Show My Twenty Four Hours By Benito Mussolini Premier of Italy as told to THOMAS B. B MORGAN Rome Manager of the United Press Copyright 1927 by United Press Associations All rights reserved Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited in all parts of the world This Is the ninth of a series aeries of articles on his daily life and work by Benito Mussolini as told to Thomas B. B M Morgan Rome o manager e of the United nl Press e soJi Each j article tin in this series a aM has ab been e personally r revised hd I corrected and approved by the premier In many ways was I am a monastic Ever Even though my y lIre life has been full of adventure and struggle it has I never been spent In in extravagant I I living The desires of the body have received Scant consideration Somehow I have managed to live above the mere satiation ot of the i cravings of the flesh and to dwell on those things which might lead to substantial and beneficial achIeve achIeve- ment Indeed I doubt whether many in the monastic orders adhere so closely to their chosen rules ot of life as my severe but imposed self asceticism forces me I I fast twice or thrice a month I Ilive Ilive live in solitude and do not smoke or drInK Fasting carries with It an inestimable inesti- inesti mable spiritual good as well as a physical I can readily appreciate why monastic orders have been given to tasting fasting for fOI It quickens spirItual fervor and seems to lift lUt lUtone one above the mundane influences with which we are surrounded New avenues avenues ot of thought outside those of our every day routine open and we live Jive in an atmosphere which transcends that ot of the common Intercourse intercourse In- In below SUGARED WATER For these two or three days every month I drink only a glass or two ot of sugared water This serves to keep down the pangs ot of hunger when they remind me at midday that it Is time to eat Besides it keeps the ordinary processes in working order while the absence ot of nourishment allows the system to free itself of misused and decayed food The rest to the organs is ot of potent assistance In n restoring them to efficient functioning and In bringing about a general adjustment ot of the s system stem When one has completed corn com the fast he cannot but be Impressed by the sense ot of cleanliness ness which rules the body and the mind as well as by the genuinely healthy feeling which comes with It DurIng the abstention from food I follow my usual dally daily routine routine rou- rou tine without taking any special rest attending to the affairs ot of the government as If it were an ordinary ordinary nary clay And this occasional fast keeping the body and mind In a somewhat special plane of health and thought serves also to keep it free useless and redundant tissues whIch might burden the physical and mental mental men men- tal operations I cannot but see impedIment to these operations when tissues are allowed to accumulate I detest fat I am unrelenting In that I give no quarter to those who allow their bodies to become laden with rolls of burdensome and unnecessary flesh I have no compassion on them My own brother Arnaldo is excessively rotund but lie he fInds no sympathy in me for that In the therapia pace which fascism Is setting for all Italians It is necessary to tobe tobe be lithe and athletic Though I have a great affection for Arnaldo It if he eats too much he must pay the lIe He ron can readIly reduce In the same manner as I keep my weIght down down-by a rigid disciplined self control and self denialS One day during a fascist march marchIn I In honor ot of the poet Oriani now dead but living JivIng in our doctrine someone said t tb me that my brother was as not able to continue the Last tast pace I was setting I replied DISLIKES FAT I I have no pity on fat men This Thit I say to all ot of you In reality I lament them sometimes and then agaIn they amuse me and put me in ina ina a good humor Fat you cannot be A fat woman Is even a greater abomination I cannot endure great rolls ot of flesh on what mIght have been the frame ot of a great beauty Italian girls to the age ot of 20 are surpassIng loveliness but often beyond beyond be- be yond that they get careless with diet eat macaroni and begIn to take on flesh Then the lines which once marked them as the embodiment ment ot of grace begin to bulge and swell swen and the once great beauty becomes a monstrosity Each must look to his own problem problem lem to keep thin Some get fat on the diet others can eat the day long and still remain thin Each must study that which best fits him in order to keep himself himsel withIn his weIght Few there are who really have hae a problem In most cases the question Is solved d by diet and exercise Eat meagerly and live an active lit life q And while I live a mOst st active Ute life it is In some measure a solitary solitary soli- soli tary one Leaving the Palazzo or the Palazzo Chigi I m alone There Is never a soul alloWed to accompany me me home From that time until I return to wOrk I remain remain re- re main alone My meals I insist on taking by myself I cannot tolerate company at table It is a passion In me I cannot explain why I must be absolutely absolutely alone durIng my meals As AsI I have said before it would be an honor even for my own brother to tobe tobe be invited to lunch When my brother comes to Rome he eats cats in his hotel and I eat in my own home When he comes to see me he comes to the or Chigi palaces I cannot tra trace e thIs trait of table es- es trang ment It has no philosophy no reason for being but it is there It was said of Byron that he had hada a similar peculiarity As much as ho admired the great Ravenna beauty Countess he left the table when she once sat with him Though hough they lia spent many happy hours at other times yet at atthe atthe the table he could not stand her lie He said eating robbed her of her beauty In In my my case on my long hard road from youth I found myself myself my- my self besIde all all' manner ot of men Many tany times their talk would not be in tune with mine I seldom eldom found a companion with whom I could join In harmonIous Thus it might have been that there I cultivated the trait EXCEPTIONS I have made exceptions to this rigid table rule It may ho said Raid in the case of teas and official ban ban- duets Tea is different It p per per- r- r of oC greater ease and is more ofa ot of ota a social function One can change from one person to another The American hotel keep keepers rs came to tea with me in the Villa It was summer and we held it In the open all air where there was opportunity opportunity for everyone lne to fraternize We cannot call a ten tea exactly being at table I have a horror horlor of banquets There are two things I consider unendurable un- un endurable in life The one is to listen to a speech beIng read and the other Is to attend a banquet The latter is one ot of those things that I am unequivocally against Sometimes it comes in the round of my official duties to attend a dinner It is more than a useless performance for tor me All I do is to sit there and watch the others eat cat I am so set against these dInners that I would do anything to avoid them The food Is too abundant and the ceremony too elaborate My simple tastes are overwhelmed on such occasions The world owes it to the Americans Amer- Amer leans for a little step forward in inthe inthe the servIng ot of banquets While I Ido Ido do not approve of banquets I agree perfectly with the idea ot of separate tables I hate those long never never- ending rows ot of eaters seated as if fC they were groups of boys at a severely severely se- se verely managed boys boys' school with a astern astern stern rector at the head counting each mistaken movement as a mark against them in their behavior The small table is nearer my idea md and though it does not approach the ideal or of a single place it at least breaks away from the rIgidity ot of the bOarding school To fasting and solitude I add abstinence abstinence ab- ab from smoking and drink I will treat the latter in a later arti- arti dc cle SMOKED AT FRONT I smoked while at the front A was a great relaxation I always went over the top with a alighted alighted lighted in my mouth It permitted a certain measure of abandon and helped me maintain a cool demeanor I have seen men In Inthe inthe the throes of bombardment rattled with fright and yet when given a I smoke they completely relaxed Men l brought from the trenches wounded tense with the terror of the fight light them a and they forget pain and horror Smoking Smoking- can be a very pleasant distraction ten Men enjoy their theil r eigl or with unusual delight Such Stich delight comes no more more to me Smoking is a habit to be appraised purely for what it is worth to the individual I can readily see that for some men it permits their complete corn com mental relaxation from one or from many thoughts I have no need now to cultivate smokIng inasmuch in- in as I relax whenever I choose and though I may miss a pleasure I may gain in energy For woman smoking should be Indulged in with due regard to her specIal needs It If then theiu be danger that her missIon in life may be affected at- at then smoking should be practiced with due r regard Fard for tor that mIssion In his next article of this series aeries to appear in The Telegram tomorrow tomorrow tomor- tomor row Premier Mussolini tells why heIs ne he is Is a teetotaler He says saya he feels that even the lightest wino wine is a deterrent to perfect efficiency and that while he favors wine drinking among the laboring classes he thinks it unwise for |