Sawdust Food.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 42, 22 December 1911, Page 8

Sawdust Food.

UPTON SINCLAIR'S MENTALITY.

Mr. Upton Sinclair, the well-known author, prominent Socialist, "and more recently an advocate of the ''starvation cure" for bodily ills, has been having trouble lately with his wife, who called him "an essential monogamist," and whose own. unessehtiality, in this respect is advanced by Mγ.''Sinclair as the reason for a divorce suit he is bringing against her. Mrs.- Sin-' clair , © father, Mr. W. H. Fuller, hae . returned from a. hunting trip, and had joined the chosus of people who have been issuing ' statements about., the' trouble in the Sinclair family. Mr. Fuller says:—

"Upton is peculiarly mental. I know him so well that at this mornen* I'm sure all the trouble this so-called 'trouble' is causing him is how to aiiar lyse it.

"Ho decided some time ago that he would,, by experiments on himself, der tercnirie what was the, proper liuman food. He went through the courses— Vegetarianism, raw-meatism—all oi them. One night we had him to aoa. ordinary dinner; he chewed a prune for 20 minutes. When he> came wo never knew whether he was on ,the vege~ tarian or the uncooked meat or the baled hay diet. 'Beef!' ihe would exclaim. 'Poi3on!' i

"I've been to Arden (the Socialist settlement where ; Mr. Sinclair residies). I went in Upton's uncooked food period. At night , I asked Upton where dinner could be bad.

" 'Wny, we don't cook, , he said. 'If/ you're hungry, you'll find in tkhat tent over there a loaf of bread. Go to that spi-iag 200 yards .pfr, and you'll find some butter,my wife asked mc to get for her. Help yourself 1' ,

"Once I went to visit Upton when he was' demonstrating that .vegetables were the; food. . When.. I .walked! .'.jtip, , the p;ath ? l saw a dog leaning forlorn*ly agaiiist.. -the side.'. of the house. '.

" 'Doesn't that dog ; get anything to eat?' I asked the servant.

" 'Yas, sah, , replied the colored girl. 'Dats his tomat©s\. still'in'his dish. .

"Next day I went into the village and got the dog five pounds of heart and liver, and from then he improved.

"You see, Upton is all mentality. He carried the dieting so far once that when I asked him' what he was eating he answered:

""'Nothing} nothing but cold'water, since a weeic ago last, Friday. , | .

"Imagine, .then, one night last win*, ter, when, we had him to dinner. Our own dinner was to be turkey. What to provide fo-r Upton we didn't know. Last I knew he had been out to Battle Greek and had ideas on 'calorice'/ and that one should take 1800 a day. Then he had eaten no meat, potatoes, coffee, etc., but things which had proteids, etc. .

" 'We've got turkey for dinner ourselves,' I told him, 'but the cook can get you a,riy sort of sawdust or prune* you want.'

"What do you think he replied?

" 'Why,' said he. 'I've found that the food I can best work and thrive on (I noticed he had lost,iiis- peaked, pinched look) is meal!' .'•'

"And what he did to that trukey, Fd hate to tell you. It was marvellous. And he'll be a marvellous young man when he ges himself adjusted, and sticks to, meat."