Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1894-08-17

INCREASING LONGEVITY.
Americans In Particular Live Much
Longer Than In Past Ages.
Remarkable Instances of Extreme Old
Age-fntellectuai Activity L. No
Bar to Long Life and
Good Health.

A writer In the Washington Post
calls attention to the many instances
of remarkable longevity which from
year to year have been reported. Pass
Ing By the hundreds of years asserted
to have been lived by the antediluvian
heroes Of Hebrew tradition, the appar'
ent numbers in which may mean some.
thing entirely different from what
they would mean in our decimal scale
OF enumeration, and down through the
Greek and subsequent ages, whose
method Of counting we do not under
stand; we find a continuous record oi
persons arriving at an advanced old
age. These, from one point Of view,
constitute very small minority, and
yet, from another, form considerable
and important element.
The number Of deceased persons who
had attained an exceptional old age
was probably greater in the year 1s9;
than in any recent period. During the
last three or four months of the year
the general public became familiar
through perusal of the daily papers
with the remarkable obituaries o1
those who had departed, having lived
to great old age. A month or sc
since we read Of life that had reached
the extraordinary limit Of one hundred
and thirty-fve years. We have since
read of the death Of a woman at Hart
ford, Conn, who was old enough tc
give warning Of the approach Of the
British feet In 1919, and so saved the
New England coast from threatened
devastation. And still later we have
been apprised Of the death at Terre
Haute, Ind, of a man 104 years old
who attended the funeral of Washing
ton, cast his first vote for Madison and
was soldier In the war of 1912. From
other data 1t Is apparent that great
longevity has been on the increase fol
many years, particularly In America.
But 1t may be remarked that the
constitutions that carried these per
sons up to the centennial mark or be-
yond were formed very many years be
fore Americans began living at the
present rate, and that the best part OF
most Of those old lives was passed be.
tore the modern suicidal rush of the so
ciety and business worlds. To have a
good chance for longevity 1t Is almost
Unnecessary to say that an originally
good constitution is of the first i'm
portance, though to this primary ex,
cellence carefulness in the art Of living
must be added. The secret Of long life
Is one Of which nature alone holds pos
session. A remarkable fact Is that In
tellectual activity and success have
been no barriers TO long life. Even
deep philosophical studies have proved
help rather than hindrance to men
Of literary pursuits Voltaire, who al
birth was put into q quart pot, could
never have attaiped his eighty-fourth
year had he not followed the strict
sober, active life which he chose. Glad
stone exercises the highest powers oi
successful craftsmanship at an age OF
eighty-four years, after having under
gone the constant turmoil of political
contest for considerably more than
half century. Bismark is practically
an octogenarian. Won Moltke was
nearing ninety when he died. 1t seems
that the review of these and numerous
other instances would sufficiently es-
tablish the theory that continuous In
tellectual activity is conducive TO the
perpetuation Of good health and the
prolongation Of life.