The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-04-05

sixty days, lu order 20 overcome Sc
we're attack of drOpsy.
The day before he entered upon his
remarkable fast, Mr. Van Meter made
his viii and attended TO other bust
ness matters which people are apt 90
arrange when they are preparing for
their own funeral These arrange
ments were made on The advice of the
family physician. who assured the pa
tient that his hours were numbered.
This led Mr. Van Meter 10 try the eX-
pertinent of going without food. He
has lost considerable flesh during the
fast but otherwise he Is healthy and
strong and his mind is acute.
No Desire 70 Eat.
'No. don't crave food any more,
he said yesterday For the first three
days it was very hand, but after that
/ had no appetite for food. AT first /
could not sleep, but now 1 go TO bed
at o'clock and sleep sOundly until s
o'clock the next morning. During the
day / take a nap for an nour. / walk
around the house and when the
weather is all right I take a drive
I drink what water I want but ] get
no other nourishment 1 am getting
stronger every day and / never felt so
well in my life"
Mr.. Van Meter is a member Of the
firm of Van Meter. Harness & Co, the
nurserymen. When ~ began his fast
he weighed $50 pounds Today he
weighs 49, His face has a good color
and he expects TO continue his fast
until he weighs about seventy-fye
pounds He wears the same clothes
he wore when he was a large man.
and the effect is about the same as
might be expected If they were hung
over a oost-
Crosses Legs For First Time.
He was $50 fat that he could not cross
his knees, but after weeks fast
ing he performed the feat very cas-
ilv. To was the hrst time he had
/ crossed them i'm twenty-five years, ana
he was so surprised and pleased at his
newly discovered accomplishment that
/ ne practiccd an the rest Of the after
I noon
I The hardest part Of the fast came
at the end of the third day He was
taken with cramps and he had a
ravenOus craving for food, but the sem
satiOns passed away ard since then
he has experienced no ill effects. He
loses now on an average ten pounds
/ Of flesh daily. although at first the loss
/ was greater. Physicians have advised
him not TO continue tie fast after his
weight is reduced 70 seVenty-hve
pounds. but he estimates that he can
/ lose forty more pounds OF flesh before
/ he is reduced 90 100 pounds. He thinks
/ ID viii require four weeks Tor this re-
duCtiOu.
For the first few DAY of his fast he
/ was very nervous and the muscular
/ twitchings OF his body during sleep
! were painful Now he sleeps as peace
T fully as "a child AS soon as the
/ strange fast rs over he wiz diet for
/ two weeks ON liquids and.the food viii
I gradually De made more solid
Physicians Gave Him Up.
] He used To- .wheeze Ike an. asthmatlc
palent Amy eXertlon made him pun
and ne was also troubled with a cough
WATCH prevented him from sleeping.
/ These difficulties have an disappeared.
Am eastern relative insisted upon his
trying the fast. after he with others,
! had been notified that Van Meter s
physician had given up his case as
/ hopeless. His fast was broken only
once. when he lost flesh so fast that
/ IL frightened him. He took some food
at the end of the twelfth day, but IL
] distressed him so that ne continued
! the fast and expects 10 keep il up un-
/ an the organs affected by the dropscal
condition have resumed their normal
size and functions When this hap
mems he viii be notified by nature IN
/ the shape of a craving for food
3 Until this craving returns he will
continue the fast unless his weight
I falls below the seventy-five pound
/ limit