St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-26
mERLATTI AND sUCCI.

Some Of the Omp and Circumstances
of Fasting..The Heroes of the
Day.
London World.
The mystery of Signor- Stefano Merlatti
and the secret of Signor Giovanni Succi ex-
cite just now far more interest at Paris than
the Bulgarian crisis. the resignation of one
of the ministers, the giant at the Folies
Bergere or even La Revanche. The Figaro
boldly declares that lie secret de Succi ese
en- ce moment la senle, punique, la palpl.
tante question qui agite Popinion publiqut
tout entiere;' and in consequence every
body has gone or is going to No. Rue
Gluck. where Succi is preparing for his
next FAST or to No. 93. on the ground floor
of the Grand hotel, where Merlatti has not
tasted food for nearly fortnight.
There is no difficulty in seeing either of
them. Merlatti lives in suite of apart
ments which would let easily at 80 francs
day. The antechamber is full of doctors
and watchers" and he sits generally in
his bedroom. ON sofa at the foot of his
bed. A table before him is covered with
medical instruments, books, glasses and
large test tube filled with filtered water. He
is spare good-looking, olive c0mpleyioned,
clean-Shaven youth of two and-twenty,
with deepset piercing black eyes, and
bushy eyebrows which meet over his nose.
He looks like a priest, but is
painter by profession; shows no visible
sign of weakness; speaks in fairly good
English, and in a low. musical voice of a
former fast. accomplished in Great Port
land street; says he learned to do without
food when he ran away from school, and is
confident that he shall do" his fifty DAYS in
spite of the doctors and the unbelievers.
There are many doors in Merlatti's room,
and the salver suggestive" bearing
few gold coins. displayed modestly at the
entrance. reminds you strangely of the hat
and coat room at the Albo
There is a good deal more ''pomp and
circumstance observable in the surround
ings of Succi who inhabits handsome
entresol overlooking the Grand opera. A
servant, in irreproachable black. admits
you to room rich in gilt chairs and yell
low damask upholstery. Succi Is a viva
eiOus little man. of a somewhat cadaver-
Gus cast of cOuntenance. and all odd trick
OF slapping his thin legs when talking of
his exploits. He is much older than Mer.
latt. has travelled all over the south of
Africa. learned English in Zanzibar and
the Cape. and discovered the secret
liquid during his wanderings. He holds
out triumphantly the processi verbal of his
fasts at Forli and Milan. bound in vellum,
attested by notaries and signed by scores
of doctors and notables. and points proudly
to his motto, La verita non 81 uccide."
He INTRODUCES YOU successfully to his finan-
cial agent, CaYaliere Giuseppe Lamperti.
who wears scull cap and rosette, and
who was a director of the Apollo theater
at Rome; to a German lady amanuensis
with golden hair; to his DOCTOR Barbero
Borghini, and his secretary. Signor Mosca.
In one corner of the room is an enor-
nous pile of printed and illustrated
copies Of the processo yerbale of the
Milan fast; and at one of the many tables
DR.. Borghini is busy filling up invitations to
a conference" which is to precede the
coming trial at Paris. Borghini talks intel
ligently and learnedly of the difference be-
tween phenomenal fasting like Merlatti's
and scientific fasting like Succi's; and from
the depths of black bag the two bottles
which contain the mysterious potions upon
which everything depends are produced
for your inspection. at present Succi con-
fesses frankly to the consumption of four
beefsteaks day; but he slaps his legs with
enthusiasm while he listens to Borghinis
physiology, and when he speaks of pros
pective fast which he means to accomplish
some day for the benefit of his London
friends AS yet the saIver suggestive" is
not to be seen in the Rue Gluck.