RAPID CURES

Evening Star, Issue 18667, 23 June 1924, Page 5

RAPID CURES

PHAETJS THE EGYPTIAN. THREE BENEFIT ON SATURDAY. The man who claims the ability to relieve pain and sickness is always assured of an audience, whatever his claim bo hast'd on, and whatever his method of operating. -Of laic there has been almost a "''n't'tinn of “healers" of one sort or another—principally of the “ faith ” variety 1 r>o w there fins come among us the a* iv a min-kilier previously unknown yr-t« the apostle of /.onery, Pti-Mt.s ■he Egyptian.” It would t»’’n ho should deny the ■V ■ rcpirion of nerves, and iliat ' ; pressure of one nerve or more developments in other parts of the body may he set. in motion. Such a one would be oblivious to the existence of the science of anatomy and to Urn powers possessed by those with an inner knowledge .of the Japanese jiu-jitsu. And it is on this established basis that Phams builds his claim to assuage the aches of man —a claim to which he was entitled, it was evident, in the opinion of those in the Plaza Theatre when ho made his opening Dunedin appearance on Saturday night. ■ A tallish, spare man is Phams, hoarded, bright-eyed, with the hands of an artist and the alertness of a Frenchman. Of personality he has so much that ho could afford to dispense with the Eastern robe in which ho appears, and ho even could pass himself off as an American without his nationality being questioned; there is something very American about “ Pharus the Egyptian.” A man who “gets” and holds his audience from his appearance on the stage, he divulges his secrets and cracks an occasional joke with all the “click" of the practised showman. Seventy-two years old. he announced himself to be, and certainly, if his bearing, activjty, .and general appearance are the result of his employing the methods he advocates, there is much in zoncry. His hair, though silvered, is “all there,” and he displays a set of flashing teeth that mourn only three of their brothers. A man of sixty with as good an appearance would he considered unusually well preserved, and as he told the audience, he was a physical wreck at thirty years of age, suffering from tuberculosis and cancer of the stomach, and doomed to death by nineteen doctors, it would seem that Pharus at seventy-two is indeed a remarkable man.

Phams explained that those before him had been practising his method to some degree all their lives—hands to the aching head, hands to the barked shin, and so on. Ho expected failures, he said, and be could not undertake to do any good when the nerve was dead. Ho then read out four names from, a list given him by the theatre manager of those wishing to be treated on the stage. The owner of the first name did not respond, but three others suffering respectively from lumbago, rheumatism and sciatic, and neurasthenia and rheumatism made their way to scats on the stage. There the boots of the snffe.rers were removed by two lady assistants, and the feet of two were placed upon small aluminium combs set in blocks of wood. Their hands were also closed in combs. Only one of the third sufferer’s feet was so dealt with, and one of his hands. The two ladies applied themselves to assisting them to press on the combs, because, Pharus explained, as his turn lasted only twenty minutes, it was necessary to give greater pressure than if the sufferer were to sit in the position for half an hour, as lie would do in ordinary circumstances.

While the subjects sat so Pharus talked, 'taking care to point out that there could be no question of hypnotism, or suggestion, a.s ho had not touched the three men. nor was he looking at them. He showed the people how to cure toothache by a firm pressure with the thumb on the jaw and the index finger just below the troublesome tooth; how to cure headache by a pressure with the thumb on the roof of the mouth—he would give £5 to anyone who applied the method correctly and did not get a euro in five minutes; how to cure ‘j_every bit of pain in the body” by half an hour’s pressure with the feet and the hands in aluminium combs—as these combs not bo bought here he had secured' a supply, which the assistants would distribute after the entertainment; how to stop falling hair in ten 'or twelve days by the daily rubbing of the finger nails together for five minutes—it would restart a growth on the head if one had been bald for years, and he would give £SO to any hospital if anvone who did ; t properly did not stop (he hair from falling (the tips of the fingers were the nerves' termini, and it was as necessary to recharge the nerve battery as to recharge the motor car battery) ; how to cure insomnia by pressing the tips of the fingers together (as lie demonstrated) for five minutes when in bed ;• how to give the body “ pep” and to cure infantile .paralysis and kindred complaints by (in the first instance) two minutes of light, rapid strokes all over the body towards the heart with a hard brush every morning, and (in the second) by five minutes of the, same treatment night and morning. Then Phams turned to the “cases.” The first, a victim of rheumatism and sciatica, limped across the stage at the command of Pharus, and said that lie felt much bettor. The lumbago sufferer stooped twice and picked a comb from the floor, and ho also touched his foes while his knees were straight. He had not been able to stoop to (ho floor for fourteen he said. Then Pharus declared that he would go before any citizens’ committee and cure any case of lumbago in the city. The other gentleman, who had put. on his own boot, said that, he had not been able to do such a thing before for six years. He had had an accident, and had had sciatica for fifteen yearn. Now he felt no pain whatever. Waving his stick and smiling happily, lie strode up the foyer. “ Remember,” said Pharus. “ those cures are absolutely permanent. If the man with lumbago has a touch of it to-day or tomorrow I shall give £lO to any hospital.” Then the audience applauded loudly and bought briskly from the attendants the aluminium combs and a pamphlet ing “twelve secrets” at prices that should not show a loss to the healer. It is ’worthy of note, by way of comment. that while Pharus did not address himself to those on the stage, all ho said was perfectly audible to them, and that, such is his way of saying if, to the impartial observer it did not seem that the results were altogether free from the element of faith—faith in Phams. The test, of course, is the permanency' or otherwise of the effects, and Phams made it clear that in many', cases repeated treatments by the sufferer on himself are necessary in order to build up the nerves. Pharus will continue his season this afternoon and evening. He Is supported by a strong programme of moving pictures.