Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-12-09
A Fifty-Elght Days Fast.

Am Moore, the famous fasting won
an Of Tutbury, pretended to have LIVED
eight years entirely without food, say
the London Standard. A watch com
nittee was appointed, which detected
the fraud in very ingenious manner
The bed and bedding, with the womsi
in it, we're placed on delicate weigh
ing machine, which resulted in tht
inevitable exp osure.
At the expiration Of the ninth day o
this strict watching, being warned tina
she was sinking, she acknowledged hel
imposture. and admitted-which is Fl
important fact that, so long as tht
watch upon her was but imperfect, he
daughter had contrived, when washing
her face, to feed her every morning by
using towels made very wet with gravy
milk, and other nourishing fluids, anG
had also. while kissing her, coptriveG
10 convey small portions of solid food
from mouth to mouth.
Guillaume Granet. prisoner al
Toulouse, resorted to starvation to avoid
punishment. For the first seven days
the symptoms were not very remarka
BILE. After this period be was compelled
to drink water to relieve his raging
thirst, and after lingering on in terrible
agony. be died in commissions on the
fty-eighth day. The case is reported
by Van Swieten. There is no doubt
as to its truth. and it shows that up to
the present. at any rate, DIR. Tanner
has at the most only done what others
have done before him.
Viterbi, a Corsican, condemned to
death for the assassination of Frediani
resolved to starve himself to death,
He died on the twenty first day. He,
too. occasionally moistened his mouth
with water. Tie medical details of bis
case, which are very horrible, will be
found in Paris's Medical Jurispru-
dence."
OF accidental starvation tho mos!
remarkable example is. perhaps, that
reported by DR.. Sloane. of Ayr. "a
uan. some sixty.five years Of age. of q
spare habit of body, and uncommonly
vigorous for his time of life, was acct.
dentally incarcerated in a coal-miue for
twenty three days. during the first few
of which he had access to water
strongly impregnated with iron. He
then became unable to move, and had
unfortunately fallen some distance
from the water. In this instance, DR..
Sloane thinks that an impure atmos-
phere. by lowering the vital powers,
might tend to slightly prolcng life
under circumstances Of privation. The
unhappy man died on the third day
after his removal"
In 1866 Captain Casey. of the James
Lowden, passed twenty.eight days il
An open boat without food or water.
he contrived. however, to drink as
much rain as he could collect, and it is
possible. of course, that he may have
chewed fragme nts of his clothes. Thus,
then, so far as ascertained cases go,
life has actually, on Ole occasion, been
sustained for fifty eight days without
food, but not without water.
Referring to cases which occurred
during the Irish famine OF 1917, DR..
Donovan says. "They described the
pain OF hunger as at frat acute, bu
said that after twenty flour hours had
been passed without food the pain sub
sided and was succeeded by a feeling
of. weakness and sinking, experienced
principally in the epigastric region
accompanied with Unsuitable thirst, ,
strong desire for cold water. aud 0 dis
tressing feeling of coldness over TIT
entire surface of the body. IL a shor
time the face and limbs became fright
fully emaciated; the eyes acquired ,
most peculiar stare; the skin exhaled .
peculiar and offensive f~.or, and wal
covered with brownish, filtby-lookint
coating, almost as indelible as vsrnish
This he was OF first inclined to regard
As incrusted filth, but farther expert
ence convinced him that it was o secre
ton poured out from the exbaIants OF
the surface Of the body. The suffere
tottered in walking like drunken man
his voice became weak, like that of
person in cholera; he whined like
child, and burst into tears on the slight
est occasion. In respect to the menta
faculties. their prostration kept pac,
with the general wreck of bodily power
in many there was state of imbecil
ity; in some almost complete idiotism
but in no instance was there deliriun
or mania, which is often described as {
conseq uence of protracted abstinenc
among shipwrecked mariners"
An AFFECTIoNATE HUsBAND.-Th
latest exhibition of husbands affec
ton occurred in New York the othe
day. where saloon'keeper, unable t.
express his disapproval of his wife i
his own person, set q bloodhound o.
her. The beast tore her arm and nee
in the most savage and cruel manner
She owns the store end supports be
husband, she says, but he drinks al
day, spends all her money. whic
makes her mad" and comes hom
drunk aid crazy OF night. She e1
nloined m Crack m Tho cop N for bv On -; IN