The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-24
SEARCHING FOR AN EDEN.
He Is Now in Hawaii, but He May
Have TO Look Further.

A Former German Officer Who Has
Distanced Robert Louis Stevenson.
He Would Subsist on Fruits, Drink
Nothing and Wear Nothing.
From the Pacific Commercial Advertiser.
A day or two ago the Advertiser drew
attention to the arrival by the Australia
of German by the name of Boeter, who
lives like the birds, on fruit, taking 40
further thought for the morrow what he
shall eat, and not drinking anything
at all.
A reporter called on MIR Boeter yester-
day, and found him en- .oying the shade of
a cool veranda at the housed Mr.. Fetter,
on Young street, with whom he is lodg-
ing. Near him was pile of
young and promising-lo looking cocoa
nuts, which were to serve as
staple of the approaching MONDAY neal
Mr.. Boeter is a well-proportioned man of
medium hight, has a clear, rair com
plexion and blue eyes. He wears a mus
tache and beard, with rather long hair
pushed back from the forehead. AS an
| onicer of the Dusseldorf Hussars he rose
TO the rank Of first lieutenant before he
| passed into the reserve, three years ago.
| de had not up to that time entertained
the peculiar views to which he now ad-
heres with so much fervor, but has been
| gradually coming to them since that time
| A tour of five months 10 Egypt did much
to change his ideas of living. He there
fell into the practice of eating almost
/ nothing but bananas, not because the
cooking in the hotels was not good. and
not from any theory on the subject of
diet.
Il took to them instinctively," said the
| lieutenant. 81 am convinced that no
| cook can improve on nature. | came to
| Honolulu, not because my attention had
been called to it by the political troubles,
but because its geographical location
| seemed convenient. The Hawaiian
Islands, Samoa and the Society Islands are
| supposed to have the finest climates of
any places in the world. l thought that
| the mild, soft and balmy climate would
| make good fruits, and so | came here. If
1t does not suit me shall go south. f"
| Mr.. Boeter said he did not find it warm
here at all, but that, on the contrary, the
+ nights were almost too cool. But then
added he, the skin, of course, is made
soft by clothing; when that is left off the
skin hardens. OF course. / am opposed
to clothing My ideal is to live ac-
cording to nature. L consider it possible
for men to return to sounder and healthier
conditions. -
DO you intend to found a community"
| mot a community exactly Perhaps
others will come. | would be very glad
| if men would join in with me, as only by
| living according to nature can they be
| happy. l want TO live without clothes,
as far as my fellowmen will allow me to
do So"
Mr.. Boeter then explained that he could
not tate Just what he would do, as he did
not know the islands yet. He would like
| to acquire some land, but did not care for
| a whole island, as he did not want to live
in such seclusiou. He thought as long as
the site chosen was at a distance from
any town, the community could live in a
state of nature without interference. of
| course there would be some ditficultv at
first, until the novelty wore Off When
the skin gets little brown it will look
all right, as the bron. ed skin seems to
look like clothing. In Egypt persons went
around perfectly naked, and English and
American ladies looked onifreely. m
Mr. Boeter is completely possessed with
the idea that in the state of nature men
are perfectly happy and good. He accepts
the picture of primitive man as sketched
in the Old Testament story, and says he
asks no better paradise than that of Adam
| and Eve. He thinks this account is good
history, and cites passage from the mar
rdJIN6 OF an EIBllSu Traveller, VINO wrote
hundred years ago and who describes
the inhabitants OF the Ladrone islands as
living in complete ignorance of all the
world-living on fruits like the birds;
beautiful in body and virtuous in soul, I'M
visited by disease and fully happy. If we
should strip ourselves of these iucum-
brances of a false civilization, these
blood heating meats aud drinks, Mr.
Boeter thinks that evil and sorrow would
Mnrp0Tar HWaG tuOt1ld
| be enormously heightened, so. that even
| the 800 years of Methuselah might be
outnumbered.
Mr.. Boeter recognizes the fact that dur
ing the inclement winters of his native
land nice wooden shirt, and even an
! overcoat come in very handy. He there
| fore sees the hand of nature pointing all
men to the tropics, and thinks it mere
| folly to live anywhere else To the OBJ
| lection that all men cannot live in the
tropics he quotes triumphantly a book of
a certain Dr. Z. Andres, astronomer and
vegetarian, who estimated that if Brazil
were as densely populated as Belgium
200 10 the square INLET would SUPPORT
! the entire human race and a couple of
| hundred millions more thrown in. This
would give each man about three acres of
| ground, and on three acres a great deal
more 1ruit would grow wild than one man
could ever eat. The tropics would sup
port with ease 10, 600. O000 900 of people
Mr.. Boeter also OBJ ects to the wearing
of clothes because the manufacture of
! cloth in factories is injurious 10 the health
If he compromises at all it will be in
favor of the tapas of the South Sea
islands, the making of which is not in
furious and the wearing of which would
, be more wholesome, owing to their looser
texture. However, he is not looking for
any compromise of any kind just now.
Mr. Boeter was disposed to be retIcent
about his views on religion, but they are
in no way remarkable. Il like religion
but not churches Nature is my church
God, nature and the universe (Gott,
natur and weltall). l cannot separate in
thought | wish to live as far as possible
according to the will of God"
Mr.. Boeter is firm believer in mono
gamy, which he considers natural insti-
tuition, as the mum osrs of the sexes are
about equal. OF course, he will have no
laws TO enforce it, as his ideal is perfect
freedom and complete independence for
every individual lie believes, however,
that marriage will flourish in the true
state of nature. He also brushes Nautilus
aside with the proposition that the popu.
lation will not grow so as to press upon
the means of SuDsis tance and cites The