CAULFIELD, THE CHARLATAN.

NZ Truth, Issue 124, 2 November 1907, Page 8

CAULFIELD, THE CHARLATAN.

HE CLAIMED TO CURE DRUNKARDS, And Could Not Cure Himself. A Warning to " Dipsos " and Others Against Delusive Drink Doctors.

There are mftny -'old sayings, wise saws, and modern instances," socalled, which— while purporting to give good advice—really express nothing but pseudo-philosophy and positive falsehood. Among such is the old saying, "De mortuis nil nisi bonum." When there is no good to be derived of speaking of the. dead, the dead can .well be left alone. But . inasmuch as Longfellow said : — Lives of great men oft remind us> We can piake our lives sublime ;' And, departing, leave behind us - Footprints on the sand of time.' —the lives of good men may be, and often are, referred yto and reviewed for good purposes/ and with good results. We are told by Shakespeare that often the good that men dp m. their lifetime is buried : with their bones, but the evil which they j have done m their:>lifetime . survives ' themj In a sense, this is the case with [ the late John Philip Thomas Caulj field, the one-time notorious "boy politician," who latterly blossomed forth as a "drink cure" doctor. His death— recently reported and referred to, m various papers, as having been due to pneumonia — occurred a week or two ago m Melbourne. We should have been quite prepared to have allowed J. P. T. Caulfield to "lie silent m the grave"— to have made no reference to his /mis-spent life and melancholy end— were it not that under the sanction 'of his name, the charlatan concern upon which he lived m his later life-time seems to be still carried on, at the same old place, and m the. same old way, by others- who are probably no better than J. P.. T. Caulfield, or perhaps, not so qualified as he (was not) to pose as expert administrators of •drugs for the cured- drunkenness. The following advertisement is still appearing m the Melbourne papers , (or was appearing as late as last week) : —

before he acquired th'e 'diseased Gabit. There is no restraint whatever imposed on patients, who are supplied with all they wish for until they voluntarily discontinue its use. They are treated, not as criminals, or lunatics, but as alcoholic or pathological unfortunates, afflicted with a curable complaint. They soon become new men and women, full of joy, and hope, and strength, and .high resolve, and all that makes life worth living,, (Full Particulars Free, f At Head Office, 272 Bourke-street, Melbourne ; or CAULFIELD INSTITUTE, CAULr FIELD. Office Telephone, 298 City. Institute Telephone, 755 Malvern. * * * This man Caulfield was a, charlatan quack and false pretender of the most pernicious sort. During his comparatively short and chequered career he had been many things, but nothing m particular for very long. When a mere youth, and while his mother was running something m the nature of a registry office m Melbourne, where he was born, J. P. T. Caulfield came out as a politician and platform orator. This was at the time of Graham Berry's great Protectionist campaign. Having a certain sort of gift of the gab, Caulfield soon became known as the "boy politician." But neither then, nor since, did he make much of a success m politics. He repeatedly tried, both m Victoria and New South Wales, to get into Parliament; but m every instance he failed to realise his ambition m this respect. Becoming played out m Victoria, he came to New South Wales, settling down for a while at Lithgow, where I he ran a newspaper called "The Enterprise," on Protectionist lines, and for which place he tried to enter Parliament. His career as a journalist was not a success. He left Lithgow, and became converted to singletax ; and on the occasion of Henry George's visit to New South Wales he was one- of the most fanatical of that cute Yankee philanthropist's followers. • • • .-. v For some .time ! J. P. T. Caulfield ran an hotel-agency m Pitt-street ; but unfortunately he took to drink, and— as the saying is— he "sank very low." About this time a gang of Yankee-Doodling quacks came from America with a much-boomed "drink cure." By it Caulfield claimed to have lleen cured of his drunkenness, and was hired by the gang to boom their bogus remedy by button-holing people on the pavement and "pub" corners, and spouting m favor of it m obscure places. The "institute" — which they were running somewhere m Woolloomoolloo came to an ignominious burst up, complicated by free fights, virulent personalities, and rascally recriminations. The "boy politician" declared that he had got hold of the great alleged cure, and proceeded to exploit it on his own. Meanwhile the YankeeDoodlers were vigorously and venomously vociferating that he was a liar and an impostor— a charge which Caulfield. with great volubility and no small success, hurled back at his so-called saviours and detractors. Caulfield took himself off to Queensland with his "drink cure." There he ran some sort of a '-'dipso" home, by means of which he succeeded m raising a little wind. But he did not last very long m Queensland, and from there he went to his native place, Melbourne, where he started the "drink cure" establishment described m the above advertisement. Caulfield also tried his fortunes m West Australia, not as a "dipso" doctor, but as an hotel proprietor. At. Perth (W.A.) he tried to run a big hotel, to which were attached no less than three private bars of the flasher sort. Caulfield, however, did not last much longer as an hotel proprietor than he did as a newspaper proprietor. He was one of his best, if not his own best customer. More than once he "filed his shovel" or compounded with his creditors. * * * In a way, 'J. P. T. Caulfield showed himself to be a cute, not to say cunning, charlatan. He claimed to have effected many cures. Whether he really did so is a matter of considerable doubt. This much, however, is certain— that for a time he made much money, while leaving at least some of his patients uncured, and a number of these m a very much worse state than they were before they sought him as their physician and parted with their money. But Caulfield's career might be left to • speak for itself for what it is worth, were it not that the great champion drink doctor was a drunkard himself. In fact, over his tomb might profitably be inscribed (as a warning to "dipsos" against similar charlatans who come after him*) these words, "Physician, heal thyself," except for the fact that J. P. T. Caulfield was not a physician. That he did not cure himself of his drink habit is certain. Indeed, it is highly probuble that his death was indirectly, if not directly, due to drink. Caulfield pretended to be able to snap asunder the shackles of the drink demon from others ; but, sad to relate, he could not do so for himself, and, if it had not been for his last excessive "bender," he would probably be above the turf to-day. At anyrate, his deatli was indirectly attributable •to an outburst of intemperance, which laid him open to an attack of influenza, upon which pneumonia supervened. He had been drinking for years. * * • J. P. T. Caulfield would even get drunk m the place he travelled to to advocate from the public platform his "drink cure" specific. On one occasion he wont from Melbourne to Tasmania to advertise his nostrum on the public platform.

"Truth" tracked him to Launceston, where it found him on a real old bender, the result of which was that he Had to be removed to the hospital at,. Launcestoa m a'_ very critical state. According to an. intimate friend, Caulfield would imbibe anything m the way of alcoholic liquor. Besides being a continual drinker', he occasionally went upon "howling sprees" which usually culminated m a physical collapse. The last "bout," m the course of which he was arrested by the police, appears to have commenced about six months ago. The incident of his arrest originated at the Princess's Theatre. Caulfield was m the dress-circle with a lady, and was very drunk. He created such a disturbance that the usher, after several vain attempts to quieten him, was compelled to forcibly eject him m order that the play might proceed. In the loyer Caulfield continued to play up, swearing loudly, and offering to fight all and sundry, # * « The usher then forced him down the stairs ; but still Caulfield was uproarious, and, refusing to leave the entrance of the theatre, a policeman was sent for, and Caulfield was taken into custody.. He was m evening dress, and m that costume spent the Saturday night m the cells at Rus-sell-street. Early on the Sunday morning he was bailed out. On the Monday he did not appear before the Bench ; but, m his absence, he was fined £1. This warning, however, did not stop the craving, and he proceeded to drink heavily until the fatal illness laid him by the heels, and sent him to his long home. Let us hope that "after life's fitful fever, he sleeps well," and— will '- diddle no more "dipsos." J. P.- T.'Caulfield leaves a widow and six children. It is stated that he has also left a sum of £3000 m property and life assurance policies. His wife— or others on her behalf— are now conducting the "institute."- ■'» * • : Caulfield's brother, Robert F., who is a cripple, claims to have been one of the original founders of the "institute," and to be one of the holders of the "secret formula." Robert asserts that he only could "dispense" the "remedy," and that J. P. T. Caulfield had no knowleclge'.ol how to mix the drugs, but had to employ; an ' outside dispenser, taking care not to give away the "formula" by taking bottles of drugs labelled No. 1, No. 2, and so on, to a chemist, and getting him to mix the contents m certain proportion. The partnership was terminated m 1904 or 1905, and the break up, according to Robert, was m consequence of his brother's intemperate habits. Early m the present year a law action between the two brothers m the Melbourne courts was threatened, but was eventually settled. Caulfield's erratic and bluffing career as a political aspirant is alluded to. It ended during the last elections for the Victorian State Parliament, when he stood as a candidate for the Eastern Suburbs against the Speaker (Frank Madden) ; but although the latter was ill m bed, Caulfield was hopelessly beaten, and nearly lost his deposit. * * . * The career and end of J. P. T. Caulfield convey a lesson and .warning to drunkards and dipsomaniacs— to put a curb on their alcoholic appetites, and to take a tight pull on their purse strings where "drink cure" charlatans of the Caulfield type are out for what cash they . can get from the credulous.— Sydney "Truth." j