RATANA'S WORK.

Shannon News, 27 November 1923, Page 3

RATANA'S WORK.

A FORTUNE RENOUNCED. WORLD-WIDE TRIBUTES. That any man should renounce a fortune of £IOO,OOO is, to the average man, inconceivable, but this has been done by Ratana, the Maori faithhealer who has a remarkable record of physical cures that has created worldwide interest.

Although Ratana is to-day not so inuch in the public eye as formerly his work is still proceeding, and fresh evidence of the wonderful power of faith continues to accumulate. It is his intention to erect an undenominational church and school at Ratana, and with the object of raising funds for this purpose a concert party of Maori entertainers present touring the country. ■ The party appeared at the Palmerston North'Opera House recently and opportunity was taken by a "Standard" reporter of, interviewing Mr. P. T. Moko, Ratana's private secretary, who is in charge of the tour. A Remarkable Collection.

Mr. Moko, who has been associated with Ratana? since,he first commenced his great, work, told a remarkable story of numerous cures, some of which he described as "miracles,".and he sup•plementcd his statements by references to scores of letters which had been l received from people in 45 countries. He handed a pile of such correspondence to the reporter with, the remark: "These letters, 'surely, will convince the most hardened sceptic." A more remarkable collection of letters it would be difficult to fina anywhere. From all parts of the world they had come, and some of them were written in quaint English which,' to fully, ascertain the true purport of their contents, required close and careful perusal. From Scan- ! di navia a woman wrote urging the prayers of Ratana on her behalf. Another sufferer in Iceland forwarded a similar request, while other -patients wrote from Germany, Czecho-Slovakia, France, Tahiti. America, England and I many other countries. Attached to numbers of the original i letters were, the replies . to Batana's communications, and it,'was 'a striking fact that many of the writers recorded direct physical benefit and, 4n some case, complete cures. An interesting relic was,exhibited by !M.r. Moko. This was a large sheet of cloth, about the size of ( a • large. wall map, on one side of which were pasted the-envelopes of some of the letters received. Additional to the 'philatelic interest of the collection it was an" eloquent tribute to, the efficiency, of the New Zealand, postal service. Some of the addresses were vague, and>displayed a lack of knowledge of geographical locations. One letter was addressed:. "Mister Ratana, Gospel preacher, New e .Zealand"; another was addressed: ""Mister Ratana, Winganui." Eveiy Penny Returned.

On the reverse side of the cloth, currency notes, many for large sums, were pasted, and these had been sent by grateful sufferers from all parts of the globe. "This money you see here is but a fraction of the -total sum of £IOO,OOO which has been received by Ratana since he commenced/'his work, but with the exception of the notes you see here every penny has been • returned and' financial offers to visit: different count-' ries have been ' declined," remarked Mr. Moko to the rcporteV "Ratana has received no less than £40,000 from England and a similar, amount, from America," he added,,"but every penny of it has been sent back. Ratana declines absolutely to accept a . penny from any*body in connection with his work. He is a very humble man and thinks nothing of position and affluence. I remember once, when we were travelling on an obscure branch of the railway up north, how the stationmaster wanted to turn the passengers out of the solitary carriage on the train, and which was full, and find them other accommodation so that Ratana might travel alone. He refused point blank to entertain the suggestion, anc told the stationmastor to leave the people alone. Nothing would turn him from his view, and he finished up by travelling in an open truck. At other times when we have.been travelling, people have prepared comfortable beds -for him, but more often than not he preferred to sleep on the floor. There is no fuss about him and he .is a very quiet and unassuming man who is quite content to go about his work in his own way. How no" has stood up to the strain is marvellous, and at one period of four months ho was working every day from five o'clock in the morning until a late hour at night." Ratana's Museum.

Mr. Moko then referred to Ratana 's museum, in which, ho._said, was a collection of several thousand walk-iug-stieks'in addition to many crutches and spectacles, <*'all of ■"-which," he remarked, "have been discarded bypeople who have been cured." The miraculous case of Miss Lammas, of Nelson, who lay on her back encased, in a steel body frame for years, was referred to at length by Mr, Moko. "Here is the identical frame which Miss Lammas wore," ho said, displaying the surgical appliance. "Miss Lammas, some months after her cure, visited Eatana and presented him with the frame herself. She had been despaired of by the doctors, and her cure was considered to be a miracle. From 41 stone which she weighed before her cure Miss Lammas is now a vigorous, Wealthy woman," he added. Mr. Moko concluded by saying that Ratana would probably undertake a world tour later, but nothing-had been decided yet as to his future movements.—' 'Standard.''