The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-04-15
A DARK OLD AGE.
Or. Hammond', Testimony About III
Pace that E1nIs In the city.


| Or. IIammond'a Testimony About the
Pace that KIlls In the city.
Philadelphia Ledger: IIthe course Of
current trial In the surrogsnt's court
Dr. Graeme Hammond. a well-known
specialist in brain diseases, has been
questioned at some length upon the pro-
cess Of mental decay In old age.
His testimony has brought the minds
OF many people TO fresh recognition OF
the fact that New York Is becoming
more and more emphatlcally a city Of
young men. ut is the pace that kills"
as horsemen say Of steeple chasing; the
one sudden burst Of speed. not the
length Of the run or the difficulties OF
the course. II man congresses the
effort Of a lifetime into fifteen years
and Is bankrupt in health 1t forty years
of age. he has certainly not made the
wlsest use OF his bodily assets. And the
experience which ne has acquired be-
comes as ussless aS the engine OF q
stranded steamer,
By q droll perversion OF public senti~
ment. 1t has become tradition among
US that man may boast Of the fact that
he is ill-using the mechanism upon the
perfect condition OF which depends his
efficiency as u citizen and his ability 70
direct and maintain his households The
power OF wealth has become so great It's
prepotence has so thrlved upon the dis
placement Of other aims and ambitions,
that the business man ruins his health
by overwOrk as proudly as q warrior
used to die for his country, or martyr
for his faith. When assldulty has be-
come a vice and diligence an iHhrnity, II
is, at any rate, certain that the heavy
eyes and the drawn mouth with which
man presents himself at his place OF
business In the morning are the results
OF an undue eageFness to make money
quickly. Against this temptation II
Is useless to declaim. But II must not
be forgotten that, before overWork has
crushed the weaknesses as well as the
strength Of its victim, he not only tries
IN work after rational working hours
are ended, but to hnd time for his
amusements by carrying them late into
the night,
New York Is notoriously an earlier
city than It was ten years ago; there are
fewer night hawk cabs than there were,
fewer late clubs, and the youth OF this
generation are more decorouS than were
their fathers before them. The increas-
ing value Of athletic exercises has no
doubt played great part in bringing
about this result. An increasing NUM-
Der of young men realize that the most
hilarious OF supper parties Is. on the
whole, less satisfactory than the deep
pleasure of getting UP in the morning
with clear head, a huge appetite, and
a hearty eagerness to begin the day.
All this is an admirable change, al
though It leaves some Of the best OLD
songs unsung and some OF the most gem
erous impulses unfelt But before DR..
Hammond Is enabled to give a better
account of the oldsters and tell cheer
full tale OF hale oud age, serious work,
as well as play, must be confined to
reasonable limits.
In q man preserves his health he Is
getting the best Of life when he is be-
tween forty and fifty. All of his sensa-
tons have broadened and deepened. he
mas made his experiments and learned
his lessons. And that he should be a
dried out, wlthered little old gentleman
before his sons are out Of school is enc
more proof that we have forgotten
something our grandfathers used to
know.