Chapter 2

It massages the weak ruptured parts entirely _automatically_ or _mechanically_. And does it in a wonderfully simple way; the massaging device-- so small it would go in a watch case-- is so simple that you'll wonder when you see it how it can produce such a strengthening effect.

Keeps massaging the weak ruptured parts _all day long_-- all without a moment's attention from you, all without keeping you from your work, all without in any way interfering with your pleasure.

And, at the same time, holds the rupture constantly and comfortably in place.

Takes all _strain_ off the ruptured parts, _rests_ the weakened muscles while the _massage_ is _strengthening_ them; just as you must rest a strained _ankle_-- keep your _weight_ off it-- while it is healing.

Keeps you from even _feeling_ a single one of the strains that are apt to do so much harm when _other_ trusses are worn.

That is how this remarkable truss, while overcoming your weakness, rids _work_ of all its _dangers_.

Takes away all risk of further weakening yourself or of making the rupture worse.

[Sidenote: Rids Work of All Its Dangers]

Instead, any work you do will actually help make your rupture _better_, actually have a _healing_ or _curative_ effect.

Every movement you make-- in working, walking, exercising, even in breathing-- so acts on the Cluthe Truss as to help produce the strengthening massage.

This massage is wonderfully _soothing_, like gently rubbing a bruised spot.

And is so remarkably beneficial that in about one hundred and ninety-nine cases out of every two hundred, the rupture usually begins to get better almost the day a Cluthe Truss is put on.

So remarkably beneficial that the Cluthe Truss has cured some of the worst cases of rupture on record-- cured many of them even after everything else, including operation, had done no good whatever.

For this massage does for the weak ruptured parts exactly what _exercise_ does for the _arms_ or _legs_-- gradually gives _new_ strength-- in most cases soon makes the ruptured parts as strong and sound as a dollar.

* * * * *

This massage, in some ways, is like _Osteopathic_ treatment.

Which, as a cure for certain ailments, is fast taking the place of _drugs_ and surgical _operations_.

Most likely you've heard or read about some of the Osteopathic cures. Nearly everybody, nowadays, has. Maybe you know of Osteopathic cures right there in your own neighborhood.

Some of the cures made in this way seem almost magical.

And it is largely because _massage_ forms a big part of it that Osteopathic treatment does so much good, especially in many kinds of _weakness_.

[Sidenote: _+Something Like Osteopathic Treatment+_]

Like a weak back, or weak kidneys, or weak or worn out nerves, etc.

And there's only one reason why Osteopathic physicians can't cure _rupture_ as easily as any _other_ weakness.

Like _hospital_ massage, it can be given only when you are flat on your back; and, unless a Cluthe Truss is worn-- which takes the _place_ of Osteopathic Treatment and makes it unnecessary, just as it does the hospital massage-- there would be no way of preventing protrusion _between_ treatments.

Moreover, Osteopathic treatment, like hospital massage, would be too _expensive_ for most people. Even if given only occasionally. For Osteopathic physicians charge $3.00 to $5.00 a treatment.

But the _Cluthe Truss_ keeps giving the _massage_ part of Osteopathic treatment-- the _strengthening_ part of the treatment-- all day long; and all without any expense, except the small cost of the truss.

_+How Your Rupture is Kept From Coming Out+_

And How the Cluthe Truss is Held in Position by Suction-- No Belt, Leg-straps or Springs Around the Body

The Cluthe Truss is the only kind in existence which applies the support at the proper _angle_-- _upwards_ against the rupture opening; thus counteracting the internal _downward_ pressure of the abdominal organs, the natural tendency of the bowels to push out.

And, unlike all others, it is _self_-adjusting, _self_-regulating. Automatically adjusts itself with every one of your movements when you in any way exert your strength.

Sudden strains or movements, like coughing or sneezing, like in working or exercising-- strains which would cause _other_ trusses to slip or shift out of position-- simply cause an instant, _automatic increase_ in the comfortable _support_ a Cluthe Truss gives to your rupture.

[Sidenote: Holding Power Automatically Increases To Meet Any Strain]

Every strain of any kind is instantly and automatically counteracted.

After fitting men here at the Institute, we have had them do everything we could think of, but they couldn't throw the Cluthe Holding Pads out of position, couldn't force the rupture out.

The holding power of this truss instantly increased to meet every strain the men made.

The Cluthe Automatic Holding Pads-- the pads which hold the rupture in place-- are free acting-- work on a ball-bearing, universal joint. Thus they are wonderfully sensitive to the slightest movement, instantly respond to each movement.

No other truss in the world has this self-adjusting feature-- no other can hold a bad rupture, no other can keep the rupture from getting worse.

Just as no other can overcome the weakness which causes rupture-- no other can give the strengthening massage which the Cluthe Truss gives-- no other can make the rupture better.

We have so much confidence in the Cluthe Truss that we guarantee in writing-- as fully explained on page 66-- that it will at all times prevent protrusion.

* * * * *

Another thing about the Cluthe Truss.

In cases of Double Rupture, this truss is of course equipped with Automatic Holding Pads on both sides.

While in case of Single Rupture, the side not ruptured is protected against strains by a free-acting Protection Pad; this supports and strengthens the well side, prevents all danger of double rupture. Every man who has a double rupture originally had only a single rupture. Most other trusses fail to provide any _dependable_ protection for the well side in Single Rupture.

* * * * *

And now note that when you put on a Cluthe Truss, there's no belt, band or elastic around the waist, no springs, no legstraps, nothing that can pinch, squeeze or bind, nothing that can cut, chafe or in any way irritate the skin.

[Sidenote: Holds Securely Without Unnecessary Pressure]

It is the only truss without "harness" of any kind whatever.

It is held on the body by free-acting _suction_ or _vacuum_ Pads.

These Pads rest lightly and comfortably over the natural cushion of muscles forming the rump.

And hold the truss securely in position on the body in much the same way suction holds a properly fitting set of false teeth so comfortably in place that they seem like natural teeth.

Because free from "harness," there is nothing about the Cluthe Truss that can bulge the clothing. It can be worn under corsets; or worn under _tights_ without _showing_. Many acrobats wear Cluthe Trusses under their tights when performing.

Yet the Cluthe Truss doesn't squeeze or hug, doesn't bind against the body at any point save where the Suction Pads rest and where the Holding Pads support the rupture.

This makes it the most _comfortable_ truss ever invented.

Many people have written us that it is as comfortable as their _clothing_.

* * * * *

Another feature.

Every part of the Cluthe Truss is covered with vulcanized rubber or waterproof casing.

No leather or cloth or similar material to heat up the skin and make it tender.

Nothing that can absorb perspiration; nothing that can get sweaty, sticky or foul-smelling.

And because waterproof, it can easily be washed; easily kept clean.

[Sidenote: Wear It When Taking a Bath or Swim]

It is about the only truss that is _all_ waterproof. Therefore about the only truss you can keep on while taking a bath or swim-- a time when you are in danger, if you have no truss on, of having the rupture thrown out by the bending and twisting you do.

Other trusses which claim to be waterproof can't be depended upon to hold-- won't hold successfully when you are in the water or any other time. It takes more than waterproof quality alone to keep rupture from coming out.

* * * * *

Yet, with all its exclusive superiorities, the Cluthe Truss-- including the professional services of the members of the Cluthe Institute-- costs only a trifle more than the worthless trusses which do little or no good whatever.

_+The Care And Attention We Give You+_

All Without Taking You a Single Step From Your Home or a Minute From Work or Business

When you try a Cluthe Automatic Massaging Truss, you will find that you get vastly different treatment-- vastly better care and attention-- than when you go to a drug store or local truss dealer.

For you will get from us-- in connection with the Cluthe Truss, and without extra charge-- the skilled care and attention of five men (the five members of the Cluthe Rupture Institute) who are pretty well known throughout America as being foremost in the field of rupture.

And you will get our care and attention-- and our special advice on your case-- without putting yourself to half as much trouble as when you go to a drug store--

You will get it merely by sending us-- as explained farther on-- a little simple information.

[Sidenote: Distance Makes No Difference]

We can study and understand your case as well with you five to five thousand or more miles away as we could with you right before us; or just as well as the best physician could study and diagnose a case of typhoid or other sickness right at the bedside of the patient.

Our system of attending to people by mail is so exact-- and our knowledge and skill so great-- that no matter how far away you are we can fit you correctly with a Cluthe Truss just as surely as a high class tailor could fit you with a suit of clothes after taking your measurements himself.

Here we have on file-- in writing-- complete particulars concerning each of the 290,000 cases we have attended to.

Every case is carefully indexed and ready for instant reference.

Nothing is left to memory or guesswork-- nothing can be overlooked, nothing forgotten.

Thus your case can be easily and accurately compared with hundreds of similar cases.

You see we have made mail order fitting and mail order care and attention a science.

That-- together with the superiority of the Cluthe Truss-- together with the knowledge and experience gained through attending to thousands of widely different cases-- gives us a tremendous advantage over your local druggist or any one else you could go to.

For years our Institute was located in the heart of New York City-- within a short car ride of several million people.

[Sidenote: Our Advantages Over The Drug Store]

And there-- in the course of years-- among the thousands of people who came in person to be attended to at our Institute, we had in our care case after case of every kind and condition of rupture ever known.

And all this time we were also attending by mail to cases of all kinds in all parts of the civilized world.

No druggist-- no truss fitter in any drug store or surgical supply house-- no one else in all America-- ever had such a wonderful opportunity to learn all the peculiarities of rupture.

Our experience has been so complete that in the last five years we haven't come across a single case-- either by mail or among those who came to the Institute-- which presented any peculiarities that we were not already familiar with.

Yet-- because he has never seen a case like it before-- a case that would seem simple to us often completely baffles the best of truss fitters in drug stores, local truss concerns, surgical supply houses, etc.

Now it is only in the largest drug stores, local truss establishments and surgical instrument houses-- perhaps in only five or six places in a city like New York or Chicago-- that a special or "expert" truss fitter of any kind is employed.

So if a comparatively simple case puzzles these "expert" fitters, a man certainly can't expect much satisfaction at the small drug store, where whichever clerk that isn't busy-- at best someone with little or no knowledge at all of rupture-- will undertake to wait on you.

During our long experience, for every person who came to our Institute we have probably attended to ten others by mail.

And we have proved over and over-- year after year-- that we can give relief by mail to the man five or five thousand miles away just as well as to the man who came to our Institute.

[Sidenote: Give Entire Time To Attending Cases By Mail]

So now we have moved our Institute to Bloomfield, N.J.-- only ten miles from New York City-- a quiet suburb where we can give our entire time to attending to cases by mail.

For we have found that the great majority of the victims of rupture can't afford to lay off from work or business long enough to undergo operation-- the only thing besides the Cluthe Truss which can be looked upon as a means of relief; we have found that most ruptured people can't spare the money required for an operation; and that many of them-- largely because they have been wearing, for years, perhaps, trusses which have been letting them get worse all the time-- are so weakened and run down in health that they stand little chance of recovering from the shock of an operation.

These are the people who are most in need of our truss and most in need of our skilled care and attention.

And here in Bloomfield we can do more good, give relief to more people by mail, than we could had we remained in New York.

And here, day after day, we are attending by mail to people in New York City-- only ten miles away-- just as we are to sufferers in Maine, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, California, etc.

[Sidenote: Well-Known Business Men Order By Mail]

Big business men in New York-- bankers, presidents of big corporations, noted lawyers and others-- men perhaps living in the same block with some noted physician or surgeon-- men who could send for their autos and in fifteen to thirty minutes be in any one of New York's best hospitals-- men who can afford the best medical and surgical care in the world-- are among those who have ordered Cluthe Trusses from us here in Bloomfield in exactly the same way-- by mail-- that a man out in Ohio or Oregon would.

Now when men like these-- many of them acting on the advice of famous physicians-- are taking advantage of the care and attention we give by mail in connection with the Cluthe Truss, it is mighty good proof of our ability to attend to any kind of case by mail.

[Sidenote: How We Study Your Case]

The first thing we do, when a man writes for a Cluthe Truss, is to make a careful, scientific study of his case. We must understand your case thoroughly-- know all its peculiarities.

And please bear in mind that your case will receive the personal attention of at least three members-- perhaps there will be a consultation of all five members-- of the Cluthe Rupture Institute.

No order is ever put in the hands of a clerk or helper or other inexperienced person.

In each case we give our complete professional service. Each case is treated _individually_.

We take into consideration the kind of rupture-- the location of the rupture opening-- the size of the protrusion, the length of time ruptured, the cause of the rupture, whether or not an operation has been performed, etc., etc.

You will find, on our information blank (one is enclosed with this book, or see duplicate questions on page 73) some simple, easily-answered questions concerning these points.

And your answers to these questions, if your answers are correct, furnish us all the guidance we need as to the special requirements of your case. Just as a physician in writing a prescription is guided by the answers to his simple questions.

That is how we determine the shape and size of the Automatic Holding Pad (in case of Double Rupture, each rupture is _individually_ treated, usually a different kind of pad for each side, for both sides are seldom the same).

And that is how we determine the adjustment of the pads and all parts, the amount of support needed and the regulation of the holding pads to give the support, etc., etc.

Then, after deciding all these points, we make for you a _special_ Cluthe Truss-- one exactly adapted to your individual case-- every part of it exactly what your condition requires. (Compare _that_ with the way drug stores and local truss dealers try to fit you with a ready-made "stock" truss.)

We next take this specially made truss to our Gallery of Statues-- which consists of life-size and life-like models or dummy figures.

[Sidenote: Our Life-Like Models]

And here, no matter what your size or build, we have a dummy model corresponding to your living self in shape-- a form your clothes would fit just as they fit on you.

When we see the measurements you give when ordering (they are all provided for in a simple way on our Information or Question blank) we know at once which one of our many models or forms to use.

And on this form-- duplicating your size and build-- we fit your truss, as soon as it is made, just as if you yourself were right here in front of us.

We can usually make up your truss, fit it, and have it ready to send within twenty-four to thirty-six hours after receiving your order.

Every day we fit in this way scores of people we have never seen.

And it's only in about one case out of several hundred that we fail to give perfect fit. While in such cases, usually only some slight adjustment is needed to make the fit perfect-- some simple adjustment which the patient himself can easily make. Our common-sense instructions fully provide for proper adjustment if any is necessary.

Our ability to meet the exact requirements of your case-- our expert skill and care in fitting-- are things no one else can give you-- for no one else has had our forty years of professional experience-- no one else has learned _how_, as we have.

The method we follow (which is exclusively our own), is the only method of fitting that can result in continuous and comfortable holding.

And continuous and comfortable holding, combined with the soothing, strengthening and healing massage treatment which the Cluthe Truss automatically gives, is the only thing (save an operation-- which can't always do it)-- that can effect a permanent cure.

_+How Day-After-Day Holding is Given by the Cluthe Automatic Pad+_

The above illustration represents the side view of the lower abdomen of a person of medium size. C, A and E is the natural line of the abdomen. D, B and F is the line when the abdomen is inflated by coughing, sneezing, or any exertion or strain. The black disc is the pad. When the wearer coughs or strains, pad end A is forced to position B, while the lower or retaining end of pad E is instantly forced inward to position F, thereby completely checking the descent of the rupture and effectively locking it in. Thus rupture is at all times retained with the least possible pressure of pad under normal conditions, yet the extra pressure needed is instantly and automatically given when any exertion or strain demands it.

This automatic action of the Holding Pad also _massages_ the ruptured parts. This massage has a soothing, healing effect-- like gently rubbing your forehead when you have a headache-- or like rubbing a bruised spot-- and, gradually overcomes the weakness which _causes_ rupture-- gradually _strengthens_ the weak ruptured parts, just as exercise strengthens the muscles of the arms.

_+Able to Work While Being Cured+_

For men with a living to make, work to do, business to attend to, families to provide for, the Cluthe Truss is nothing less than a godsend.

And it means just as much to men who want to take part in athletic games, men who want active outdoor exercise.

Some, in their letters to us, have called it a _life-saver_.

For the Cluthe Truss rids work and exercise of every one of their dangers; rids them of every one of their injurious effects on rupture.

You who read this-- by letting us send you a Cluthe Truss on sixty days' trial-- can easily prove all that; just as thousands of others have proved it.

With this truss on there isn't the slightest risk of having your rupture forced out by sudden strains or movements.

Just bear _that_ in mind-- you who have been compelled, because your truss has been doing no good, to drop everything perhaps two or three times a day or more and put your rupture back.

This truss puts an end to all danger of further weakening yourself while working-- puts an end to all danger of making your rupture worse.

Just keep _that_ in mind-- you who now scarcely dare do a thing-- scarcely even cough or laugh, for fear of bad effects on your rupture-- for fear your truss will yield and let the rupture escape.

[Sidenote: What You Can Do With a Cluthe Truss On]

And with a Cluthe Truss on, work, exercise or outdoor sports will never cause any discomfort.

Don't overlook _that_-- you who have been putting up with old-fashioned trusses or "appliances" with their belts, bands, elastics, leg-straps and other torturing harness-- trusses which hurt so much every time you move that they almost drive you frantic.

Instead of letting work injure you in any way, a Cluthe Truss (as previously explained) makes the work you do and the exercise you take actually help make your rupture _better_-- makes your work actually have a _healing_ or _curative_ effect.

There is plenty of proof of that.

Men doing _heavy_ work, and doing it every day-- men like farmers, blacksmiths, railway firemen, factory workers, miners, etc.-- are among those cured by this truss; cured while _working_ right along, cured while earning good incomes.

Also men taking more or less violent exercise, like base-ball players, tennis players, horse-back and bicycle riders, etc.

[Sidenote: A Few Of The Men Who Were Cured While Working]

Some of them, while working, remember, cured in less than three months.

A lot of them cured in from four to twelve months; among them men who had been ruptured as long as fifteen to thirty years.

And took only a little while longer for some who had been ruptured as long as fifty years to be cured.

You will find, at the back of this book, many letters in proof of this.

* * * * *

We have seen the Cluthe Truss do so much good for so many other people that we feel sure it can do wonders for you.

So sure it will help you, just as it did them that-- as explained in a later chapter-- we are willing to let you test it on sixty days' trial, to prove just how much it can benefit you.

_+Don't Let Yourself Be Scared Into Risking An Operation+_

Cluthe Truss Has Done Away with All Need For Operation, Except in Occasional Cases

People _used_ to think that an operation was the only way to cure rupture-- thought they had to be cut open.

Just as people _used_ to know no better than to undergo _bleeding,_ no matter in what way they were sick. Histories and biographies tell us it was the loss of blood from this barbarous bleeding which led to George Washington's death.

But nowadays we never hear of bleeding.

Just as fever patients are no longer denied ice water and ice applications. Though, not so many years ago, people were literally allowed to burn up with fever.

[Sidenote: Thousands Have Died Under The Surgeon's Knife]

Operation for rupture, for reasons stated below has never been much more than a life-or-death chance, even for those with a rugged constitution. Thousands of ruptured people have died under the surgeon's knife.

Oftentimes a weak heart-- because of the ether-- makes it unsafe even to attempt operation.