THE FASTING CURE AT WANGANUL

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 13

THE FASTING CURE AT WANGANUL

Br Robert H. Bakkwell, M.D.,

Surgeon-captain (retd.) Army Medical Staff,

There is not a single ease recorded in any of the four volumes I 'have read which ey«n approximately complies with these feOnditions- The cases are described in the loosest possible way — just as if two society ladies were chattering about them, —and contain absolutely no data on. which a scientific judgment can be based. Mr Haskell's book, entitled "Perfect Health: How to Get it and How to , Keep It," is much better written than Dr Dewey's. Mr C. C. Haskell, who is a bookseller and publisher, in Norwich, Conn., heard through an acquaintance •residing in Meadville, Pa., of some "marvelous" (as^the Americans spell it) cures effected by Dr Dewey 's long fasting prescriptions. He was suffering from Buch a complication of maladies that one o{ his physicians said that his " left lung was a foregone conclusion," and that he could never again be a " well -man " ; •that he must give up business and simply take care of himself for the remainder ot hi 6 life, which might, with good care, he continued for some years. However, this condition of chronic dnvalidism and idleness did not suit a man of Mr Ha6kelPs temperament, as anybody with any knowledge of physiognomy would predict from his photo, publislied in his book. He consequently worked, though in a miserable state of health, for eight years. He says, in ■words that appear to me to be true, " I ■was literally worn and tired out, and _ felt that the grave was the only place where I could find rest. There was no enjoyment for me in the bare existence that was mme — no beauty, no sweetness, no strength, no life.-" All was darkness and suffering, because disease was in contTol of my being, instead of health. This was my condition in J^ay, 1894." About this time he- was made acquainted with Dr Dewey's system, and told of some of the cures effected by it. He decided on giving a trial to the no breakfast plan, and to the remainder of Dr Dewey's system. This is contained in four rules : —

1. To abstain absolutely from the early morning meal.

2. Never to eat except when hungry

3. To masticate every morsel of food as long as there is any taste in the mouth. 4. To abstain from all drink during aneals and for at least an hour after a meal.

Of these fouT rules only the first is an original thought of Dr Dewey'e. The ■other three have long been known to all physicians. Even the first is to some extent adopted by Englishmen in tropical climates, such as India and the West Indies, where only a cup of tea or coffee 16 token at 6 a.m. with a small quantity of bread, and breakfast is never taken before 10.

The first day of the new system was a disappointment to Mr Haskell. He •went to his office with an empty stomach, and at 11 o'clock had a headache. He then worked on until 1 o'clock, when he ate, although he did not feel hungry. This, he considers, was a mistake, as "the headache remained all the afternoon." "At night," he says, "I felt like giving up the whole thing, but the next morning I realised that there was a slight improvement, and that my sleep had been a -little more restful." He determined to try the plan for another day. "On that day there was no headache, and there has been none since. At noon I was hungry for the first time for" eight years. By omitting the morning meal twice, Nature* had done_ for me what my physicians, with all their skill, had not "been able to do, and I ate with a decided relish."

I prefer to give this account of the first two days in Mr Haskell's own words, because I think they bear the stamp of truth upon them. He then goes on to narrate how, perse\ering in the plan, he has attained a etate of Perfect Health, which words he always spells with capital letters. He also spells • disease thus — dis-ease. Why, he does not say. His letters, of which I have seen several, to Mr Lloyd Jones, arft all signed with some such formula as this : " Yours for the freedom of Man from Dis-ease and in Perfect Health." R. H. Bakewell, M.D.

Charles Courtney Haskell. — Evidently Mr Haskell is raising up a sect. He claims for the no-breakfast plan far more than Dr Dewey does, and makes assertions about it and about disease which the doctor would not venture on. I take it that the reaeon is that Dr Dewey knows something about the physiology and pathology of the human body, and Mr Haskell knows nothing. He has all the conceit and assurance of a profoundly ignorant person. The following are some of his assertions, unsupported by any proof whatever: — "In consequence of our wrong habits of eating we have all lost the cense of natural hunger, and have developed an abnormal sense, which is appetite. There is as much difference between hunger and appetite as there is between light and darkness. " When we awake and commence the labours of the day. Nature commences her work of preparation for digestion, and it takes fiom four to- six hours after one has risen to make parfect preparation."' "-Food which is not pleasant to the taste will not give us any nourishment.'' "Animal food is not man's natural and best food!" "Meat eating; is unscientific." " ' Thou shalt not kill ' does not apply to killing men and women only, but ?pplies to all God's sentient creatures." To. fleas, scorpions, poisonous snakes, and man-eating tigers, I presume. Mr Haskell does not agree with Dr Dewey as to baths. He says: "Fr*equent bathing is necessary to perfect health. We must keep the outside of the body clean and pure as well as the inside."

Quite true ! He then goes on in true American business style to mention that "one of the best and oldest establishments for theee baths is that of Dr C. H. Shepard, 81 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn,

Mr Haskell has founded a school for teaching the art of obtaining and keeping perfect health. It is given by means of 12 printed lessons, costing a dollar each, or lOdol for the course. Mr Haskell publishes Dr Dfiwey's books, his own, and Mr J. Austin Shaw's.

It is impossible to review Mr Haskell's book without taking some notice of the odious way he has of quoting 'from the Bible. He drags in texts which have never been supposed to have any reference to the questions he is discussing in a way that is shocking to ordinary minds. For instance (p. 81) : " One day after eating and suffering with a slight depression, these words came to my mind as an inspiration from above [sic !] : ' Lift up your heads oh ye gates, and 'be lifted up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in.' . . . I said never again shall I look downward, for that causes depression, and depression impairs digestion, and leads to disease and death." But this is mild compared with what appears on p. 83.

"We then have perfect health, and by living according to this perfect divine law of our being we keep in perfect health. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, ' There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.' This is what the Christ meant when he said :

" And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.' 'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man b» lifted up, that whosoever believeth may in Him [here and now] have eternal life.' 'Look unto Me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth.' "

I have given these passages exactly as they are printed in Mr Haskell's book. He goes on to say how difficult it was at. times to avoid depression, to lift up and look up under all circumstances — he was then in great pecuniary distress, — but he says : "At laßt a complete victory was won, and I was in perfect, health of mind and perfect health of body, which is eternal life."

There are other passages quite as shocking and absurd. He asserts that the Jews never ate the early breakfast in the wilderness. " Jesus never ate except when hungry. He never ate the early morning meal that we call breakfast. We all can follow His example and have the same blissful results in our lives that were in His, for He had nothing that as not promised to all who will obey. 'Ye will not come to Me that ye may have life.' " And &o on. But enough of Mr Haskell and his sickening cant.

MR J. AUSTIN SHAW'S FAST.

Mr J. Austin Shaw asserts that he made a fast of 45 days at the age of 55 with water, lemonade, and an occasional glass of unfermented grape juice or a spoonful of malted milk. 1 do not know what "malted milk" is, but presume that it is some combination of extract of malt with milk. However, Mr Shaw says positively (page 71) : " The compressed nourishment of all beverages, including lemonade, taken during the 45 days, would not total the food which you take into your stomach at a single meal." Mr Shaw abounds in italics. His book is entitled, "The Best Thing in the World Good Health and How to Keep it for a Hundred Years The Secret of- Long Life the Conquest of Sickness the Path to Perfect Health the Value of True Scientific Living A Record of the Most Wonderful Fast in the World's History." By J. Austin Shaw Illustrated.

I have copied out this breathless titlepage, in which there is not even a comma, in order to show the class of people to whom these writers make their appeal, and from whom they draw their disciples. It is obvious that educated Ameiicans, whether they belong to the medical profession or not, will throw down a book with such a title-page in disgust, and probably never read another word of it. Opposite the title-page is a photograph of Mr Shaw, beneath which is a facsimile of his signature and these woids : "55 years young. Weight 175. Photo. June 24, 1905, one month after his 45 days' fast was broken." -The book, which contains 83 pages of Mr Shaw's narrative and diary, and 42 pages of appendix\ containing correspondence with Mr C. C. Haskell, and other matter, costs one dollar. It contains six photos of Mr Shaw, four of them alleged to be taken during his fast, one before he began the fast, and one, as before mentioned, four weeks after the fast. This last photo., as far as I can judge, is not a portrait of the man who was alleged to be fasting. The man who is fasting has a silly, \acuous, conceited look, has a black or very dark moustache, and on the last day of the fast is much plumper than the person depicted opposite the title-page, who is stated to be Mr Shaw one' month after the fast was broken. At page 68 (op. cit.) Mr Shaw says: "I am writing this two weeks and two days after the fast ended. My weight to-day is 1751b — -a gain of but 21b since the process of di crest ion began. This fact is especially gratifying, because after every other fast my weight increased more rapidly." But still his weight had increased. Now. if any impartial person will compare the portrait facing p. 58, taken on the last day of the fast, they will see a smiling, thouah silly face, chubby and Well-filled out, with dark moustache, while the portrait taken one month after, when his weight was 1751b, is that of a serious man with the features well marked, no superfluous fat, no moustache, and on the whole a countenance which expresses a far higher grade of intelligence than the other. (To be continued.)

WOLFE'S SCHNAPPS has stimulating properties possessed, hx no other spirit.