The Grit-advocate., 1905-03-03
WATER NOT NEEDED
TEXAN THINKS MANKIND is BET.
TER WITHOUT IT.
f''er Many Years Ahstention Major
St1iermier Points to Himself as
Proof Of the Truth Of HIS Theory
The Late Gen. lawton a Convert.

Major Theodore Schiermier thinks
IL has disproved the theory that
drinking water is necessary to the
existence Of human being. He has
MOI aiken drink of water for many
!"afe-just how many he does not
Know, but ii is ten or fifteen.
III" found that water did not agree
win him and he quit drinking it. He
as" quit eating all kinds of bread at
'hy same time
II" began to take on flesh soon afte,.
b" stopped using water and bread and
Is now fat and the picture of health
although he is of middle age his com
lIrUon has the pink color and deli
cal" appearance of that of a baby. His
muscles are well developed and hard.
ard To all appearance he is in perfect
condition.
Even in the hottest days of summer
be is not troubled with thirst. Occa-.
sIonally he drinks glass of beer. but
i is not often that he partakes of that
beverage.
He Subsists principally on raw meat.
served in the form of ta.tar steak. and
raw eggs. He eats few vegetables.
The thirst which Major Schiermier
Had when he first began to abstain
from the use of water for drinking
gradually disappeared.
An old frontiersman, Capt. ]. G.
Merrill, in discussing the matter of
wafer drinking said that in the earlier
days, when frontier officers had to
take long chases after Indians and
border desperadoes. the water supply
question never troubled the men, and
they would have given it little
thought but for the fact that their
horses had to have water.
Drinking water is habit. just like
drinking whisky is" continued Capt.
Merrill. 81 belonged for several years
10 Major Jones company of rangers
and there were several men in that
company who had trained themselves
TO 20 for days at stretch without a
drop of water passing their lips. II
their thirst made them uncomfortable
they were wont to moiSten their
mouth and throat with the juice Of a
cactus, got so used to going with
out water on my long rides over the
plains Of west Texas that I still care
very little for the fluid. Frequently
day after day passes without my
drinking drop of water or anything
except a small cup of coffee which
! take at my breakfast
q can show scores of old Texas
frOntiersmen who DO not drink gal.
lon of water a month ard are in the
hest Of health and condition all the
time. | also believe that the less
water a person drinks the longer he
will live.
"One half of these long, sinewy,
wiry, lank and lean fellows you see on
the ranches in west Texas and in the
little towns drink so little water that
they hardly know what 1t tases like:
but these same men can Outright and
outwork three of the ordinary fat
water topers.
"The late Gen. Lawton had trained
himself to go for days without touch
ing water to his lips. He could stand
any amount of marching and hard
work.
"He got his first knowledge of the
uselessness of and injury of drinking
large quantities Of water from the
Texas frontiersmen while serving
with his cavalry troop in this state.
He began to practice abstaining from
water drinking and it was not long
until he could go for days running
without partaking of it,
1t is Capt. Merrill's opinion that
many ills of the body are caused by
the water drinking habit-New York
Sun.