Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-04-04
From the DAYTON Jurnal. April 81

From the Dayton Jurnal, April 81
Remarkable Case of Abstinence
from EOOd-A Man eats Nothing
for ThirIy-tVvO Days.
A good deal has been said about case
OF voluntary starvation, as is alleged, now
in progress here. The reports We're that
an old man, by command of =" the spirits,
had refused to eat another mouthful of
food, and had gradually wasted away until
hehad reached the verge of the grave
For the purpose of getting some insight
into this case of voluntary starvation, we
called yesterday at the residence of the
starving man, Mr.. B. III. Brown, on the
southeast corner of Wilkinson and Water
streets. The relation of the details of this
remarkable case of abstinence from food
was. simple and affecting. We learned
from the wife of Mr.. .Brown-a plain, SIM
ple-minded, and, to all appearances, a
truthful woman-that on the 18th of Feb
ruary her husband assisted her in carrying
in a load of coal. He was taken with chill
soon afterWard, and went to bed exhausted.
That night he ate little piece of toast
soaked in tea-since which time, she aver
red, he had not taken particle of nour-
ishment of any kind. Yesterday was the
thirty-second day of the continuance OF
this total abstinence from food. He has
taken little water two or three times a
day. Mr.. Brown is eighty flour years old,
andwa quite feshy when he ceased eat
ing. He is now reduced to a mere skeleton.
He is cheerful and says he is entirely hap
DIV, and anxious for the change, which he
says must soon come. As to the report
that be had set about starving himself at
the command of the "spiritS,n he saws it
is not true. The reason for his abstinence
is simply want of appetite. He declares
that he has not for more than thirty days
had any desire for food-that he could not
swallow it if nature craved such support.
The case is a very remarkable one. and
should be investigated by the medical men.
The testimony in favor of this long ahstin-
ence appears to be reliable. The wife of
Mr.. Brown disclaims most positively any
connection with scheme to deceive the
people, by giving noufishment or stimu-
lants in secret, and pretending that some
supernatural power sustains. her husband
In his protracted fasting. zza
1tseems to be incredible, as 1T certainly is
contrary to the teachings of science and of
experience as well, that this starvation pro-
cess could 90 on without intense suffering.
Yet Mr.. Brown. according TO his own dec
larations and those of his wife, has suffered
no. pain, but on the contrary, has appeared
happy, and resigned to the fate which he
knew was inevitable. 1t is scarcely fare to
doubt his own word, and that of his wife,
Rsto the fact of the abstinence for the period
named. Hesaid yesterday, when question:
ed on this point. .'You can see that / am
wasted to a skeleton and That feW hOllFS
will close my time on earth. Would /,
with eternity Just before me, say what was
deceptive and false just to make sensa
tiOn? No, would not do that. / refused
TO eat because had no desire for food-I
have had no desire for 1t, nor have taken
any for thirty-two days. i have suffered
no pain, but have laid in my bed, happy in
the prospect of enjoyment in the world to
come. Tonight, / hope and believe, will
close nv existence here" Z
Mr.. Brown has lived in Dayton for about
thirty years. He is a shoemaker, and has
worked at his trade industriOusly during
his residence here. He is man of sobriety
and intelligence, and has always been re-
spected. Accepting as fact the thirty
two days abstinence from food, we may
account for his imagined freedom from
pain by the occurrence OF an hallucination,
induced by his belief in the agency OF guar
dian angels who minister to him, and by
some spiritual essence protract his life.
This he asserts, and thus affords evidence
of stmind diseased" Conversing on other
topics he appears entirely rational and
practical, and seems unwilling to have any
one believe he is not of sound mind. He
even changes the subject of conversation
from his guardian angels and ''spirit food" :"
to common every day topics, for the pur-
pose of impressing his visitors. with a con-
Viction of his sanity. We may add in con-
clusion that Mr.. Brown refused from the
first to have physician called. He said
it was useless, for he could not take medi-
cine. His time had come. A long life had
already been passed. He longed for rest.