SEQUAH – SNOW THE TRAVELLING QUACK

LEINSTER LEADER FEBRUARY 12 1916

SEQUAH – SNOW THE TRAVELLING QUACK

Athy people will remember the famous Sequah, whose real name was Snow, the travelling quack of the nineties, who has just passed away, penniless, aged 72, in a Johannesburg hospital.  He pretended to be an American Indian, but was really a Cornishman.  He had been a London policeman, and then went to America where he acquired some knowledge of tooth-pulling and massage.

His visit to Athy for about a fortnight created a sensation.  He lived in a regal style at a local hotel and paraded the town in a carriage and four at mid-day and at night accompanied by a powerful brass band.  On the platform of his caravan, to the deafening music of his band, he hauled out teeth and “cured” rheumatism at a prodigious rate, amusing the crowd by his unceasing patter and by the antics cut by his patients.

Twice a day he dispensed soup and meat to the poor in a lavish manner. He made several fortunes but spent them all.  Sequah was possessed of much of the milk of human kindness and was the readiest man of his time to relieve distress.  More people will mourn his loss as a friend in need than will condemn him for the exploitation of their easily unhinged purse.