The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1888-11-22
FACTS AS TO LONG LIFE.

with more profit as facts are used for
data. The editor. of a Boston paper,
unread in theory, sent blanks through
Massachusetts to men and women of
eighty years and more, inquiring as to
habits, state of eyes, teeth, hearing and
the like, getting over $500 replies,
and if in these there is nothing to re-
fute the assertions of the theorists, |
there is yet nothing to sustain them.
They ate meat, save in a few cases,
all they pleased, and though none of
them, if we take their word for it,
have drank freely of spirits, all, or
nearly all, have taken them on ocea-
sion. These old people are from
cities, towns, agricultural and mari
time districts, in nearly all cases lead
ing active lives, eating three meals a
day, the dinner being, as is the GUS
tom in New England, in the middle
of the day, of meat, vegetables and
pie, and very hearty. Curiously
enough, though the women are of
medium height, the men are mostly
tall, above average. And so greatly
do blue and gray eyes prevail that
other shades are notable exceptions
Badness is rare, the hair being usually
brown and thick, but the teeth are
very poor or entirely gone.
These old people, men and women
alike, are early risers almost without
exception, and fully nineteen out of
every twenty have observed this GUS
tom through life, except, perhaps in
some short period of youth. Exer-
else has been hard up to sixty-five OF
seventy years and after that peoriod.
has consisted (when regular occupa-
tions have been given up) of walking
or gardening or both. Except in
cases of sickness, these old people are
as active and as fond of some sort OF
occupation to-day as most men and
women are at thirty-five. One of the
most significant facts gathered in this
canvass is that regarding occupation
Out of 1000 men, throughout life, 461
have been farmers; 80 have been car
penters; 20, merchants; 81, mariners;
40; laborers; AZ, shoemakers; Al man
ufacturers; %, clergymen; %, ma
sons; 16, blacksmiths; 16, bankers; Il
each, iron workers, mill hands, physi
clans, and lawyers, and the rest are
divided among nearly all the other
trades and professions. Eight hun
dred out of twelve hundred of the
women have been farmers wives, an6
all but about fifty of the remainder
have been housewives.
Tea and coffee was INDUCED in by
fully two-thirds of the $500, with
some of them to excess; and of the
men, nearly all have both smoked and
chewed tobacco, the amount daily
consumed by some having been enor,
nous.
Their cares were as heavy as those
which come to most of the human
family; their work not less arduous
Most of them led lives which some
might call monotonous, yet with occa
sional excitement, to them as great as
the intenser kinds to those more
used toit.
Summing up'a all that the compiler
has set down from the answers sent
to his questions, we find that all were
regular in their habits, with plenty tt
occupy their hands and minds ani
getting plenty of fresh air. Thii
seems to be primal quantity in the
solution of the problem of long life
Men like these, with plenty of worl
and fresh air, are able TO cat ant
smoke, even to point we would cal
excess, without apparent injury, ant
even to drink at times with no evi
resulting. 1t is those of sedentar,
habits, who do no hard labor and ge
little exercise or fresh air, who mus