The Morning herald., 1877-11-23
THE OLDEST MAN In THE
ara WORLD.

tg WORLD.
A merchant of st. Louis who recently
returned from tour Of South America hus
given an account of remarkable old man
he saw in the city of Tulca, Chill, whose
name is Felix Rojas, and who has undoubt-
edly reached the age of 1877 years. Rojas
was born in 1740, and at an early age
entered the army, holding the position, Of
sergeant-major ina Spanish line regiment.
When Carlos the Third issued the historic
mandate expelling the Jesuits, Rojas took
charge of two of the members Of the Order
and carried them from Linares to Santiago.
He served forty y-eight years in the Chilian
armies, and is thoroughly conversant with
the minutest details of Chilian history for
the last century and half. Up to one
year ago Rojas was remarkably vigorous for
one Of his venerable age, though for ten
years he has been carried about in porta.
BILE chair, in charge of two servants. For
year he has been failing rapidly, and now
seldom leaves his house, his physicians pre-.
.scribing absolute quiet as the only means Of
prolongng his life. Occasionally he may
be seen in his chair in front Of his resi-.
dence, and the passers-by pay him the
greatest respect. He smokes pipe, and
has used tobacco steadily for 120 years.
His eyes are quite weak now, but he has
never used spectacles, and is generally able
to read large print. He is not large man,
being scarcely five feet five inches in
height, and never weighed over $50. He is
remarkably well proportioned, his head be-
ing unusually large and finely shaped.
Singular to relate, Rojas has lived to this
ripe old age in defiance of many vicissitudes
and habits that are universally believed to
abbreviate mans term of life.a From the
age of twenty till he was seventy he was a
habitual drinker, and for long period of
that time such confirmed tippler that his
health was seriously affected, and 1t was be-
lieved that he could not survive long. In
1880 he fought bloodless duel with
brother-soldier, and ten years later, in a
similar encounter with another antagonist,
he was SO desperately wounded that it was
two years before he fully recov cred. At
one time he suffered double fracture of
his right leg by a caisson-wagon running
over it. He was also wounded twice while
fighting in battle. He has had the yellow
fever and has been repeatedly prostrated by
other malarial fevers that prevailin all parts
of South America 1t seems SO remarkable
that one should be preserved to such an
age after passing through so
many exciting adventures and accidents by
field and flood. Rojas is the son of Span
ish nobleman, who fed his country for a
political ofense and settled in Chill under
an assumed name The son lived almost
half century before he found out the true
history of his father, and upon the disoov-
cry he made trip to Spain and succeeded
in obtaining from the government the title
and possession of valuable property which
had been confscated. This is the only
voyage Rojas has ever made away from his
native country, The venerable old man
has ample means, and is surrounded by q
numerous line of descendants, consisting OF
grandchildren, great-great, and
neutrality-suspicious.. =