GENERAL BOOTH'S VITALITY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13337, 28 March 1911, Page 7

GENERAL BOOTH'S VITALITY.

General Booth, notwithstanding his great age, was able to lecture on the Salvation Army the other evening for an hour and a half, says the Scotsman. Of course, the motive power was his ■ vast self-devotion and keen spiritual insight. But, outside these, the habits of , the General count for very much. For years he has lived as' frugally as Tolstoy did in his later life. He goes to bed every night at 10:30 o’clock, and, if his sleep'is broken, as it often is, he gives his waking hours to devotion or to the work of the Army. He rises between 7 and. 8 o’clock, and breakfasts on weak tea and dry toast, with the addition, sometimes, of fruit, which is an important' element in his dietary. When other men take a stimulant or food to meet some passing weakness, he betakes himself to fruit. His idea is as far as possible to let nature take her own course, without the embarrassment of unnecessary help. He is a-.strict vegetarian. His midday meal consists almost entirely of potatoes, generally fried, some green vegetables, and a milK puddilig. The work of the evening is carried out on bread and fruit. Stimulants of all kinds arc avoided, and so is tobacco, the General holding that what you have to do to secure perfect health is not to drug or dull the body, but to live simply, to have a wide interest in life, and keep al- > ways, at some form of work.