars to this man Donelly (that is the Ranger's name), 

 left just as he came, .to I have been credibly informed. 



I think we need officers here, and need them badly,' 

 but to put down such frauds as this, far worse than to 

 put down any mob that has ever existed in this part 

 of the State. ' What I want to know is this : Shall we 

 who do not believe in such foolishness sit still and see 

 such open robbery, without saying or doing a thing? 

 or is there a law to put down such men as this? or is 

 it possible for anj' one to have so much " magnetism " 

 about him as to cure diseases on others by simply rub- 

 hing his hands over them? or is it all the patient's ig- 

 norance or imagination ? The .strangest part of it all 

 is, the doctors in this town will .say nothing atainst 

 him or his manner of treating diseases. I am almost 

 afraid to give my name, as I under.-tand he threatens 

 my jort by law for saj'ing any thing against his way 

 of treating diseases. 1,. B. Smith. 



L,ometa, Texas, June 9, 180S. 



Friend S., I am exceedingly glad you have 

 furnished us the above facts, for it points out 

 at least one useful moral. If this man cures 

 any diseases without any apparatus, then it 

 is nothing strange that Electropoise cures 

 when it has no virtue at all, and no electricity 

 nor any thing else about it. It seems to me 

 that such testimonials ought to open people's 

 eyes. You need not be afraid at all to venti- 

 late all such schemes. The man has no pos.si- 

 ble ground to prosecitte you for reporting the 

 facts as you have done, while you have an ex- 

 cellent chance to have him arrested for obtain- 

 ing money under false pretenses, providing 

 one — or, better, several — of his patients are 

 willing to appear against him. We have re- 

 cently had a very pleasant visit from Mr. 

 Thomas \Vm. Cowan, of London, England. 

 In speaking to him about Ehctropoise and 

 electric belts, and things of this sort, he told 

 me of a man in England who opened a shop, 

 and had his window filled with electric belts 

 and other kindred appliances. Well, this 

 man was arrested and sent to the penitentiary 

 for obtaining money under false pretenses. 

 The testimony of chemical, electrical, and 

 medical experts was produced to show that 

 the apparatus produced either no current at 

 all, or not enough to have any perceptible ef- 

 fect on the disease. The physicians of your 

 town probably have nothing to say in regard 

 to the matter because they feel ashamed to 

 think that such a fraud can be carried on right 

 in a community where there are schools, books, 

 and papers. I think these same physicians, 

 however, would be willing to take the witness- 

 stand (that is, if the man did not get out of 

 sight before things got so far along) and testi- 

 fy that the whole proceeding was an abomina- 

 ble piece of fraud and superstition. The whole 



operation is, in fact, a sad reflection on the in- 

 telligence and civilization of the present day. 

 By all means report such things, and have 

 them written up ; and let comnmnity club to- 

 gether Hud drive the impostors and charlatans 

 out of town and out of the land. 



YELIvOWSTONE PARK " A-WHEEL." 



I AM just now planning for a trip through 

 the Yellowstone Park some time in July or 

 August ; and I was wondering whether there 

 was not one or more bee-keepers, or those who 

 felt acquainted with me through these pages, 

 who would care to go along. I have had the 

 trip in mind a good many years, and I had 

 intended to make it alone, but you know that 

 I am rather sociably inclined. Besides, there 

 are several reasons why company would be 

 desirable, for it is not ' ' misery ' ' alone that 

 "loves company;" and when I am enjoying 

 seeing those great geysers play one or two 

 hundred feet high in the air, I should want 

 somebody to talk to. Besides, yoti have to 

 wait an hour or two, more or less, to see some 

 of them "open up." It would be rather dull 

 waiting if you didn't have somebody to talk to. 

 Any one who feels inclined to join us can find 

 out in regaid to expenses by applying to his 

 nearest station agent. 1 mention it now in 

 order that we may have time to look the mat- 

 ter up, and decide when to go. As the region 

 is rather elevated, the hottest part of our sum- 

 mer is generally the best time for the Park — 

 say the latter part of July or early in August. 

 I expect to ride m}' chainless Columbia. And, 

 by the way, it has been ridden daily for about 

 six weeks past, and I have never put a screw- 

 driv^er or wrench to it anywhere, and have not 

 oiled it once, and have not even pumped up 

 the tires ; and yet it is "a thing of beauty," 

 and promises to be a " joy for " — a long spell. 

 Now, wait a bit. You know what I said 

 about drinking pure water and telling the 

 truth. Well, although /have never pumped 

 up the tires, Ernest has just informed me that 

 he pumped them up once without my knowl- 

 edge. He said he thought I was riding them 

 rather too soft. At any rate, the wheel is a 

 model of mechanical perfection. I never 

 expect to ride a wheel (one of my own, at 

 least) again that has a chain. No pants- 

 guards are ever needed, and no chain lubri- 

 cant. The gearing runs in oil. I can tell 

 that the supply of oil has not given out, be- 

 cause, on a very hot day, it oozes out around 

 the crank just enough to be visible. When 

 they get the chainless wheels down to the 

 price of the others, my impression is that 

 chains will go out of fashion. 



Now, then, who wants to go on that trip to 

 Yellowstone Park ? If we ride our wheels, 

 there will be no stage fare to pay ; but the 

 hotels all charge §4.00 a day. As I under- 

 stand it, we can not very well get along with- 

 out patronizing the hotels, unless, indeed, we 

 should catch fish for dinner, and boil them in 

 the hot springs, and camp outdoors in a 

 blanket: and these very things are being done 

 right along by some very good people. — 



