The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-03-30
A eoopLY HERITAGE.
why Ours 1. an EsoeedInsiy Pieasan. Tim,
20 Live In.

There has been vast increase In con.
tenarians of late. Formerly person
who reached the age of one hundred
years was a rare curiosity; now there
Is hardly a county in the country that
can not boast its centenarian. An
eminent German Psychologist main
tains that there is really hundred
years wear in every healthy human
organism, and that all persons who die
before their first century is completed
ill untimely graves. According TO
this theory (Which we will not stop TO
examine too closely), every person
who dies before he reaches the centen-
nial mile-post tempts his fate by rough
and improper usage. and unnecessary
wear and tear.
But. at any rate, the longevity Of the
race is undoubtedly being very rapidly
increased by the increased conformity
to hygienic laws. aud by modern APP
pliances of comfort and cleanliness.
IL has been too much the habit of old
men to glorify the hardihood Of the
men of their youth. and the sturdy de-
velopment which they imagined re-
suited from the constant battle waged
with hardships and discomforts. They
boast of the feat of sitting through
long, nineteenthlv sermons In unheated
churches in the depth of winter. and II
going out into the snow barefooted
in their early childhood. and climbing
mp To bed into a rickety garret from
ladder on the outside. They love to
boast Of the stalwart men. developed
from those children who slept directly
under roof that failed to stop the
snow.
But the delusion that exposure makes
people more hardy is passing away.
The poet Whittier. in recent interview.
said that his constitution was under
mined early in life by these early expo
sures. The biographers of Lincoln
speak emphatically about the mortality
and diseases which resulted from the
exposures and hariships OF the early
pioneers of Illinois. Rheumatism. the
inevitable penalty of exposure. and the
varied diseases developed by its weak
ening effects ON the system brought
many naturally strong men TO their
death on the wrong side of the fifty
milestone. To-day 2 business or pro-
fessional man is considered in his zenith
at fifty. in vigorous working trim at
sixty. aud many hesitate to yield up
the active duties of life at seventy-fiye
or eighty.
This increased vigor and longevity is
doubtless due to the Increased COM
forts of life. shorter hours Of labor. q
better knowledge Of the laws Of health
and (though we know our elderly read
ers will vigorously gnt) to a higher
plane of ra and correct living.
49, - of to-day do not worry
gr non-esssentials. They
have such superstitinus reverence
for sigfs and omens. no dread of the
supernatural terrors of ghosts and
witches. no helpless anxiety about hope
less aud unsolvable theological prob
lens. no such bitter partisan rancor in
politics. Though the activities Of life
are increased there is not SO much fric-
ton. People are more tolerant and
less disagreeable in their convictions.
There IS more coler to life, more at
mosphere. greater diversity of amuse-
ment and greater opportunities of self
entertainment.
Benjamin Franklin used to mourn
because he was not born farther ahead
in the future, that he might become
a contemporary witness of the inevit-
able improvements and progress Of the
race. No such wish is justifiable for a
citizen of the present age. In short
the conviction must be forced home
upon every man who stops to consider
the subject, that we are in better age
than has ever preceded it Our lines
are cast in pleasant places. We have
a goodly heritage. Yankee Blade