THE WATER CURE AND ITS ORIGINATOR.

Evening Star, Issue 10394, 16 August 1897, Page 4

THE WATER CURE AND ITS ORIGINATOR.

A Reuter telegram from VVoerrishofen (Bavaria) says:—Father Kneipp, so well known in connection with his system of water cures, died here early oh the morning of June-17. • \ ■"

Sebastian Kneipp was bom in 1821, in Stefansried, Bavaria. He was a weak and sickly boy, and was expected to die of cbn-J sumption in his youth. In IS4S he began his experiments according to the ideas that have since made him noted, and succeeded first in restoring himself to perfect health. Then he began treating the country people about him, and with a success that caused his reputation to v spread rapidly. He vu originally a cotton? spinner, and it is only fifteen years since he went to take the cure of souls at Woerrishofen, which he made the centre of a world-famous water cure propaganda. English visitors formed a goodly proportion of his patients, and at the hamlet picturesquely nestling in the Bavarian hills it was a familiar sight to see groups, of them; —men and women—tripping barefooted across the dewy meadows at sunrise. The good father was fond of ordering his patients to step wet and dripping out of a bath direct into their clothes, and, thus attired, to take to bed, a cure which, if not always effective, had at least the merit of extreme discomfort. From all parts of the Continent people flocked to take the cure, and it was a curious mixture of nationalities that met at Woerrishofen. Advanced years and ill-health compelled Pfarrer Kneipp of „ late to withdraw from his former active participation in the ! cure; but there is a Kneipp Company at Mannheim which is likely to keep it alive. A few years ago Father Kneipp published an account of his treatment, entitled ' My Water Cure,' which made him still more widely known. Two years ago the Pope. sent for Dr Kneipp to come to Rome and treat him for ailments that aroße from a disordered stomach, and in his case Dr Kneipp was highly successful. The Kneipp institution is said to be an immense affair, caring for twelve hundred patients, and with all conveniences, under the direction of twelve resident physicians. Father Kneipp's system was introduced into America la9t summer, when a sanatorium according to his methods was established in New Jersey. The chief elements of the system are the application of sunshine, fresh air, and water. Its most striking feature is the early morning walk, barefooted, in the dew, or even in the snow, that is required of patients. Though this has attracted the most attention, there are other more important matters insisted on, such as baths of certain kinds and frequency, the use of clothing of a sort to admit light and air, the prohibition of alcohol, and the limitation upon a meat diet.