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LONGEVITY ASSURED.
HOW TO LIVE TO BE 250.
(From our Special Correspondent.)
London, November 6, 1903.
A curious looking man of strange habits,
and with a mission that is even stranger,
has just arrived in London from Ascona,
on Lake Maggiore, Switzerland. He has
taken up his residence in Colney Hatch
lane, N., and he believes that in abstinence
from salt and water lies the secret of long
life.
Herr Joseph Salomonson, the gentleman
in question, wanders about the North London
highways wearing a cassock" of brown
corduroy encircled at the waist by a girdle.
His long brown, AA'ispy hair, unencumbered
by hat, hides his collarless neck, and
ragged-edged beard droops over the open
part of his gown. His feet are encased in
sandals, and at times he carries a staff that
reaches to his shoulders. ' Altogether his
appearance is reminiscent of figures in
scriptural illustrations.
Herr Salomonson's object is to try to induce
London's 6,"000.000 inhabitants to
refrain from eating salt and drinking
liquids-all manner of liquids, even water.
He himself, so he asserts, has not taken
any kind of liquid since September 1, 1901,
and he has escheAA'ed salt for a longer
period.
At Ascona he has established a colony of
devoted disciples, male and female, who do
likewise. Moreover, they work in a state
of primitive absence of attire, separated by
wooden partitions, and when the weather
permits they even sleep in this state on the
bare ground. Herr Salomonson appreciates
the difficulty of this part of his programme
being carried out in London. "But," he
explained to an Express reporter, "there are
plenty of suitable sites within an hour's
railway journey from the city."
He saw no reason, however, AvTiy London
should not at once abandon the eating of J
salt and the drinking of liquids. "Salting
he averred, is the beginning of all evil.
It is ruinous to the body, damaging to the
seal, and destructive to the intellect. Water
or any other form of liquid is a mere burden
to the stomach and has no value at all."
In short, Herr Salomonson, Avhois a man
of considerable intelligence, believes that if
people followed his example there would be
no sickness. During the twenty-six
months that no drop has passed his lips he
has lost in weight 62 lb., but feels many
years younger and much stronger.
"There is not a sound man in the world,"
he declared, "and yet people who eat salt
and drink AA'ater live to be as old as nine
or even a hundred. When we live a natural
life I see no reason why we should not
attain to two hundred or two hundred and
fifty years. I believe in the ages mentioned
in the Bible, and I believe we should live as
long in these days if we lived on the lines
intended for humanity. That is my mission
here."
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