FAMILY DRIVEN MAD BY RELIGION.

NZ Truth, Issue 100, 18 May 1907, Page 7

FAMILY DRIVEN MAD BY RELIGION.

Prayer-Healers m a Frenzy.

Husband Brutally Attacked m Bed,

A terrible occurrence m a Berlin family hag again attracted.-, public attention to the doings of the religious, sect which professes to heal bodily diseases. by...means of prayer. A similar stir. was. .made, several years ago, as ... the .result, of which the, police . authorities, . on. the djreejb wish ot. the.. Kaiser.,.- .. issued... public warni&gs against prayer hpalers,."Uuti these ,huve not. . been., universally heedr cd. . Paymaster .Sa-gavc, of. the Third Guard Regiment... opcupics a. flat m Reiphen : bcr.ger-str&sse with., his wife, two daughters,, .aged, respectively ' 24 and 20, ..and two sans, as;ed respectively 23 and 16. . He bas sufieted somp time .from ap. . affection oi the lujjgs,. which -.frequently prevents him attending. tp. his duties, Every reme]y has . been. %viei, and the wife, , a woman. 47 years of t age, who was extremely concerned at her husband's health, .finally -had recourse .to prayer.'healing, ..as she had' Jheard of. a neigttour .who. Jrad •gra/dua.lly .. recovered, irpm 'd-eafness ..through, the aid of prayer. S-he jo.imed the. . secti.'Qf prayer healers, and .converted her four chi Wren to " her , views. ENTREATED HER HUSBAND TO PRAY. Paymaster Sagave relates :— "I have lived, happily ■with my wife vn v til quite recently.. She was . a good and upright T/oman, and my chilidren. haVe iiever been wanting m .respect towards, their father. My 6ldest son is employed m a ready-^nade clothes es't-aibii's-ntnent ; my second s-an is still at school, arad .jtnv two daughters assist tbeir mother m the household. I nc>tice;d niotihjn'g uawisual m their <3em&anbr until one evening, without any apparent reason, . they began to sing hymns. I was astonished, .tut said nort/hin'o;-. Suddenly my wife-turn-ed towards, me m extraordinary excitement, talking confusedly of the Crucifixion of Christ, and demanded that I, should jqim m singing and raying- I replied that when I wanted to pray I we-nt tp ohuroh ; whereupon my wife became more excitodi, and finally screamed, "If you will not pray, you are a sinner. You are possessed of a devil." Soon I left them, and went 'cjwietly to bed. . Bty wife and children, however ._ sang and prayed almost "lire whole nigiht. OHIL-DRBN BEAT THEIR FATHER. "Early m the morniwg my wife came and insisted on my joining them, but on my replying that . I prayed silently she 'became oalmer. I .returned drome .late the. •ri'axJt eyeniig.iro!m -Auty, mv .wife a-lid' ; cih?U--dren a^aJiih /began to, sfngawd p^a"y,' and ag-ain idemaii'dpid that, .' I ( should join thiam. I refused , shortly, , .am/d went to 'bed, where, m .spite of the singing, I fell asleep. About 10 o'clock that evening X was awakened by a hlow.in the faoe. I sat up m bed, aid, saw. my wife. and all my ohitdreax around me with strangely flickering eyes and ah excited expression on j?h«ir faces. The children fell upon me ■a/nd struck roe m the face, aad I was powerless to ward off the Wows. <My wife, continually singing axud. stoou-ting, tore down the pictures amid smashed , the furniture, aiud so things continued for two hours. It was. a fr-ijgJrMul situation, cunid when I started to dress with the in-fentioh of .go-ing out to inform \ the police the .children Woclcaded the fron* and iback doorg with iurniture.*'. Aooording to other accounts, all the Bjeigihibors were awakened by the tumult, but all were afraid to j foxce an dnfcramce iato the house. , Finally, a young man, a friend of the family, succeeded m getting into the flat about 2 o'clock m tile morning, and -brought out the paymaster, bleeding from several wounds. WIFE 'AND FAMILY 'SENT TO MADHOUSE. Meanwhile the police had been sent for, and Frau Sagave, still singing hymns, and clad only m her nightdress, went onto the balcony, and, shouting, "It is finished!" seemed to intend to throw herself -on -to the pavefment. The police, however, had forced their way into the flat, and, after a desperate struggle, overpowered the whole family, who were conveyeid to the hospital and .then to the madhouse. The "Tageblatt" says it is a scandal that boigoted women, especially old maids, should be permitted -to sprea/d prayer healing inj Berlin lilce plague. Professor . Dr. IVifex Dessoir, the well-known Berlin psychologist, says that the Sagave family have fallen victims of the p,^yr clfic epidemic, ..to whioh persons without, firm relisicis groundwork, are liable who come under the .influence of the prayer healers. Prayer healing he describes as a caricature of religion, a vulgarisation, and degradation of prayer. He does not believe that the police can prevent the meeting of such prayer healers, ' 'though, as roost of the exponents < are foreigners, they could expel the latter as dangers to the community.