St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-19
low TO LIVE LONG.
! Newspaper Mans Interesting study
Of the Question.
EARLY RISING HEALTHFUL.
Bathing Not Prime Favorite With
New England Farm
org

Clement nj. Hammond is an assOci-
| ate editor of the Boston Globe, and he
| has taken an ingenious, if homely,
method of ascertaining the facts and
conditions that usually accompany lon
geyity. Briefly, he sent out blanks to
the representatives of the paper in
| every county of the. New England
states. asking for the following infor-
| nation in relation to men and women
individually over the age of eighty:
''Name, residence. age, nationality;
whether married or single; general de-
| seription, including size. weight, COM
| pleXion, etc.: children, how many, ages.
state of health, etc.: habits, hours OF
rising, retiring, meals. exercise. etc.:
occupations. past and present; food and
drink, quantity, kind, ETC.; attacks OF
sickness, if any. and at what ages.
nature of disease, ETC.; condition OF
| teeth, hair beard, skin. etc. at time
when seen by the correspondent; age at
which father and mother died. and OF
/ grandfather and grandmother, wherever
possible"
In reply to these queries, which, by
the way. were to be based on accuracy
rather than ''enterprise," MIR. Ham
mond received full and detailed de-
tailed descriptions of no fewer than
$500 cases of bona fide oetogenarlan-
ism, and the cases were confined to no
particular kind of locality, but came
indiScriminately from hill and valley,
seac0ast and inland. Climate and tenn
perature were thus eliminated as fac
tors making for length of life.
AS might be expected. the married
people of New England live longer than
those selfish or unfortunate ones who
affect life of single blessedneSs; that
is the tate or good fortune of married
people everywhere. But the proper
ton of the one class to the other OF the
New EnglanderS who attain the four
score goal upsets allord nary reckonllgs,
for the married ones number 10 fewer
than nnety-fiye of every hundred of
those Oh the list. If that fact be not
: sufficient to give rOusing impetus to
the worship of Hymen, then must 1t be
concluded that tie men and Wtmen OF
| mOder days are no longer in love with
length OF years.
Another popularity revealed by Mr..
HammOnd'S canvass, and it is q pecui-
iarIty. is the fact that dark ''com-
pected" people are not in the race for
longevity with the light completed"
for five out of every six OF the New
England old folks under review are
blonde, with blue or gray eyes. and
abundant brown hair.
AS to the habits of life of these old
folks, the answers furnished to MIR.
Hammond's inquiries all point to the
fact that longevity. save when it is ac-
companied with regularity Of habits, is
rare:
EARLY RISERS LONGEST LIVED.
"rhese Old people. men and women
alike, are put down as early risers and
retIrerS. almost without exception, and
fully nineteen out of every twenty have
observed this custom throughout life,
except, perhaps, at some short period in
youth. Meals have been eaten regu-
larly, three each day, with dinner at
noon. the exception being so rare as to
indicate nothing. Exercise in most
cases has been hard work up to sixty
five or seventy. and after that period
has consisted (When the regular ccu-
patton has been given upA of walking,
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 thirty-tve."
The nature of the occupations they
have followed is significant. Out of
LOO men, through life 461 have been
farmers; 90 have been carpenters: 70,
merchants; 81, mariners: 40, labOrers:
AZ. ShOemakerS; al, manufacturers; %,
clergymen; %. masons: Ii, blacksmiths:
IL, bankers; IL each. ironWorkers, mill
hands. physicians and lawyers; and the
rest are divided among nearly all the
other trades and professions.
Their food is strong, plentiful, and
plainly dressed; they are given to the
imbib ton of tea and coffee in consider
able quantities, of whisky in modera-
ton. and to the Use of tobacco some
what cOpIOusly.
MIR. Hammond says:
while the farmers of New England
and their wives are clearly people,
they are not much given to bathing.
This neglect may not have prolonged
their existence or made them more
healthy, but it is to be presumed that it
has not cut off many years or caused
much disease. Neither are the members
of these households wellinformed in re-
lation to sanitary matters. They know
little of the unseen dampneSS to which
the human system is constantly exposed,
and. knowing little, care little. May
this not he an influence in favor of
prolonged existence. paradoxical as
the supposition may seem? In Hing
ildfH. MASS. Will Ouly t,OoU III
habitants. there are eighty people
over eighty years of age, and out of
these seventy-ive are of light COM
plexion. In no other town in New Eng
land, so far as could be learned. is there
such proportion of old people. This
town is on the seacoast, lies very low,
is without sewers, and has only re-
Gently put in system of water works.
From sanitary point of view the con-
ditionS here are about as unfavOrabe to
long life as could be conceived outside
the crowded portions of the large cities.
And i'm Boston, where the sanitary con-
ditions appear to be the worst-in the
North End and South Boston district
the greatest number of very old people
are found"
The moral of Mr.. HammOnd's very
interesting article is. therefore-get
married, be farmer, Or at least live and
energize in the open air, don't change
your occupation, eat and drink plenti-
fully. fake your whisky and tobacco
when you have mind, but, more essen
tial still, get into position of worldly
independence where YOU may never
have to fret yourself about your daily
yiatica. and finally and above all things.
cultivate light complexion.