Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-07
THE VALUEi.OPs FRUITS
PRODUCTS OF THEE BUSH AND
VINE GOOD FdR HEALTH.
How to Give the Body Meal, Sugar and
Fat Without Eating
Meat.
From What to Eat.

From What to Eat. = of
In the vineyard lands of western Europe,
especially in Switzerland and the valley of
the Rhine. there are hundreds of Trauben
Kuren, grape cure establishments, that
attract health seekers from every country
of the civilized world.
The grape fad came Into fashion about
sixty years ago. and. In comparison with
such insanities as the sulphur water craze.
could be called step in the right direction:
yet the persistence of Its popularity is ex-
actly that OF Charles Lambs pig crema-
tories.
Pigs says the immortal essayist used
to be eaten raw in China. till the accidental
confagration Of swineherd's cottage re-
vealed the merits of roast pork. The secret
was divulged. and. for series Of genera
lions, epicures burned down a dwelling
house whenever they desired to enjoy
feast OF spare-ribs.''
AS a specific for the cure of alimentary
disorders grape juice Is superior to brim-
stone: but American dyspeptics might con-
Is almost equally certain that numberless
varieties OF berries and fruit could be made
to answer the same purpose as grapes.
Turks and agnOsticS do not differ more
widely in their plans of salvation than old
world and new world sanitarians do in their
estimates Of food values; bread, rice, beans,
beef and fish have each been recommended
as the true staff OF life. Baron Liebig, M.
D.. Phi. D.. and what not, published elab-
crate tabulations OF analysis, stating the
nutritive ingredients of various articles Of
diet, but also pretended to demonstrate the
nutritious properties of alcohol-a theory
wholly and passionateiy repudtated by our
temperance refOrmers.
Food Of Forebears.
But saints and sinners must admit that
fruit seems to have formed the staple diet
of our anthropoid ancestors, the chief en-
tree of the menu served in the household
of our mother Nature. Genesis and Darwin
agree on that point: our very redskins
would hesitate to turn the grand old gar
dener into boss butcher; Mirandez in his
history Of Peru states that the traditions of
the Inkas traced their descent to land
where the Sun God treated his guests to
sweet fruit and bread grown on trees" The
Japs abhor cows milk. and millions of
Hindoos would prefer death to a diet Of
beefsteaks. but oranges find a market In
Norway and Nubia. in China and Chile, and
the natives OF the arctic regions eschew
fruit only for the reason that makes captive
Apaches renounce hades-they can't raise
1t.
But. say. didn't your lawgiyer prohibit
the flesh Of swine?" asked a Boston phil
osOpher who caught Hebrew friend in a
pork -and-beans restaurant.
WELL you see Moses vas a shepherd
explained the transgressor,' he wanted to
sell mutton" and one Is often tempted to
infer that the prejudice against fruit must
have been propagated by the beef trust. DR.
Charles Page records his experience In q
confederate garrison town where the strict
prohibition of fruit and vegetables did not
save him from raging fevers till he made
his escape across the border and recovered
on diet of watermelens. the same melons
the board of health bad denounced as
cholera pills" French prisoners in the
camp of Abdel Cader learned to prefer dates
to bread and meat but wholesale test
was that of the plague that ravaged the
cities of the Mediterranean coastlands in
1921. The medical pundfts Of Marseille as
cribed 1t to the products ofithe fruit farms
and excluded their peddlers on pain OF
death. but the futility of their remedies
caused thousands to take refuge in the
groves and rocks Of the surrounding hill
country, where they isubsisted chiefly on
wild-growtng berries. OF these refugees
four-ffths recovered. while less than one
fifth survived the treatment Of the fruit
dreading city doctors. In spite of drugs.
leeches and blisters the epidemic increased
in violence. 1t devoured rich and poor doc
tors and patients. till the number of its VIC
times reached 1880.
Puri6es the Blood.
1t was a lesson not easy to forget, and
Marselle has ever since prided itself on the
prosperity of Its fruit markets
Fruit purifles the blood. resists the de-
velopment of disease germs. and. as 1t were,
raises the boiling point Of the organism.
Sunstrokes involve a process of blood
fermentation. and fesh-eater's blood
might seethe In a temperature that would
hardly begin to affect the comfort of a
fruit-eater. The patrons Of those Rhenish
representations boast that their diet
makes them warm-weather proof
A fruit diet has also the effect Of a moral
antiseptic. and in warm weather would
help to dispel the gloom of that world
WEAKNESS that defes the arguments Of
optimism.
ALAS! what avail our ethics against diet
Of bull-beef." wrote Father De Smeth from
Sioux missions. Rage and roast beef are as
frequent concomitants as benignity and
bananas; the plantain- eating Indios of
southern Mexico are almost provocation
proof.
The typical John Bull is an orthodox but
highly irascible country squire. ITS the
damp climate. - explains the vegetarian on
the other side Of the channel, but in dam
per climate frugal Pat Is as light hearted
as his Breton cousin.
Tract societies should hand out pint Of
cherries with every pamphlet. The Mil
lennium Association ought to distribute mel
ons. Our Rhamadan the chance for recon-
Cling body and soul with the laws Of ma
ture. begins in September. when fruit is
cheap than meat.
AS rule. sweet and mellow fruit are the
most wholesome. but there are individual
predictions. founded on curious constitu-
tional differences. Dyspeptics naturally
shrink from raw apples. but there are peo-
pie who avoid stone fruit of all kinds on
the plea that they prefer immunity from
collie to the best peaches ever sent from
the freestone paradise Of Smyrna Della.
Ripe pears, however, carry all votes and
watermelons almost reconciled the natives
OF Mexico to the deviltries of the Spanish
invasion. There Is a tradition that the he
roes of the Pyrenees, the companions of the
patriot-saint Palayo. lived for two years on
berries alone-probably the mountain whor-
tleberries that grow as abundant in south
ern Europe as In our southern Alleghenies,
and were dried, for winter use. by thou
sands of bushels. in the original homes Of
the Cherokees. ,lIa 81
Danger In Single Diet.
Their ubiquity and cheapness would make
them good substitute for sanitarium
grapes. but there is no reason why fruit
cure should be limited to q single product
Of our teeming earth. fTha rigorists of the
Trauben-Kur. 1t is true sstick almost to
grapes alone. even to the exclusion of bread,