Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-12-22
Longevity i'm America.

American life. its strain and expenditure il
once more arraigned because Governor Nor
ton died at fitty-four, while Theirs fell off at
eighty, and his contemporaries. Bismarck.
Won Moltke. the Emperor william. and other
influential men are living at the same age.
The arraignment is a repetition and not dis
cOyeTy, and does not consider important facts.
one of these is that the studiOuS. calm and
regular life of the French historian and states
man was very different thing from the eX-
ching career of the Indiana leader and that
dissimilar vital force is to be calculated with
unequal conditions in reckoning their IOngeyi-
ty. Another is that no individual is suffi-
clent national representative in such ease.
We have now living in our own city. i'm the
person of General Robert Patterson. one who
has been and done much and suffered as
great changes of climate, and endured as
much labor as perhaps any Of the named
Europeans, and yet eclip>ing them all i'm years,
he Is quite their equal in vigor. Here. too. at
our doors is Henry {. Carey, capable of doing
the work OF any of the men named, at eighty
five. And Mr.. Cameron is in his eighteth
year. and by no means ready 10 fall asleep
while this administration lasts. We recently
buried Horace Binney. wanting but three
prominent men whose lives were active and
laborous, there was Webster. who lived 10
seventy years; Clay, TO seyenty-tive; Benton.
an additional year; ChiefJuStice Marshall
eighty: j. q. Adams, eighty Thomas JEFF
ferSOn. eighty three: Lewis CaSS, eghty-four.
and ChiefJustice fancy, eighty-seyen. The
list can be easily extended. and the more il is
examined the more fully il will be proved that
American life is no more deadly than European,
and that professional life has as good chances
of continuance here as there.-[ Philadelphia
North american.
STUDENTS PRANks.-As Franklin. the iani
tor of Trinity College, was going to his duties
yesterday morning he saw a skeleton hanging
from the chapel porch, and by some means
only Known to himself he managed 20 get into
the chapel and take it down. The freshmen
had bolted and barred every door and win
dow, and jumping out of an upper story win
dow, left The chapel as they Thought impenp-
al hal Inn ali 4
several mischievous things Franklin had 10
toll the bell in the morning by turning the
wheel with his hands, and on being asked after
chapel what was the matter, he replied: "Oh
YOU know well enough; but you can't get
ahead Of me-" He little knew what was to
ton, in which. after darkness had set i'm. a
funny incident happened. While the Junior
professor was reading the advance German
the end OF the world?s the lights sudd ilas
ly. went out, and there was total darkness. |
Au scrambled out Of the room to see what ca |
tastrophe had happened. About ten minutes !,
gathered in front OF the chapel and spent the |
time before chapel IN singing, and waited till |
I'VE minutes after time, when, just as they |
be wrong, the president appeared and said: |
Gentlemen, there will be no chapel Three |
cheers were given for the president, and for |
gas Jets with putty. so that when it became
time for chapel the janitOr could not light the |
gas. When the Jan1tOr came out OF the build l
ing he looked crestfalen, and when asked /
What Is the matter?' he said: This is the 1
fast time i'm five years that the students have 1
got ahead of me. j acknowledge that / am |
beaten, and it Is the best trick that the stu |
dents have done since l have been here" Ii 1
Is needless To say that the freshmen are elated. |
Hartford (Cbnn.) Dec. X.
If THERE Is ANYTHING Mr.. Whittier hates |
II is "a scene" At one of the three great /
Boston fairs was lady who had long been an /
admirer OF the poet and when she discovered /
that he too was there she beSOught friend TO /
bring her into personal acquaintance with /
him. The friend consented. Whittier was |
caught in passing. hurried and expectant: i'm /
the center OF a curious crowd, the Introduction /
was spoken. Whittier bent his head i'm smiling /
greetings, when without warming the flood /
gates of feminine guSh were opened, and Mrs. |
Blank, between sObs and tears, tried To tell /
Mr. Whittier that for years she has cherished /
him i'm her heart, and that she never-snin, /
snih-neyer thought to have the happiness of /
meeting him; that she felt now that she could /
"kneel at his feet'-and here whole torrent /
of tears and sniff. 1t is easy to picture the |
shy, reserved poets misery. OF quite a diff |
ferent order OF emotion was that of Dom Pedro /
when he met him. AS he entered the drawing |
room, after the company were assembled, he /
looked about i'm a very eager, un-rOyal fashion, |
and Inquired, with great earneStness: Where |
Is Mr. Whittler?' When Whittier himself APP
peared before him to answer this question. the |
enthusiastic emperor flung his arms about the /
poets neck and gave him regular Brazilian /
sp0nded by fiinging one arm over Dom PedrO's