Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-03-24
LIVING WITHOUT EATING.

Marvellous StOry-TWO Years With
out Food and seven Months without
any Drink Save Water.
! From the Springfield Republican.
! One Of those anomalous and incredible
cases, which are reported almost constantly
in one quarter of the world or anOther-the
story Of life prolonged apparently without
| the taking of sustenance-is alleged to exist
| in this city. The subject is Katie DoaOvan
girl twenty-one years Of age, and the cir
cUmstances which have brought her to her
present condition we give below, promising
| that we win tell the story as twas told to
us She was employed in the first part of
1869 in the rag and cotton waste concern
OF William S. Arms, and just three years
| ago last Wednesday met with an accident
there which has influenced her whole life
since. Another girl gave her a push,
in sport, and she fell upon barrel, striking
upon her right side, and the other girl fall
ing upon her. She did not think at the
time that she was hurt much, but felt some
inward pain, and, as is now evident, re-
ceived internal injury. From that time
she commenced throwing up her food, but
remained at her work until the following
Saturday afternoon, when she was obliged
to give up and take to her bed. Since that
hour she has been bedridden, and the trou-
bic which manifested itselfat the outset has
been constantly increasing. At first she was
fed with about her usual food, but this proved
so repulsive to her stomach that it was
gradually reduced, both in quantity and quail
ity, until she subsisted wholly on iellies.
Meantime large number Of physicians were
called in successiontO prescribe for her, but |
acknowledged that they could do nothing |
for her, and generally predicted that she |
would live but short time. Their medi- |
cines were expelled from her stomach as |
promptly as food was, and her case seemed, !
indeed, hopeless. But she continued to |
survive for months without meGical aid, |
and has been seen by no physician for near |
ly two years, except last July, when her |
father, John Donovan, a workman at Was
oD's, died, and when the physicianSdeclared
that she must quickly follow. At that time
she was able to take little lemonade, but
that, as well as stimulants Of all kinds and /
food in every form, being rejected by her
stomach, she has since subsisted-such is
the extraordinary claim-UpOn water alone,
and very little of that.
Of course Mis is too much for belief but
it should be said that those who know Mrs.
Donovan best-a good many very respeeta-
bic people-actualy do believe it. They
say that they have found her, in an &C
quaintance of dozen years or more, a
woman of strict honesty and truthfulness,
and she would certainly appear incapable of
carrying on long course Of fraud. The
motive for such q course, if she had adopted
it, was not pecuniary preiit, as she has not
sought to give her atfiiCtiOn publicity, and
has never asked or taken money from visi-
tors, although a washerWOman with six
children, most of them dependent on her
for support.
She lives in an upstairs tenement liz a
little court opening out Of Liberty street,
and the place, though in an Irish quarter, is
scrupulously neat, in all her part of it. The
girl who lives without eating is in a respect
ably furnished room, the window cur
tain of which is kept down, as is said, to
favor her eyes. She appears to experience
no discomfort, however, when it is raised,
and the light discloses a black eyed and
black haired girl, with comedy features and
fair complexion. She is not emaciated, as
would be supposed after such extraordinary
abstinence from food, but her countenance
has peculiarly transparent, almost corpse
ike appearance. She is able to turn little
IN bed; but her strength is very gradually
waning, and with the cough she has now it
would seem, as it seemed two years ago,
hat her stay upon the earth must be brief.
Her mind appears to be clear, although she
speaks but little, and that in a whisper.