Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-01-06
CHEAP LIVING.
Successful Experiments Conducted
at Hartford Seminary.
What II Cost 80 Bible Students for Six
Days.

Seminary, have concluded an
,.y,,.r,n,eut in diet which bids fair to
,i,L for results obtained, with the
of light eating which IS
,.,,. t,.iue carried on at Yale Uni
..;,v m,der the direction of Professor
The Normal scnool
,,,-.,,,s however put through their
- If rigorous fare not SO much III
I,,or..ete Of science as for the pur-
nos. of saving $40 for scncoi luhd.
A, the same time the scientific Sue Vi
the experiment was decidediy interest
,no and the paper which one Oh the
stuJ.uts wrote ON it for the Chltea
ctat.s Department OF agriculture
,,rnicbes the menus and food values
which are given herewith.
when the students of the Normal
c.han, voted 10 raise $40 for a special
object connected with thelr sciiooi 'he
frs, question that confronted THEM
,,,c bow Ia do it, Most, II not all, Oh
the voung women ana men stuueii's
,,tl. ia contribute their share
90 n. 500 ont of their pocket money
TN. idea was advanced by one vi the
yo,,np women that if the students WHO
u.r. interested in raising the Iuiiu
vun,,d make a concerted attack on
,b.ir hoard bills for three days the S2o
,n,,1 he raised The idea caught the
fancy of the students at once. IL was
lion, that time that the five year eX-
nariment m simple living OF Horace
EI.tcber. an American resident III
Venice and a friend of Director
thittenden of the Sheffield Scientific
School at Yale, was made pubic IN the
scientific magazines by Professor
t,bitt.nden. Mr.. Fletcher had proved
that it was possible to live comfortably
and with most happy results to the
digestive apparatus on IA daily diet
that would make an ordinary
vegetarian look like Il South Sea can
nibaL Mr.. Fletcher had managed 10
get ,ion, and keep his health and per-
rorm her remarkable strength tests
on "A menu made W of cereals milk ana
maple sugar, which cost MN IL Genus
. d,v throughout the year. The lead
ing spirits at the Normal Schooi
argued that if Mr.. Fletcher could do II
for five years thirty young persons
could manage to worry along on Il
U,tI,. more luxurious board for TIE
three DAYS necessary to make up the
$50. 1t was found that the students
had been paying So Il week apiece LOT
their board or about 43 cents Il day
each. which sum included the cost Of
pr.puration of the food and service,
estimated to be Il little more than 10
cents a day ariece. BY cutting down
of he
food to 10 cents a day each it was
figured that ~ cents Il day would be
sufficient to keep each one of the thirty
students on the diet, which would then
save q cents a day for each one, Oh
81 % Il day for thirty. To save the
required so would then take only three
DAYS. a length Of time which thu
students thought might be about the
limit ni their endurance. AS 1t
happened however, the experiment
proved such success that the three
days originally decided upon Were
stretched into six. 81 that the actual
experiment extended nearly to the
limit of a week.
OF the thirty students who took the
course" twenty-Sevcn were women.
The actual cost a day for each of the
thirty students amounted to just 81
cents. or So cents a week which is a
little less than that of Mr. Fletcher
the difference being accounted for by
tn, fact that with more subjects taking
the experiment the individual cost was
less than what one person would pay
alone. Just how the Normal School
a a Il hi.
After Il scientific study Of the prob
lem of food values the general plan was
laid down to provide generously of the
less expensive dishes. and to add
enough of the more costly foods to
make the weeks menus attractive The
available food supply was studied care
fully. as well as the cost. and then the
menus were prepared with the general
view of securing as wide range of
different foods as possible and vet to
keep within the sum to be paid out for
the experiment. AS all of the thirty
d. students who entered the experiment
We're working hard in classroom ant
study during the week it was necessary
both to provide just such a diet a:
would meet the financial outlay and a
the same time provide sufficient nutri
ment and energy. For this purpos
the commonly accepted American diet
airy standard was adopted, which is 81
grams of protein and 2.450 calories O
energy day for a woman engaged a
light to moderate work. on account o
the TACT that the last three days wer
added to the original three without Of
lerlhg sufficient time to study the scien
tine adjustment of the food value
added. the actual nutritive value of tn,
1000 consumed during the latter hal
I" the experiment. was somewha
smaller than in the first half. The av.
efase To student, therefore, a day TO
me whole six days was somewhat low
or 'han had been originally intended
ana lower than it would be were thu
Experiment tried again. and the nutri
1--WE values of the food computed ant
arranged carefully beforehand. At tn
same time the experiment was highly
satisfactory in every way. Instead o.
Inc required 80 grams of protein SEIZED.
o'eu by the accepted scientific stan.
u'io, only 10 grams We're used. In
stead OF the normal 2i50 calories Of
energy 2el3 We're attained.
III general, the menus consisted 81
cereai, milk. cereal coffee, toast, beef
pahed beams potatoes, bread. soup, rice
peanuts dates DruneS cornmaal fish