MAGIC WATERS OF VANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18281, 23 December 1922, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAGIC WATERS OF VANCE.

THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS.

CURES AT "MIRACLE" WELL.

Sixty thousand people have taken the waters of Vange since the first wonderful cures were publicly announced a, month ago, writes Mr. Sidney A. Moseley in a London paper. The numbers who have come to the well are incalculable, but stacked awiiy in boxes are thousands of appeals from invalids all over the country. To these, over 15,000 bottles of the magic water have been sent. If Mr. Cash, the owner of the well, had 100,000 bottles, he could fill them and dispose of them at will, so insistent are the demands by chemists. Is there any real medicinal value in the water? If thero is, why has it taken over 20 years for it to become known? A few weeks ago a vigorous old man called in at my office. He said his name was Edwin Cash. His career interested me more than his story of his Vango magic well. He had been caterer and manager at Cambridge University; he had bred prize cattle which won first prizes against Rothschild, and had been congratulated by King Edward; he had owned the famous Angel hostel at Islington, and was now finally a farmer again. The sleepv picturesque Essex village may have contained a magic yell, but nobody seemed to care much about it. As a matter of fact, there was not a single person aoout. To-day it is all transformed. Distinguished Visitors. Among the titled people who have visited the well are Sir Frederick and Lady Green and Lady Carter (who took away a score of bottles half the-number ■ she wanted). Doctors, for the first time have succumbed, and no tover than l ? either came themselves to take the waters or brought their patients over xha weekA curious sequel has now resulted. People from all over Essex are suddenly discovering that the water they have been drinking possesses "a peculiar taste They have had all sorts of crude analyses made, and my desk is littered with claims made on their behalf. Recently I witnessed one more remarkable incident. Mr. H. J. Shearman, builder and decorator, of Hastings Road, Southend, was crippled with rheumatism, and came to the well walking solely with the aid of a stick. He had been suffering for the past 12 months from rheumatoid arthritis, and had been unable to sleep. In his own words, although he had been tinder medical treatment, he had derived no benefit. Recently he took his third cure at the well, and threw away his stick. Kisses of Thanks. I witnessed another amazing incident. The narrow winding pathway leading up to the well was crowded with cars and cycles from the North. At the summit of the hill a mixed crowd of suffering humanity was sipping the waters when an agitated woman came along and begged someone to help her husband to alight. The man looieci frightfully ill, and was apparently suffering intense pain. He drank three glasses of the water and felt, relieved. His face was transformed from distorted pain to radiant hopefulness. His wife flung her arms around him and kissed him heartily. Then she kissed Mr. Cash, who, despite his 73 years, blushed furiously. These are two of innumerable instances. The latest use to which the water has been put is for making plain women beautiful. An enterprising city woman has utilised the properties of the Vange water and has made it in.o a lotion for the face. She has asked permission to buld a little workshop near the well so thi.ii she can manufacture the lotion wholesale. The point is, if Vange water is able to make these cures, then undoubtedly foreign spas have a rival near London. The matter is being brought up by the Mayor at a meeting of the General Purposes Committee, when it is hoped that Southend, which is very anxious to do big things, will take a hand in creating this wonderful spa.