Chapter XII

The next fast to have a brief notoriety as the "most remarkable on record" occurred in Philadelphia, the medical center of America, and beneath the very shadow of its great medical schools; in Philadelphia, a city that surpasses all other cities for the wisest conservatism, for all-around level-headedness. Its journals are rarely equalled for their clean, winnowed columns; there is no "yellow" journalism in that great, fair city, known as the "Quaker City."

Miss Estella Kuenzel, a lady of twenty-two years, of acutest, finest sensibilities, born to live in June and not in March, lost her mental health to a degree that death became the final object of desire.

She had a friend in a bright young man of the name of Henry Ritter, chemist and photographer at the Drexel Institute, a born scientist, and who possesses the very genius of the pains and persistence of science. Well versed in the science of the morning fast, he believed that a fast which would merely end with hunger would result in all-around improvement. A fast was instituted which he thought would not last more than a few days, but went on until the days merged into weeks: it went on because only general improvement attended it.

I first heard of it in a letter written by him on the thirty-eighth day of the fast, during which there had been a walk of seven miles. On the forty-second day of the fast I had a brief letter from Miss K., in which every line was radiant with cheer.

At the Asylum five feedings per day were ordered, and at first were rejected; but finally she accepted them as a means to end her unhappy life; took them in bed, and in the last weeks seemed to be fleshing up, as there was a gain of seventeen pounds above the normal, of water--she had become dropsical. The last professional expert in her case advised a half-gallon of milk daily in addition to the three regular meals--making a five-meal plan.

To carry out an unopposed fast it was necessary to take her to a home where the parents would be ignorant of this radical means to a cure.

The following is from Mr. Ritter's letters:

"I had made my views known to the parents and daughter when the
case commenced, and after the failure of these methods they
decided to let me have charge of the case, which was on Sept.
30, 1899. I at once requested them to send her to the house of
some friends to whom I made my views known. We then discharged
the nurse who had gone with her. With doctor and nurse gone
there was free room for Nature's victory (the young lady being
as deeply interested as any). We put her upon the rest, which
was the only needed sign since her first signs of breakdown
appeared Oct. 2, at the supper table, being the last meal she
has taken up to to-day, Nov. 9, this being, as you will see, the
thirty-eighth day of her fast, with cheerfulness and strength
holding full sway. I put her to bed on the first day, to which
she kept, with an occasional day in the rocker, until the
eleventh day, when she took a walk of about one mile. Then she
rested indoors until the twentieth day, when we went to church,
walking a little over two miles, with no fatigue or tired
feelings. I forgot to mention that we had been out driving in
the bracing air for over three hours in the afternoon. On the
twenty-first and twenty-second days, indoors, walking and
working around the house, reading, etc. On the twenty-third day
walked through the country for three miles, stopping at friends
to enlighten them upon 'Nature's Laws;' twenty-fourth day, eight
miles, no fatigue; twenty-fifth day, between seven and eight
miles, no fatigue; twenty-sixth day, walked one and a half
hours; twenty-ninth day, rainy, no walks; thirtieth day, walked
in the evening for two and a half hours; thirty-first day,
walked seven miles, no fatigue; thirty-second day, rainy, no
walks; thirty-third day, went to the Exposition, walked all day
from 2 P. M. until 11.30 P. M. (with rest while at the
performance we attended of not over one and a quarter hours),
this being the only resting, possibly two hours, during the
whole time.

"Weight taken at the start, one hundred and forty pounds; at the
Exposition one hundred and twenty-five and three-quarters
pounds; no sense of tired feeling, but hunger started to assert
itself for a period of about three hours, after which it passed
over.

"On the thirty-fourth day went driving; thirty-fifth day, walked
one mile, then went to the asylum to show the results. The
physicians in charge were simply astounded, and would hardly
believe it possible for one to be so active while taking no
food. I believe we have done quite a little good there, as they
have expressed the desire to try the same on others. They
examined the tongue and took the pulse, finding both in good,
normal state; in the evening walked another mile, visiting the
other doctors whom her parents called in. On the thirty-sixth
day walked one and a half miles; thirty-seventh day, walked
seven miles, hunger sensation becoming decided.

"I have given you a sketch of this case because it seems to me
an unusual one owing to the great activity."

"November 18, 1899.

"Miss Kuenzel's hunger arrived as per Nature's demand on the
forty-fifth day at noon. One poached egg and two slices of
toast (whole wheat). There was an intense relish for her simple
fare, but not the least sign or desire for haste in eating. She
was amply satisfied for the day, and relished the same bill of
fare and quantity for the forty-sixth day, with a very slight
luncheon in the evening. We had been to the Exposition the night
of the forty-fourth day, when the tongue again started cleaning
and a most distinct craving for food presented itself. It
persisted on retiring, and also on the next morning, when she
felt that Nature again was ready for her wonderful chemistry of
digestion. I had her weight taken after her first meal, which
revealed a loss of twenty pounds. We called to see the professor
under whom she was last placed, and he was surprised with the
clearness of her mental condition and good general appearance,
though he observed she had gotten a trifle thinner, but which he
had also in view to accomplish upon a five-meal plan per day. He
tried his best to confuse and trouble her with questions, etc.,
but found her too intensely awake, and she won the victory by
cornering him in his own set traps. We received his
congratulations and were made to promise to call again. I have
now been with her to seven physicians who were interested, and
have shown them Nature's own unhampered work.

"Miss Kuenzel has now an intense desire to help others. You are
at liberty to make use of Nature's work in her case for the
benefit of others, and I shall be only too glad to give you any
desired information that may be of use. The good work you have
started will, I am sure, never end; and it will prove a pleasure
to me indeed to work with added interest for the benefit of
those in need of the same in the future."

The forty-fourth day of the fast was the busiest of all with her. She arose at 8.30 A. M. to attend to her affairs until the late afternoon, when she and her friend met a sister, by appointment from her home, at the Exposition. Several hours were spent there, and when they took the street car for return the only vacant seat was accepted by the sister, because she was tired, and not knowing that there were forty-four days without food with her sister, who was not tired. A striking feature of these daily walks was that they did not cause marked fatigue. Miss Kuenzel retired near midnight without unusual fatigue, and so ended the forty-fourth day of the fast.

I quote from the _Chester County Times_ of Feb. 12, 1899:

"'Conclusive evidence is being multiplied as to the wonderful
power of fasting in the restoration of health, but it is only
more recently that its power in the case of insanity is even yet
more wonderful. A recent case is as near home as the city of
Philadelphia, and those interested are very willing that others
may know of it, so that its usefulness may be extended and its
value appreciated. The discovery was made by Dr. E. H. Dewey, of
Meadville, Pa., and tidings of the good work are being spread by
Charles C. Haskell & Son, of Norwich, Conn. The editor of this
paper knows somewhat the value of the discovery by an experience
of several years. We give a letter from the lady who was cured.

"'PHILADELPHIA, PA., Dec. 12, 1899.

"'_My Dear Mr. Haskell:_

"'I have received your letter of the 9th inst., and at last find
time to fulfil the request for a statement. In regard to my
_wonderful cure_ through "The New Gospel of Health," I would
state that the second week after Christmas, 1898, I first had a
paralyzing effect which affected the right side of face, body,
and limbs, also tongue, which nearly prevented my speaking. This
passed over and I again began working at my position as milliner
in a large establishment, and after a short while became so
dizzy and confused that I was compelled to ask my friends to
direct me home. (This was around Easter, 1899.) I was then taken
to a doctor, who at once requested me to stop working, and to
take a _complete rest_, but not for the stomach, as he
prescribed a severe and exacting master to stimulate the _tired
and overworked stomach_ to _renewed life_, and so give the
nerves plenty of pure food, as they were in need of same. I
then, after getting a ravenous hunger, weakened myself still
more and became worse. My stomach felt numb and paralyzed, as
did also my other internal organs, but this was put down against
me as an illusion. So a _professor of nervous diseases_ was
called in consultation, owing to my many desires to die (as life
had no sunshine, flowers, or music for me); I was simply living
a living death of torture which these professors would have were
illusions. My parents were then informed that I must be sent to
an asylum, where I was for ten long weeks. _They_ also told me
that my feelings were illusions, and proceeded to banish the
same by giving the _tired-out nerves a little rest_ and _plenty
of nourishment_ on a _five-meal_ plan per day. If refused (owing
to a loss of appetite), I was threatened to have nature helped
by the aid of a stomach or nasal tube. I lost none of my
illusions while there, as I could not feel any improvement in my
feelings. I left the institution June 28, 1899, feeling no
better; in fact, worse than when I arrived there. I was then
taken from one doctor to another, the one wishing to operate,
the other not; one advising me to go to the seashore, country,
etc., but _none_ to give my stomach the needed vacation.

"'It was then that my friend, Mr. Ritter, stepped in, as he saw
the failures of professors and specialists, and begged my
parents to let him have a chance to demonstrate what Dr. Dewey's
method would do for melancholy illusions and tired-out stomachs
and nerves. I then went to friends, and, in entire ignorance of
my parents, began under directions of Mr. Ritter the most
natural, sensible, and cheapest of all cures. I began my fast on
Oct. 3, and broke the same on Nov. 16. During the first week of
my fast I was in bed; during the second (excepting the eleventh
day, when I took my first walk of seven-eighths of a mile) I was
in bed, in rocker, reading, etc. On the twentieth day, after a
drive of three hours, went to church, walking two and
one-sixteenth miles. I then stayed indoors again on the
twenty-first and twenty-second days, and then started taking
daily walks (weather permitting). I went out walking
twenty-three out of the forty-five days of my fast, and during
that time walked one hundred and twelve miles. This was besides
the carriage-drives, Exposition, and evening gatherings (walking
to same included). I did not in the least feel tired or weak,
but happier and brighter each day of the fast, as I could feel
the effects of a new life throughout my whole body. My mind also
became clearer and dizziness became a thing of the past. This
was indeed _joy supreme to me_, and life became once more a joy
instead of a burden. Sunshine, trees, flowers, etc., again made
an impression, and my parents, sisters, and friends are rejoiced
to see me in my happy normal state of health.

"'I have gone through a year of unspeakable torture brought on
by overwork and _human-wise professors_; but at last, through
the wonderful teachings Dr. Dewey has given to mankind, and
through a friend, who was able to preach the "New Gospel of
Health," am now well, strong, and happy. May God only help and
bless the many sufferers throughout the world (especially in the
asylums) with the rays of this Gospel. I have been saved, no
doubt, from a gloomy future, and may such be the realization of
many more unfortunate souls is the sincere wish through
experience of

"'Yours very sincerely,

"'ESTELLA F. KUENZEL.'"

This case was summed up in the Philadelphia _Public Ledger_ of Dec. 25, 1899, whose columns are guarded with unsurpassed care, as follows:

"One of those cases which a judicious editor ponders in no
little perplexity is that of a young lady who was taken out of
an insane hospital and subjected to a protracted fast, without
medical supervision, and with results that appear to have been
quite successful. On the one hand, there is the benefit that may
be derived by having the attention of the profession called to
the subject, with possibly good results; on the other hand,
there is the danger of having a lot of ignorant or impulsive
people risking their lives by starving themselves for this or
that real or fancied disease, forgetting the adage that a little
knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially in therapeutics.

"The mind of the young lady referred to became affected about a
year ago, and after what was regarded by her parents as an
unprofitable period of treatment for two and a half months in a
hospital for the insane she has been apparently cured by
fasting--some would call it starvation. The case has been
attracting attention and discussion lately in a growing circle
that has included a few physicians.

"The subject is a Miss K., aged twenty-two years. Henry Ritter,
who has charge of the Photography Department of the Drexel
Institute, and who is better acquainted with the matter than any
one else, furnished a _Ledger_ reporter with the particulars as
they are here given, the name and address of the young lady, for
obvious reasons, being omitted. Mr. Ritter was at first loath to
have any publicity given the case, but felt upon reflection that
the results were properly a subject matter for inquiry by
physicians, at least, not to speak of others who may be
interested.

"Miss K., by the advice of specialists who had treated her at
home, was put under treatment for melancholy in an institution
for the insane. Mr. Ritter, being an intimate friend of the
family, visited her, and, he says, found her retrograding. She
was receiving three meals a day, with two luncheons between
them. Having built up his own digestive powers by following the
tenets laid down by Dr. Dewey, a Crawford county physician, he
had become a student and advocate of the latter's theory,
briefly stated, that no food should be given to a patient except
in response to a natural call or appetite for it. Believing that
no improvement could result from the course Miss K. was
receiving in the hospital, he prevailed upon her parents to
permit him to have her placed in the home of a friend, and
suggested the fasting process. This was the more readily done as
the physicians in whose care she had been advised her parents to
leave their daughter as much as possible among strangers.

"This young lady, according to Mr. Ritter, was absolutely
without food for forty-five days, beginning October 3 and ending
November 16. He says he did not fear, as others did, that she
would starve, as the authority he depended on had never fed a
sick patient during a practice covering twenty-two years, no
matter how protracted the case might have been, and claimed to
have had only the best results. 'This,' said Mr. Ritter, 'is on
the theory that, since all bodily energy is the result of the
brain, by abstaining from feeding in the absence of appetite
there is all the energy of cure undiverted by needless waste in
the stomach. Feeding the sick, this physician contends, is a tax
on their vital power, adding indigestion to whatever other
troubles exist: because the brain has the power in sickness to
absorb nourishment from the body, as predigested food, so that
it never loses weight, even in death from starvation.'

"The patient herself became interested, Mr. Ritter says, and
evidenced great relief from abstinence from enforced periodic
feeding. Gradually a numb feeling of which she had complained as
affecting her internal organs, and which had been ascribed to
her illusions, left her, and she appeared to gain daily in
strength and brightness. Mr. Ritter's narrative proceeds:

"'On the eleventh day of her fast a walk was suggested, and she
covered about seven-eighths of a mile; on the twentieth day she
was taken for a carriage drive of three hours in the afternoon,
and in the evening she walked to church and back, a distance of
something more than two miles. From the twenty-third day she
took walks daily, excepting on October 31 and November 3, when
rain prevented. She visited friends and the theatre and the
Exposition, went to church several times, to the hospital where
she had been a patient--this on the thirty-fifth day of her
fast--and to the Drexel Institute on the thirty-ninth and
forty-second days. A table of dates shows that she walked from
two or three to six and eight and as high as nine miles a day
during the period of forty-five days that she abstained from
food, with a general increase of strength and cheer and no sign
of fatigue. Hunger sensations were marked on the forty-fourth
day and night, and on the morning of the forty-fifth day Miss K.
broke the fast by eating a poached egg and two slices of
buttered whole wheat toasted bread.

"'During her fast she was seen by seven physicians and medical
professors, President MacAlister and professors of the Drexel
Institute, and many others.'

"The young lady's weight at the beginning of the fast, Mr.
Ritter says, was one hundred and forty pounds, and just after
the meal with which she broke the fast she weighed one hundred
and twenty pounds. By December 15 she had regained nine pounds,
meanwhile eating one meal daily and sometimes two, with an
occasional light luncheon.

"Dr. Chase, medical director of the institution above referred
to, was visited on Saturday by a _Ledger_ reporter in regard to
the case of Miss K. He had been informed of her long fast and
of its results, and had seen Miss K. herself when she called at
the asylum on the thirty-fifth day of the fast. He said that
when she was first brought to the asylum she was suffering from
melancholia, and was put under the treatment which all the
leading alienists had found most beneficial for persons
suffering from nervous disorders, viz., quiet, rest of mind and
body, and full, nourishing diet, carefully selected to produce
the best results. During the time she remained at the asylum she
improved both in bodily and mental health.

"Referring to the treatment she had received under Mr. Ritter's
supervision since leaving the asylum, Dr. Chase said he had
first heard of the system through a work published two years ago
by Dr. George S. Keith, of London, from which he first learned
of Dr. Dewey, who also uses the fasting cure. In all the cases
cited by Dr. Keith none had been afflicted with any mental
disorder. He looked upon the cases, however, as showing some
remarkable results, warranting a careful study. But it would not
do to adopt such a system without a most thorough examination.
As 'one swallow does not make a summer,' neither will one case
nor half a dozen cases cured by such a method prove anything. No
universal method can be adopted for treating disease. Hardly two
cases are alike. Cures also may be brought about in different
ways if the exact condition of the patient is understood.

"'Mr. Ritter says the patient lent herself very willingly to the
treatment, which was a great deal to start out with in her case.
But I am surprised that a young man with no medical knowledge
would do a thing like that. The treatment might easily have
resulted differently. If he had been a doctor, he would have had
that fact to sustain him in case he got into trouble. The case
might very well have resulted fatally, because the treatment was
so contrary to what would naturally be pursued by physicians in
nervous cases.

"'I do not ridicule the system. There have been cases which were
cured by ways not recognized by the general practitioner after
they had been given up. I am a firm believer that in selected
cases the fasting method would be efficacious, but I do not
believe in its general application.

"'Mr. Ritter is evidently an enthusiast, and apt to overstate
the points in favor of the method, neglecting those which tell
against it. It is too early yet to say what the outcome of Miss
K.'s case will be. I think the matter ought to be looked into
more fully. Mr. Ritter could not have been with the patient at
all times. It is a remarkable thing that she should have kept up
and had the strength reported, unless she had some food. He may
have been deceived in that.'"

During several months since the fast there have been the best physical _health_ and mental condition, the weight having increased several pounds above the former average.

Mr. Ritter conducted this case in a blaze of publicity. He showed it to no less than seven physicians, some of whom were college professors, and one of them at near the close of the fast suggested that if food were not soon taken a sudden collapse would be the result. There seemed to have been less danger of this calamity on the forty-fourth day than on any other.

The reliability of the fast was so clearly evident that the leading papers of the city accepted it as authentic news and of the most startling kind. _The Times_ gave several columns of its first page to an illustrated article.[1]

The accompanying illustration shows Miss Kuenzel on the
forty-first day of her fast. She walked seven miles on this day
without any signs of fatigue.

MISS ESTELLA F. KUENZEL,

FORTY-FIRST DAY OF FAST.]

The following table of miles walked were measured from exact diary notes with bicycle and cyclometer after the fast was broken. The table gives the total sum of each day, walks being taken both afternoon and evenings of same day.

Date. Miles.

October 3
" 4
" 5
" 6
" 7
" 8
" 9
" 10
" 11
" 12
" 13 7/8
" 14
" 15
" 16
" 17
" 18
" 19
" 20
" 21
" 22 2-1/16
" 23
" 24
" 25 3
" 26 6-5/8
" 27 5-7/8
" 28 4-1/2
" 29 4-1/8
" 30 5-5/8
" 31, rain
November 1 6-3/4
" 2 8
" 3 rain
" 4 9
" 5 6
" 6 3-3/4
" 7 1-1/2
" 8 7-1/4
" 9 7
" 10 4-1/4
" 11 2-5/8
" 12 7
" 13 2-1/4
" 14 3-1/4
" 15 5
" 16 5-3/4
--------
112-1/16

The next fast, under the care of Mr. Ritter, still holds the record as being the most remarkable for its number of days and the miracle of results. The following account of it appeared in the _North American_, one of whose editors had personal knowledge of its history:

"Leonard Thress, of 2618 Frankford Avenue, has learned how to
live without eating. By physical experience he has proved not
only that food is not a daily necessity of the human system, but
that abstinence therefrom for protracted periods is beneficial.
Indeed, it saved his life. He has just finished a fifty days'
fast. When he began it he was on the brink of the grave and his
physicians had abandoned hope. When he ended it he was in better
health than he had enjoyed for years, although in the meantime
he had lost seventy-six pounds, falling away from two hundred
and nine to one hundred and thirty-three pounds.

"Thress, who is about fifty-seven years old, was attending the
Grand Army Encampment at Buffalo in the fall of 1898, when he
caught a violent cold, which settled in his bronchial tubes. It
proved so stubborn that his general health became affected, and
a year later dropsy developed. His condition grew steadily
worse, and at Christmas time, 1899, it was such that he could
neither walk nor lie prostrate, but was compelled to sit
constantly in an armchair. His doctors exhausted their skill in
the effort to bring relief, and eventually, in the early part of
last January, they told him that their medicines refused to act,
and that his death was a question of only a few days.

"Up to this time Thress had been subsisting on the meagre diet
permitted to a man in his condition, but his stomach rebelled
even at that. He had heard of the Dewey fasting cure and its
boasted efficacy against all human ills, and, though he had
little faith, death was already looming before him, and he knew
that he could lose nothing by the experiment.

"He began to fast on January 11 by taking in the morning a
portion of Henzel's preparation of salts in a glass of water and
the juice of two oranges, and in the evening a hot lemonade. For
twenty-five days he also drank a teaspoonful of a tonic
consisting chiefly of iron, but the rest of the diet he
continued until two weeks ago, when he discontinued the salts
and orange juice and confined himself to a hot lemonade at
morning and evening. This was his only sustenance until last
Thursday.

"According to Thress's own recital, the effects of this course
of treatment were amazing. He says that the natural craving for
food was gone after the first day. Three days later he had
regained so much strength that he was able to go upstairs to
bed and enjoyed a good night's sleep. From that time on,
although he steadily lost in weight, his vitality grew greater,
and on January 22 he left the house and took a half-mile walk.

"Before three weeks of his fast had elapsed his dropsy had
disappeared, and thereafter he took almost daily walks,
increasing the distance with his strength. Some days he covered
as many as five miles, and never less than two, even while he
was growing thinner and thinner, as the accompanying table
shows.

"For the first time since the beginning of his fast he became
hungry last Thursday, March 1, and he felt that he should like
some pigs' feet jelly. It is one of the prescriptions of the
fasting cure that when hunger finally comes the patient shall
eat whatever he craves, so Thress consumed two slices of the
jelly and one piece of gluten bread, with butter. He says he
enjoyed it and felt well afterward.

"He ate no more that day, but at noon yesterday he became hungry
again, and this time his appetite was for something more
substantial. He disposed of a dish of mashed potatoes, some red
cabbage, another portion of pigs' feet jelly, apple sauce, and a
cream puff for dessert. He even smoked a cigar after the meal,
enjoyed it, and felt still better. He says he will eat no
regular meals, but only when he becomes hungry.

"While he looks haggard and worn from the loss of flesh, Thress
declares that all his ailments have left him and that he never
felt healthier and heartier in his life."

* * * * *

"The following table shows how Thress grew stronger and walked
miles while he was constantly losing weight from a fifty-days'
fast:

Weight.
January 11 209
" 12 207
" 13 205
" 14 202
" 15 201
" 16 200
" 17 199
" 18 196
" 19 192
" 20 190
" 21 188
" 22 186 Walked 1/2 mile.
" 23 180 " 2 miles.
" 24 177 " 2 "
" 25 172 " 3 "
" 26 167 " 3 "
" 27 165 " 3 "
" 28 162 " 2-1/2 "
" 29 160 " 3 "
" 30 157
" 31 155 " 3 "
February 1 154
" 2 153
" 3 152 " 3 "
" 4 151
" 5 149 " 3 "
" 6 147 " 3 "
" 7 146 " 3 "
" 8 145
" 9 145 " 4 "
" 10 145 " 4 "
" 11 145
" 12 145 " 4 "
" 13 145
" 14 145 " 3 "
" 15 144 " 2 "
" 16 142
" 17 140
" 18 140
" 19 140
" 20 138 " 2 "
" 21 137 " 4 "
" 22 135 Walked 3 miles.
" 23 135 " 3 "
" 24 135
" 25 135
" 26 135
" 27 133 " 2 "
" 28 133
March 1 133

A. H. Potts, Editor of the _Chester County Times_, a man who has the largest faith in eating only to restore the wastes of the body, thus gives vent to his emotions after seeing the case by invitation of Mr. Ritter:

"On January 10 there sat in his home, at 2618 Frankford Avenue,
Philadelphia, Mr. Leonard Thress, with dropsy, hopelessly given
up to a speedy death by the many physicians he had vainly sought
and paid well for relief. His weight was two hundred and nine
pounds. His limbs were at the bursting point, and the water was
close up to the top of his chest. He could not lie down nor even
lay his head back without choking, and to walk across the room
completely exhausted him. At that critical moment a friend of
his heard of Miss Kuenzel's miraculous cure, and told him of it.
He at once sent for Mr. Ritter, who thought that a cure was in
his reach, and on January 11 Thress commenced a fast that has
been absolute up to yesterday, the only things passing his lips
being water, a little lemonade, and rarely the juice of an
orange. Learning through the _Chester County Times_ that we were
interested in Dr. Dewey's discovery, he invited us to come and
see the cases now under his care, and on Friday of last week we
gladly availed ourselves of the opportunity to see the living
proof of what we believed but had never seen. We were very
cordially received at Mr. Ritter's home, and instead of meeting
a pompous, egotistic, big man, as we might expect, we met a
young gentleman of small stature, like ourselves, modest,
retiring, and claiming no credit for his own part in these
remarkable cures; but insisting that he is only observing the
progress of cases, following in the line of truths discovered
only by Dr. Dewey, giving such advice as he is enabled to do
from his thorough knowledge of chemistry, anatomy, and hygiene.
He took us to the house of Mr. Thress, and the startling
impressions we received can never be effaced. We seemed to be in
the presence of one who had arisen from the dead, and could not
realize the truth of what we saw and heard from him and his
estimable wife, who shows the happiness she feels in receiving
her husband back to life. Impossible as it seems, yet on the
previous day, as well as many other days, that man had walked
three miles after six hours given to his business as a baker,
which he now attends to personally. All traces of dropsy have
disappeared, and his weight is now less than one hundred and
thirty-five pounds, having lost this nearly seventy-five pounds
of water through the natural channels at the rate of five or six
pounds per day at times. His eyesight has grown younger and his
hand is firm. He sleeps soundly several hours out of each
twenty-four, and is almost a cured man, although the curative
action is still going forward throughout his system, and his
many friends are now awaiting the arrival of his normal healthy
appetite, which in these cases does not arrive until the cure is
entire, and then it comes in such a way as not to be mistaken.
On Monday of this week we again visited him, taking a friend who
has long suffered similarly to what he did, that she might see
results for herself. We found him looking even better than on
Friday, and it is very interesting to hear him tell his
experience, which he will be glad to impart to those who are
seeking after the truth, and interested in the cure of disease
of themselves or their friends by this natural and without price
(but priceless) means. We also visited two other of the five
cases over which Mr. Ritter is at present keeping watch, and
every one bore evidences of the great truth. No one should
undertake the fast on their own responsibility, as certain
conditions may arise requiring the eye of one who has made the
matter a study, and no one should pass an opinion on the matter
until they read Dr. Dewey's _New Gospel of Health_, wherein the
reasons are made so plain that all can understand."

MR. LEONARD THRESS,

FIFTIETH DAY OF FAST.]

Mr. Thress has regained his normal weight and has been in the best of health in the several months since the fast.[2]

The following case was deemed a miracle by all friends: Mrs. H. B., a woman of seventy-six, became exceedingly breathless, due, it was supposed, to defective heart action that had been chronic for many years. The final result was general dropsy. The eyelids had become so heavy that reading could be indulged only a short time because of their weight; the throat was also charged with water so as to make swallowing difficult. Beneath the eyes and jaws were pockets of water--in short, the skin of the entire body was distended, a condition that had deceived the friends as revealing only an increase of her natural stoutness. The real condition became known through a call to treat a bad cold.

What had authorized medical art to promise in such a case? Absolutely nothing, as she had become too old and weak to be subjected to the ordinary means for such a general condition. As for a fast for one so old, that was the last thing that would have been thought of: her age and debility would only have seemed to invite more daily food than she had been taking.

She was put on a fast, or rather the fast was continued, the cold having abolished her appetite. It went on until the fifteenth day, with increasing general strength and diminishing weight. The last days before hunger came she was able to go up a long flight of stairs without the aid of the railing and without marked loss of breath, the heart-murmur had nearly disappeared, and water by the gallon seemed to have been absorbed.

On the fifteenth day there was a desire for food, that was taken with relish through the enlarged throat without difficulty; the water pockets had become emptied, and the lids so thin and light as to reveal no fatigue in reading. Thence on one meal a day became the rule; and since there have been five years without any recurrence of the conditions--five years of remarkable general health and girl-time relish for her daily food.

How often has the cutting down of the daily food by the old and weak been condemned as too severe an ordeal to be safe! For this woman there have been these acquired years of nearly perfect health, and the end will be in the natural, easier death of old age.

The following is inserted as additional evidence of Nature's power over disease, and that brain-workers may go on with their labors with increasing power while waiting for natural hunger in cases in which hunger is possible:

Rev. C. H. Dalrymple, of Hampden, Mass., has just completed a
fast, of which he says, February 5, 1900: "My fast continued
thirty-nine and one-half days. My appetite came on me about 9
o'clock at night, and I thought I would wait until the next
day; but two boiled eggs and some dry toast would not retire
before my presence. I have never had such an assault upon my
will power as that imagined egg and toast made on me. I was
finally compelled to surrender. My tongue had been clearing up
that day, and the next day I was hungry at noon. I have not
missed a first-class appetite at noon since. My tongue has kept
clear and my taste has remained sweet. I have had no chills nor
fevers this winter, nor cold in any form. I have made no
allowance for my sickness and have never worked harder. My flesh
came back rapidly, and now I think I must weigh about fifteen
pounds more than last summer. _I gained strength beyond all
question about three weeks before my appetite returned. I would
work all day long finally._ It was good to get well."

Mr. Ritter conducted over twenty cases, some being able to carry on their usual avocations. I give the most important ones: Mr. A. H., forty-five days; Miss B. H., forty-two days; Mrs. L., thirty-eight days; Mr. L. W., thirty-six days; Miss L. J., thirty-five days; Mrs. M., thirty-one days; Miss E. S., twenty-six days; Mr. G. R., twenty-five days; Mr. P. R., twenty-four days; and Miss E. Westing, forty-two days, who, on the fortieth day, was able to sing with unusual clearness and power, and ended her fast without losing a day from her duties as a teacher of music.[3]

Wonderful are these fasts? Not in the physiological sense. These fasts went on with only increasing comfort by day and more refreshing sleep at night. It is quite another thing to endure the fasts of acute sickness, for such they all are. That life is maintained for days and weeks, even months, under pain, discomfort--under all the torturing conditions of such diseases as pneumonia, typhoid fever, or inflammatory rheumatism, is far more a matter to wonder over.

I may well wonder that Nature is powerful enough to cure the sick at all even under the wisest aid; but with me the abiding wonder is that physicians do not see that acute sickness is a loss of all the natural conditions of digestion, with the wasting bodies the clearest evidence that food is neither digested nor assimilated. I wonder with only increasing impatience that the stomach is not understood as a machine that Nature wills shall not be run to tax her resources when life is in the throes of disease.

MISS ELIZABETH W. A. WESTING,

FORTIETH DAY OF FAST.]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The fasts conducted by Mr. Ritter constitute performances of the most impressive kind as demonstrative evidence of the practical physiology I have been teaching for many years. For the copyrighted photographs he has kindly furnished I am very thankful, and to all who have been willing to enhance the value and interest of this volume by such eyesight illustrations.

[2] The accompanying illustration shows Mr. Thress on the fiftieth day of his fast; weight loss, seventy-six pounds. Does the picture reveal any skeleton condition?

[3] The accompanying illustration is a reproduced copyrighted picture of Miss E. Westing. This picture was taken on the return home from her duties at church on the fortieth day during the cold of winter; the weight at the start being one hundred and ten pounds, at the close on the forty-second day ninety-three pounds--loss, seventeen pounds.