Evening journal., 1911-09-08
UPTON SINCLAIR
AND PRUNES
His Father r-ln-Iow Declares
That Novelist Needs
Some Meat

Mrs. Upton Sinclair's father, W. H.
Fuller, came back from shooting
trip in the wilds north of Lake Huron
says the New York American, and. on
hearing few versions of the Sin
clair-Kemp and essential mou-
ogamist" outgivings, remarked plac-
idly:
DO you remember Stephen Deca-
turs toast: MY country-may she
ever be right. But, right or wrong.
my country" Well, coming fresh
out of the wilderness. and not having
seen even the cartoons in this matter,
that is my sentiment regarding my
daughter
Upton is peculiarly mental. I
know him 30 we'll that at this moment
I'm sure" added Mr.. Fuller, that all
the trouble this so-called trouble is
causing him is how to analyze it.
III he ever finds himself. like the
ship Kipling wrote about every
screw and rivet and cylinder and
piston working-he will be Ia great
man.
He's an intellectual freak won
der. Do you know, he reads a dozen
newspapers a day and is reading
something or other 16 hours a day?
He decided some time ago that he
would by experiments on himself.
determine what was the proper hu-
man food. He went through the
courses-vegetarian Fletcherism.
raw-meatism-all of them. One
night I'VE had him to an ordinary din
ner he chewed a prnue for 20 min
utes.
when he came we never knew
whether he was on the vegetarian or
the uncooked meat or the baled hay
diet. Beef he would exclaim-"Only
poisonl"
"Once l went to visit Upton when
he was demonstrating that vegetables
were the food. When / walked up the
path ! saw dog leaning forlornly
and leanly up against the side of the
house.
Doesn't that dog get anything to
eat? l asked the servant Yes, sah.'
said the colored girl. There's the
tomatoes still in his dish!"
Next day l went to the village and
got that dog FIVE pounds of heart and
liver, and from that on he perked
up.
Down at Point Pleasant / visited
Upton again. He was using a little
shack on the farm, which had been
occupied previously by help as his
studio or sanctum. At this time, his
family being away, he also slept there.
There ! slept. / got all bitten up.
Yet, Upton said l. I heard no mos
quitoes' No, said he, they're bedbugs.
I'll kill them
To show you how busily intel
lectual he was, let me tell you that
man had found time to study chem
istry and specialize in the dealiest
1"said he: The deadliest poison
known is sulphuric acid mixed with
cyanide of potassium. I'll get some
He got five gallons of sulphuric acid
diluted with water and ten pounds
of cyanide of potassium When we
mix these, said he. the fumes will
kill anything You pour the cyanide
on when ] get the sulphuric acid
ready, hold your breath and run for
your life"
Il did it. l was sick for a day OF
two, and when We could enter that
shack there was not living insect
in It.
"You see," said the admiring IA
tber-in-law. che is all mentality.
Why, he carried the dieting so far
that once when / asked him what he
was eating now he answered Moth
ing: nothing but cold water since a
week ago Friday"
Imagine then. one night last win
ter. when we had him to dinner
Our own dinner was to be turkey
What to provide for Upton we didnt
know. Lost, ! knew he had been out
to Battle Creek and had ideas on
'caloriea, and one should take 10C
a day Then he bad eaten, not meat
potatoes, coffee, etc, but things
which had 'proteids,' etc.
'We've got a turkey dinner foI
ourselves I told him; but the cook
can get you any sort of sawdust OF
prunes you want What do you think
he replied? Why said he, I've found
that the food I can best work and
thrive on Ct noticed he had 'ost his
peaked pinched look) is meatl"
And what. he did to that turkey
taking nothing at all except turkey
I'd hate to tell you. It was marvel
lous. And he'll be marvellous
Young man when he gets himself ad'
i,sted and sticks to meat