, although there are not many persons who would care
to attempt the fast. Tanner was simply trying to prove that the
thing could be done. He did it, and within a year the man who
held the attention of the people of the country for forty days
was a visitor to this city. What Tanner did has been more than
accomplished by a Macon County man, but he went about his
undertaking quietly, and the fact that he was fasting was known
to only a few of his friends. The man is C. C. H. Cowan, of
Warrensburg, and for forty-two days and nights he abstained from
the use of food in solid or liquid form. He began his fast on
March 2 and broke it on the evening of April 13 at supper-time.
With the exception of the loss of thirty pounds of flesh, which
materially changed his personal appearance, Mr. Cowan shows no
ill-effects of his undertaking. When he began he weighed one
hundred and sixty-five pounds, and when he quit he weighed one
hundred and thirty-five pounds. Before his fast he was inclined
to be fleshy, and now, while still in fairly good flesh, his
clothing manifests a desire not to hold close communion with his
body. Mr. Cowan was in the city Saturday, and some of his
friends did not know him. He related his experience to some of
them, but he did this cautiously, and with the oft-expressed
hope that the papers would not devote any attention to the
affair, because he was not seeking and did not want notoriety.
At different times during his fast the _Herald-Dispatch_ has
referred to the fact in short items. Cowan is a disciple of a
Dr. Dewey, living at Meadville, Pa., who is an advocate of
fasting as a means of curing many of the ills to which the body
is heir. Dr. Dewey has many pamphlets touching the subject, and
has also written some books for his belief, and his reasons have
been made so plausible that a number of persons have coincided
with him. Cowan says the efficacy of the treatment has been
established in many instances, a fact that he can prove by ample
testimony. During his long abstinence from food he had numerous
letters and telegrams from Dr. Dewey, encouraging him in the
undertaking. When asked why he had fasted, Cowan explained that
for years he had suffered from chronic nasal and throat catarrh
which would not yield to medical treatment. His appetite was
splendid, and h