The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-03-02
A LONG FAST.
Milton Rathburn Went 35 Days
Without Eating.
During All This Time He
Worked Just as Usual.
HAS LOST 4S POUNDS.
Sight Of a Box Of Oranges
Proved Too Much.
From His Trial He Evolves a
New Medical Theory.

New York March 2-Milton Rathbun
has completed the most wonderful fast
ing feat. He started to do without food
for forty days to reduce his weight. He
broke his fast after thirty-tiye days and
six hours by eating an orange
Mr.. Rathbun, who had lost forty-three
pounds since he ate his last meal, said
that he never felt better in his life. He
looks, however. as if he has just arisen
from bed of illness.
He is hollow-eyed, gaunt and weak.
His clothes hang loose on him. His golf
cap comes down over his ears. His col
lar has become several sizes too large
When Rathbun went to bed Sunday
night he had no intention of breaking ms ms
fast before m0rHiing On retiring ne w dg
shortly before midnight feeling rayenous-
ly hungry. He thought this warning
that he had tasted as long was good
for him and decided to break his fast. He
awoke Mrs. Rathbun and together they
descended to the dining room, where he
ate the following:
Two oranges, one dozen oysters. five
soda crackers, two-thirds OF a cup OF
beef tea, half cup of Oolong tea.
After breakfast Mr.. Rathbun returned
later still feeling. hungry. He ate an
other orange and slept Soundly until
morning, when he ate crackers and milk
At noon he had his first regular lunch
This is what he ate:
One cup. of clam broth, one dozen
soup, half broiled squash, green peas, po-
tatOeS, corn bread, lemon ice.
Despite the faSters long abstinence
from food, what he ate caused no dis
q suppose the interruption of my fast
was all due to a very little accident,
said Mr.. Rathbun, wearily.
You see, I had lost all appetite ever
since the end of the second day of my
fast. never intended fasting forty
days, unless I felt I might fast that long
eat only when my appetite came back.
Two days ago I saw an orange freshly
cut in halves 1 felt then that if l were
only hungry I'd like to eat the fruit. I
suppose that without realizing it the or
ange was in my head to stay Yesterday
a box of oranges. 1 was tempted then
to take one In fact, they y, all seemed ID to
oranges and, l suppose they gave me
Despite the fact that there are several
instances on record where men tasted
for longer time than Mr.. Rathbuns the
latter's fast is likely the most rernarka BILE
on record. The most noteworthy feature
of Mr.. Rathbuns fast was that he ap-
peaFed day after day at his business Of
fee, working just as hard as he did be-
fore the fact began. During the entire
time his sole nourishment was water.
Rathbun's reason for undergoing the fast
was the three-fold one of reducing
weight, of proving the superiority of mind
over matter, and of demonstrating a new
medical theory that the brain is the dy-
fed. not by the food we eat. but by the
tissues of the body. Many physicians
from all over the country were inter-
ested in Mr.. Rathbun's fast, and wrote
to him asking for particulars of his prog
ress and experiences.
Mr.. Rathbun, who on a previous ocea-
sion tasted 2S days, holds some remark
able theories about the benefits of health
of an occasional fast
Half of the ills of the human body are
caused by eating too much" he says.
Most sickneSses can be cured without
the aid of physicians and drugs if only
the patient will consent to fast three or
four days. Take my own experience
was formerly nervous; today 1 do not
know what nerves are. My sleep used
to be unsound and light; now I sleep as
soundly as a boy of 10. Even my eyes
have been cured. Formerly I had TO wear
glasses. Today I can read with the naked
eye print which before I had trouble to
make out with glasses. Speaking of over
eating, no one, for example. should eat
breakfast The man who boasts of a
hearty. morning, appetite is in bad way.
Sleep is not a healthy producer of appe-
tite. One should exercise before he eats
to keep in shape I have not eaten a
BREAKFAST in FIVE years, nor has any one
in my family"