The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-14
HOW TO LIVE.
THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH
IN RIPE OLD AGE
David Dudley Field-Bancroft, the Histo-
rian-Jay Gould and Others-The
Secret of Long Enduring Vi
taIity and Vigor.
10 Howard in Boston HeraId.J

David Dudley Field stands as straight
as ever, with q head as clear, mind as
bright. an intellect as alert, physique as
sturdy, and an entire nature as absolutely
rounded in health and general fitness for
accustomed duty as at any time in all his
life A similar record is presented in the
person Of the historian Bancroft, who, in
his very ripe old age, sits serenely in his
library, where, in the contamination OF a
contract made with Robert Bonner, Of
this city, he is preparing a series of arti-
cles on Washington and kindred subjects
for publication in The Ledger There
must be some reason, some secret, some
thing out OF the common, which enables
these two men, who stand like solitary
trees in the midst of a forest long since
overthrown, they alone pregnant,
potent, time-defying.
In single word. the secret of Mr..
Fields long enduring vitality and vigor is
exercise Not the idiOtic surplusage of
physical waste, which ultimately killed
Charles Dickens. Not the silly dumb-bell
practice and terribly straining walks that
wore William Cullen Bryant to shadow,
but a sensible use of all his faculties, and
a iudicious exercising Of his physique on
suitable occasions. Mr.. Field says that he
goes to bed on an average at 10 o'clock at
night and rises on an average at z in the
morning. His faYorite modes of exercise
are, and have been for many years, horse
back riding and walking. He lives up town,
not far from the park, and keeps good
saddle horse, not a hard trOtter,
but spirited animal, who is as fond of
his mas ter as he of it. Together they
tempt the breezes of the early morning,
and pass an hour pleasantly and profitably
on the bride paths that Irvine and inter
Irvine through Central park like threads
Of gold in the warp and wool of velvet
cloth, After breakfast he walks from his
house to his office, a distance of about
he walks home again, and, after a hearty
dinner. with glass of enjoyable wine, he
reads or talks or entertains until his regu-
lar hour for retiring arrives.
jay Gould is an illustration of the good
effects of sleep and regular hours. He
makes it point to be in bed at 10 clock,
whenever it is possible for him so to do.
He is a small man, of exceedingly nervous
temperament His movements are quick
and agile; his fingers nervously move and
twitch, his eyes are rarely fixed for any
length of time upon any single object
not that there is anything furtive in his
glance, not that the quick darting of his
eye from point to point indicates suspi-
ciOus nature at all, but the man is obvi
ously a bundle of nerves pulled to their
utmost tension, demanding constant
ing. l met him one morning on the street.
He laughed at the idea conveyed in
recent reports of his illness, that he was
in any sense under the weather, and said
nothing more serious than a trifing cold
had troubled him for many years. His
habits are systematic to a degree, his
recreations are those Of man of mind,
with refined tastes. in scholarly directions
He, too, takes exercise, not to the full eX-
tent INDUCED in by Mr.. Field, for that
would lie absurd, but, up to the limit of
his normal endurance Mr.. Gould is as de-
voted to the preservation of his physique
as Mr.. Field is to the conservation of his
There are, of course, in the acquaint
anceship of all Of US, few of these con-
spicuouS illustrations, but among the
public men of the country we find very,
very few, nothing like the numerical pro-
portion to be found in Europe, and es-
pecia1y among English statesmen. 1t
seems to me that the realm of letters is
particularly trying to men and women.
There are very few old women in liter
AZURE and very few old men. Mrs.
Stowe, whose beaming face 7 saw few
weeks since is about the only notable
illustration, among the women writers of
America of longevity. She must be over
20. If l remember Alright she is older
than her brother Henry, but, in any
event, there can be but few years differ
ence in their ages. She was never very
strong, perhaps l should say rugged, but
she certainly talks as well, and with as
much vivacity, and enjoys as clear head,
and as comfortable a physique, as she has
had at any time during the past forty or
fifty years