Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-06-25
LIVED AND DIED ON FRUIT.
carious SSsst of German Lieutsnans
for . Dietetie Paradise.


Lieut.. Wilhelm Boeter less than four
years ago was an ordinary meat-eat-
Ing. lager-beer drinking officer in the
kaiser's crack regiment of hussars.
says the New York Herald. A treatise
on the advantages OF "fruitarian~
diet came into his hands and he was
completely won over. He was no COM
mon or garden vegetarian. Such in
dividuals may revel in rice, riot on
radishes and eat vegetables, but the
lieutenant would have none OF them.
This fin de steele purist would have
nothing save nuts and some ripened
fruits. But nuts from over the seas
were hard to get and fruits that trayeI
long distances became soft. Hence, to
obtain them in state of pristine pur-
ity and digestibility Herr Boeter re-
signed his commission and started for
the land where he could make a homo
that met his special requirements. He
visited Egypt, Tonga Fiji, New Yea
land, Australia, Java, Ceylon and
India. But none of these entirely
commended itself. Finally he went TO
Jamaica. He had inherited several
large estates in Germany and was pos
sessed of fortune of some $4,000 600.
In December last he arrived in ia
maica accompanied by a salaried COM
panion-Herr Georg Pentzke, a retired
paymaster in the German army. Tho
fruitarians' became generally known
They wore clothes made of the lightese
possible silk fabrics and carried green
sunshades. One serious fault that the
lieutenant found with the Jamaicans
was that they dressed improperly. His
idea of fitness was but a trife re-
moved from what Trilby described as
1.-The altogether" So far as diet was
concerned Herr Boeter was perfectly
satisfied with Jamaica. He found a
continuous and abundant supply or
the luscious fruit His only tipple was
the milk of the cocoanut. He kept a
cutlass in his room for the special
purpose Of chopping off the husks OF
the nut. His habit was to take guam
tity of oranges, star apples, bananas,
etc, and, having removed the skins.
pound the fruit together in mortar,
squeezing lime juice over the whole
and making what he said was dish
fit for the gods. He took several cold
water baths daily. Instead of soap he
used the lime fruit. He and his com
panion made a tour of the island in a
covered van, in which they slept at
night. While camping among swamps
on the north side the lieutenant was
attacked by malarial fever, in the
height of which he plunged into river
and then went for long walk in the
sun. He became seriously i'll and trav-
eled back to Kingston. He refused to
call a doctor, and when his landlady
went for one on her own response
bility the lieutenant chucked the
physic out of the window and persisted
in his diet of fruit and on the I'd day
of March last passed away in his sleep.
His effects were handed over to the
German consul, among them being two
drafts for fl 900 each and nearly $500
in gold The deceased was 35 years
old, a cultured gentleman and could
converse fiuently in seven languages
He was buried with a cocoanut Dough
on his coffin. A few days before his
death he had a serious quarrel with
his companion because he discovered
that Pentzke was in the habit of in
dulging in the substantial pleasures of
ham and eggs, mutton chops, etc
The finest turquoises come from PersLs.