Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-11-14
Facts as to Long Life.

What tends to long life is a study
with more profit as facts are used for
data. The editor of Il Boston paper,
sent blanks through Massachusetts
to men and women of eighty years
and more, iuquiring as to habits,
state of eyes, teeth, hearing, and the
like, getting over $500 replies, and
If In these there Is nothing to refute
the assertions of the theorists, there
is yet not anything to sustain them
They ate meat, save In a few cases,
ad lib aud though none of them, if
we take their own word for it, have
drunk freely of spirits, all, or nearly
all, have taken of them on occasion.
These old people are from cities,
towns, agricultural and maritime
districts, IN nearly all cases leading
active lives, eating three meals "a day,
the dinner being, as is the custom IN
New England, in the middle OF the
day, of meat and vegetables, and pie,
and very hearty. Curiously enough,
though the women are of medium
height, the men are mostly tall, above
the 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.
The report says:
These old people, men and women
alike, are early risers almost without
exception, and fully nineteen out of
every twenty have observed this
custom through life, except, perhaps,
in some short period of youth
Exercise has been hard up to
siIty-tive or seventy years, and after
that period has consisted when the
regular occupations 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
constant occupation of some sort to
day as most men and women are at
thirtT five One of the most signifi-
cant facts gathered in this canvass is
that regarding occupation Out OF
900 men, throughout life, 46l have
been farmers % have been carpent
ers; 20, merchants ;61, mariners 40
laborers AZ, shoemskers IL, manu-
tacturers %, clergymen %, masons
l6, blscksmiths l6, bankers l.
each iron workers, mill hands
/, physicians, and lawyers and the
l rest are devided among nearly a.
T the other trades and profession
Eight hundred out of twelve hun
: dred have been farmers wives, snC
l all but about fifty of the remainde
have been housewives.
: Tea and coffee drinking was in
a dulged in by fully two thirds of tn
II $500, with some OF them 10 excess
e and of the men, nearly all have botl
IS smoked and chewed tobacco, tn
L amount daily consumed by some hs'
ing been enormous
q Their cares were as heavy as thos
K which come to most of the huma
20 family, their work not less arduoui
" Most of them led lives which som
i might call monotouous, yet wit
d occasional excitement to them Q
10 great as the intenser kinds to thos
more used to it
in Summing up all that the compil.
ye has set down from the answers Sci
K to his questions, We iud that a
rs we're regular in their habits, wit
Mt plenty to occupy their hands az
er ninds and getting plenty Of fre'
N, air. This seems to be at least
IA primal quantity in the solution
ht the problem of long life. Men Ill
by these, with plenty of work and fre,
on air, are able to eat and smoke, ev,
ie- to a point we would call exces
TT without injury, and even to drink
lis times with no evil resulting. 1t
he those of sedentsry habits, who do /
be hard labor and get little exercise
&C fresh air. who must be the most cal
hc Frr' Scientific American.