The Monitor., 1884-06-13
TEMPERANCE AND LONGEVITY.


At our Social Science Hall, where we dis
cuss many subjects, Col. B. and myself wer,
called upon to present our views upon th,
conditions of longevity.
Col. b.. a devotee of good dinners ant
wines, said:
Ladies and gentlemen: I have given nc
special attention to the subject of longevity
but will repeat a newspaper anecdote which
| can but believe you will agree with me sets
this matter in its true light. Two very old
men were called as witnesses in case invoiv.
ing an ancient land title One of them hay
ing given his testimony was about to step
down, when the judge asked:
g How old are you:'
g One hundred and four, my lord
g How did you contrive to live so lopg?
by strict temperance in all things my
lord
''The judge, warm advocate of temper
ance, cast a glance of triumph at group of
young men, and the witness took his seat.
''When the other old man had finished bis
testimony, the Judge, thinking to deepen the
impression made by the first man, asked:
8 How old are y0t, my man 2
'One hundred and seven, my lord
+" How did you contrive to live SO long ?
Speak up loud SO that all may hear Let the
young men in the gallery listen and learn how
man may live one hundred and seven years.
Speak up loud, my man
"'Well, judge, have kept myself full of
good beef, chewed and smoked tobacco all my
life, and | hain't drawn a sober breath in a
hundred years. ="
When Col. b. had reached this point
''Hear Hear was heard on every hand, and
the colonel took his seat in storm of ap-
plause.
1t was now my turn
Ladies' and gentlemen: I have no anec-
dote for you, but will give you the results
of some investigations ON this subject.
"Under an engagement to prepare volume
on longevity for Boston publishing house,
l went abroad in pursuit of facts, and spent
several months in the British Museum Library.
That institution contains, probably, more lon
gevity literature than all the other libraries of
the world. Among a great number of very
old persons whose recorded habits | studied
will give the facts in one family:
During the first half of the eighteenth
century attention was called to Yorkshire
man whose parish registry proved him to be
ninety-eight years old This mans son John
lived to be ninety-seven, Johns son Edward
reached ninety-fotlr, and Edwards son David
achieved ninety-nine.
''Of the four families in which these very
old men appeared the following additional
facts are given In the first family there were
twelve children in the second, eleven in
the third, eight; in the fourth, fourteen.
Leaving out of the reckoning the four men of
notable longevity, the remaining children in
the first family lived to an average age of
sixty-two years; those in the second to sixty
four; in the third to thirty-six and those of
the last family to an average age of ffty-one
years. This statement will occasion no sur
prise to the students of longevity, for to them
it is a familiar fact that all persons remark
able for long life have brothers and sisters
who die early.
''The story of the daughter of David is
most interesting. This daughter of the
ninety miner writes with tedious, loving de-
tail of the lives of her ancestors. OF the
first of the four old men she says: 1T is
strange that my great-great grandfather
should live so long, for he was thin and pale,
and never ate any meat or drank any beer.
His brothers and sisters were hale and hearty,
and yet they all died early. Of the second
member of the quartette she says My
great grandfather was such small eater they
thought he would never be good for anything.
Even when he was at work in the fields he
lived on simple bread and milk. His broth
ers and sisters had wonderful appetites, and
some of them were SO stout that everybody
thought they would live to be a hundred but
the Lord took them away early Of the
third she says My grandfather was very
delicate and slender, and small eater. But
while all his brothers were wonderful hearty
and healthy, he outlived them all a great
many years. Gods ways are mysterious
Of her father she writes very fully, saying,
in one paragraph; He was the best man /
ever saw, so loving and patient, and he did
great deal of hard work, which is so strange
when we think that he took hardly food
enough to keep him alive, and yet the day he
was ninety-nine he walked two miles. 1t all
seems so strange, for some of my uncles, who
died before they were fifty, were hearty eaters
and great deal stronger than my father. 1t
always seems to me that God loved my dear
father, and let him stay with US who loved
him so much. '-Dio Leeois IN Home Science
for May.
The senate committee on postal telegraphy,
in presenting bill before the senate for the
incorporation of telegraphy with the transmits
sion of tba mail makes n reDOrt in its favor