The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-26

Some 1aborers who nearly died of ex-
posture and lack of food have told me
that they hardly suffered at all. They
soon drifted into a semi-consciouS
state, which dulled their physical pain,
and they had not sufficient intelligence
to substitute the pangs of the imagi-
nation"
Mental Powers Increased by STAR
walton.
A direct negative to this theory is
given by a professor of an Australian
university who narrowly escaped dy
ing of starvation during an expedition
into the desert country of Central
Australia.
81 am sure" he said, that I felt
the pangs of hunger much less keenly
than my black crackers and servants
did l had heard they could go for
long periods without food, but the
second day we put ourselves on short
commons they complained bitterly and
appeared to be in extreme pain. AT
that time 1 suffered nothing, nor did
1 suffer until some days afterwards.
Indeed, although two or three of my
men were almost dead from lack of
food by the time we reached the near
est settlement, 1 really suffered very
little. The only unpleasant sensations
1 can recall were occasional bed head
| aches, slight pains in the stomach, and
now and then a feeling of faintness.
AT other times l felt exceptionally
strong, although I had eaten hardly a
scrap of food for days.
''If l were to judge by my own feel
| ings, I should say that the agOnies of
starvation are much exaggerated. But
the sufferings of my men were terrible
enough / asked one of them how he
Fold Ho Twin on nd
one evening too weak to move.
'Boss,' he replied, me full of devils
clawin' at me inside
81 gave the poor wretch a little
brandy, but he declared it made him
feel worse.
II did not find that hunger in any
way affected my mental powers. On
the contrary it seemed to improve
them. / was able to take the keenest
interest in my scientific work. Pos
Sibly the fact that ] had something to
occupy my mind saved me from suf-
fering as the others did. They, poor
wretches, had nothing to do but to
think of food. l believe that was why
they suffered so keenly.'
KipIing's Experience at Starving.
Rudyard Kiphng has experienced
that form of starvation which is most
common in great centers of popula-
tion-living for weeks and months at
a time on an insufficient amount of
food. He has admitted that he tried
it for the sake of experience, and in
The Light That Failed he has de-
/ scribed his feelings.
1T is not easy" says Mr.. Kipling
for a man of catholic tastes and
healthy appetites to exist for twenty
four days on fifty shillings. Nor is it
cheering to begin the experiment alone
in all the loneliness of London.
Dick paid seven shilhngs week
for his lodging, which left him rather
less than shilling a day for food and
drink. Half a days investigation and
comparison brought him to the con-
clusion that sausages and mashed po-
tatoes, two-pencc a plate, were the
best food. Now, sausages once or
twice a week for breakfast are not
unpleasant. AS lunch, even with
mashed potatoes, they become monot-
onous. As dinner they are imperti-
nent. At the end of three days Dick
loathed sausages, and, going forth
pawned his watch to revel on sleeps
head, which is not as cheap as 1t
looks owing to the bones and the
gravy. Then he returned to sausages
and mashed potatoes Then he con-
fined himself entirely to mashed pota-
toes for day, and was unhappy be-