Stumping Good For Fat Men.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 15, 1912:
Bull Moose Campaign Is Making Him Thin, John O. Nelson Says.
    When the tale of John O. Nelson of Brooklyn is bruited abroad in the land there will, it is believed, be a rush of patriots suffering from obesity or even mere embonpoint to get on the Bull Moose ticket.  Mr. Nelson has discovered that Bull Moose campaigning is a sure cure for corpulency. He is confident that it would eliminate the "bay window" from the architecture of an Alderman.
    Mr. Nelson aspires to the Bull Moose nomination for Congress in the Fifth District Brooklyn. He yearns to sit with other Rooseveltians in the legislative halls in Washington and do his level best to save the country. Mr. Nelson had his ear to the ground early and heard the rumblings which were followed by the political upheaval at Chicago. Anticipating the formation of the new party, he waited for no "call" but got out at once and cast his chapeau into the ring as a candidate for the Congressional nomination. He says he has found Bull Moose campaigning exceedingly wearing on a candidate's physique, and that it has an exhausting effect on the powers of speech. However, he is not discouraged. He is determined to be a statesman.
    "When I entered this campaign," says he in a statement addressed to the eager electorate of the Fifth District, "my weight was 178 pounds. Through my work and pleading to the people since June 1 I weigh to-day but 123 pounds, making a reduction of 55 pounds. So, if fat people will take the cure, and will call at my headquarters at 1 Hull Street, I will explain to them without cost how I reduced 55 pounds without taking any medicine. I will announce to you now what my hard work has done for me. Out of 16,000 people I have pleaded with I have gained 14,000 for myself as candidate for Congress. I have 11,000 of them to date for our honorable ex-President, Theodore Roosevelt."