The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1878-09-20

rhe oldest Hss is the World.
At last the oldest inhabitant has
turned up. There is no doubt about
the fairness Of his claim 10 this title,
and no chance that a rival will soon
appear, for this venerable persons age
exceeds by half a century even that
Of old Psrr, who is perfectly well
known to have beaten every other
patriarch since the antediluvian days.
II is, perhaps. q drawback that the
newly-discovdred centenarian, or rath-
or duo-centenarian, is an American.
One is inclined to grudge that pushing
and somewhat stuck up continent
the biggest, oldest and oldest, as well
as newest things. But there is no
help for Il In this case. We must
bow to antiquity in the person Of the
very oldest fellow who has been des-
cribed by the correspondent of Ger
man paper. He resides in the Repub-
lie of Colombia, a State whose chief
products seem to be tobacco, straw
hats, monks, volcanoes and earth
quakes-chiefy the last-and he is a
half-caste, Miguel Soils, by name. At
recent conference Of physicians in
Bogota, DIR. Luis Hernandes told how
he had interviewed the patriarch.
Soils, it appears, is modest enough TO
claim an age Of no more than one
hundred and eighty years, but his
neighbors, all Of whom, Of course,
have known him from infancy, repu.
date the notion that he is such a
youngster, and loudly assert that he
has overpassed his second century.
The evidence on the point, Ii must be
admitted, is not quite conclusive. The
oldest inhabitants told DIR. Hernandes
that when they we're boys Soils had
the reputation Of being more than a
century old. and confirmation of this
is said to be afforded by the fact that
a signature which Soils recognizes as
his own appears among the list of con-
tributors to the cost Of erecting the
Convent of San Sebastian In 1712,
when he was sprightly infant of so
or thereabout. But, unfortunately ,as
no witness Of this interesting signature
can be found in the natural course of
things, the attestation turns upon old
Soils good faith or his memory. and,
without being uncharitable. we may
fear that one or the other may be de-
fective. For the rest, the aged curl
osity is interesting enough. DIR. Her
handles found him in good health and
at work in his garden. "His skin
resembled parchment, and his long
snow.white hair was wound about his
head In turban fashion. His eyes
cleaned so fxedly as to make his Wis
itor feel uncomfortable when looked
at" He attributed the length OF his
life to regular and moderate diet. He
eats only one meal "a day, but that
consists Of "strong and hearty food"
to which he devotes himself assidu-
ously for more than half an hour at a
stretch, having discovered that no
man can eat more in half an hour
than he can digest in twenty-four
hours. But this is not all, tor he
fasts two whole days every month,
and then refreshes himself by copious
iraughts of cold water, which is prob
ably more stimulating diet in those
regions than it is in Europe. Finally,
he always lets his food get cold before
partaking Of it, and he considers that
This precaution has had great deal
10 do with the prolongation Of his
life. On the whole, however, one
would like to know more about the
parchment-skinned and weird.looking
Kermit of the Colombian wilds before
.rediting the statement that he came
nto the world just as Cromwell was
eaving it, and that he was an octoge-
larian at the time Of Culloden. The
Id fellow may be a practical joker,
nd may owe his highly effective
makeup to the monks of San Sc
'astian, who would be sure to enter
ntO the fun of the thing.-[London
telegraph.