How did Sai Baba help people in his early days in Shirdi, particularly with health issues?

In his early days, as mentioned in Chapter 0, Maharaj resided in a dilapidated Masjid. He would provide help in various ways without ever taking money. He gave out medicines to people and, if a patient wasn't being cared for properly, he would go and personally tend to them himself. The author notes that many people were still around who had been treated and cared for by Maharaj. However, at a later time, Maharaj stopped giving out conventional medicine. Instead, he began to give only Udi, or sacred ash, from his fire, which people would use for their benefit. Maharaj himself mentioned this change in practice to the author of the text.