| Show editorials THE FORTY DAYS FASTER I 1 oi ox 3 t dispatches forthe for the last three weeks have con dally daliy daily altu to the progress of a ida dr tan bir of minneapolis minnesota in h attempted forty days fast 4 which ar 1 f is now undergoing in nw kaw kew york ca C ry y thi thi gentleman has bome come to the cono couO conclusion that the human race et at about twice as much as is feces rv and has cW convinced vInced himself that a u c dessive reeding feeding for forty days can lie followed by an alstin abstinence enge for tho F r ame period with perfect safety he i proposes to prove his theory by his hig against agabia ti time f ne and all ail previous je medical books on medicine and physiology contain statements as to the length of time tinie a human being can exist without food someplace some place the extreme limit at twelve days at which time starvation is said to cause caliso death A very few fow authors and doctors believe under favorable circumstances food can be dispensed with for eighteen days daya and the hungered N victim live those who coi col consider isider a longer fast than this possible isible are an extreme minori minority ry and by ly far the greater number of authorities consider a nine days successful fast a wonderful occur T i J oo 00 instances are coming I 1 to ti 1 v however of persons coliny doing 4 NT bout out food for many invin y days but in la dy all cases we notice that death ensued from the efreem effects on the ST sv GO em I 1 A stowaway on board an lish 1 vessel after a thirteen days voy bov ov age ago from li liverpool 1 to new yo york rk dur dun during ing which time he had partaken partaker par taken of elther neither ja food nor drink was found aib alb aie e but insensible every effort v i made by physicians to restore trie trio unhappy man but to no avail and an i he died in a few hours A negro ft tv ann inn an it itis is said lived seven weeks w v phout any other substance than tw cups of water slightly medicated alta vita with wine a man is reported ca on goud gaud authority to mohave have hafe lived fly aty f four days on water alone and an d there is another case on record of a man who lived sixty lays days upon a small quantity of water flavored with lemon juice but a most mott ra re mark akle case of fasting because well authenticated and fresh in the minds atif many now living is recorded as having taken place plate in the year 1870 the hagerstown Hagers town oid old md mail in its ity issue of the sept oth of that year gives full particulars of the previous life and character of the remarkable man john B french by name who under the belief that he was commanded from heaven to abstain from food for forty for days and forty nights rigorously did so he could not be peru persuaded pervade ade d to nor forced to eat anything and eff efforts lorts to introduce some strengthening 1 material into the water which hg he drank were detected by him and ana promptly prevented food was placed within his hia reachy reach where he could quietly and u nobu edly partake of 4 it but he per xer refused to break his fast fat or disobey his fancied commandment during durin the tho whole time he smoked tobacco 0 incessantly and this perhaps helped to invigorate and sustain him though it probably was a ft al cause of his death which met DPI 01 arod eleven days after his period of abstinence was over du during ri in 9 i A latter iatter eleven days ills his appe appetite w it times good and even morael ou oi s z but lut ut LUS Ws digestive organs were so c jedby that they re i 1 tto ito i to per pen perform perfonia foriA their function functions san and d dr i claimed him as its victim tsiu tsin bi n far lar instances stances ju are being hunted uy believers in the success of dr 1 I 1 lers aers experiment and the ast i hing number of af successful irv arvora carries constein consternation atlon into t e camp of the professors whose bot boi k knowledge and time honored belief belef is being so sadly shaken by t tic c late developments TheT thew tue The plucky luchy doctor at noon moon to today day da starts on the twenty second day of hii hi his i unpleasant task he has bas lost ios los upwards of rf 30 pounds in ln weight has a slightly increased temperature and respiration swallows daily over 20 ounces of water but feels in excellent spirits he walks valk converses with his visitors and attendants reads his mail mill regularly and occasionally takes a drive in iu central park he is losely watched by relays of pj pi to see that no food rood is surreptitiously re obtained by him and lis 11 a condition and the quantity of water vater uses are i e reco recorded rd ed every few hours he ile bathes frequently undresses when he retires for the night sleeps lightly but peacefully between rubber tubber blankets and regales himself occasionally with a lump of ice lee or a mouthful of wafer on the fifteenth day hoaas he was considered by the physicians to be ber giving way though hei hd himself felt perfectly well wiell since then he has apparently improve m roved dy gaining in weight steadily he is the recipient of bouquets and other trifling presents from ladies as za well as gentlemen and js is flooded with c congratulatory gratulatory on and encouraging epistles by mail one of his letters the oth ef erday day contained the following challenge BALTIMORE ju lyl lyt loj 1880 isso dr tanner after ftc you have recuperated fro from your present task tho friends of mr bir lucius luclus polk will ivill make a match for fifteen days ays fast fasting fiig for or a side the men to weigh at commencement of or match and the one who loses the most pounds in hii weight at the end of tho the match to lose iose ose we can procure a hall hali suitable jill table tabie here for the match biatch ardd arid the admission charges 75 per cent to winner and 25 incont iW per cent cont to loser A number of competent physicians have volun sered ered to serve justice and aud fairness will voll be you at all ha hazards Z ain aln ain air polk is a resident of this city and wig put up his own money which he has accumulated by such matches as long distance walking and running you can reply if agreeable to I 1 ALEXANDER THOMPSON gi 64 west fayetta street baltimore while there is a very general belief among the less lbs educated glasses that the doctor doat or will succeed indis in his task medical men aint almost universally express the opinion that the result will bt be fatal fatai if not not nob before the forty days have passed at least when whery he begins again to take food if the eccentric gentleman succeeds he will 0 only have convinced the public u alc ble 1 tha that t h his is organization is different lerent to th that of common mortals and by no means llave have proved that food as commonly taken is unnecessary feces his experiment cannot be looked upon as much less than stil suicide cide eide anderen and even if successful will possess the single merit of being unique |
