Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-02-22
PEOPLE DIE JUSr THE SAME.

Chicago Chronicle: II the scientists.
medical. electrical and meteorological.
are TO he credited with ability to per.
form half the wonders to whicl, they
now make claim the life Of man In thu
coming century should he prolonged
by twice the space Of three score years
and ten prescribed by the Scriptures
rs the normal stopping time IN this
world. Nearly every day brings to
the newspapers intelligence of the dis.
covcry VI some new curative agcnr.
some new aid to diagnosis. Ono day
cx-Mayor Hewitt has been miraculous
~ cured Of the liver complaint which
has so long ruiiicd his temper 10y sitting
for ten minutes In the electrical chair
Of Nicola Tesla. Dr. Cyrus Edison, Of
the New York Board Of Health. follows
swiftly with announcement of posi-.
tive cure for consumption. Diphthcria
Is declared conquered by two or three
new remedies. The virtues of 1iOcl,',
lymph and antitoxin are lcarnc,lly Ills.
cusscd from Paris to Pueblo. Finally
comes Rocntgcn with his discovery OF
light by which the exact location %!
n foreign substance In animal flesh max
I've discovered AMI distinguished sur.
geons thus saved from the mortiiica.
ton Of Incorrectly locating the bullet
In q gunslIot wound ms they did In thu
case Of President Garfield and In thOu.
sands less famous. One does not have
to give crc,lrncc to the new theory. cx.
citclly advanced In New York last
Saturday. that the ROcntgcn rays pos
scss actual llfc.glving properties. In or
der to undcrstan nj the value Of this Ills.
covcry. Notwithstanding this rapid
multiplication Of panaceas for all hu-
man ills-sa,c those Of the pocket
people seem to die with about tho same
regularity. Perhaps the trouble Ii that
the scientists invent new diseases ~
fast rs they invent cures. Heart fail
urc and appendicitis began to bc pol'',-
lar ways Of bidding ndicu to the sOr
rows and worries OF this life just M n
Paris doctor announced his discovery
Of u nostrum which was to make hui
man life eternal. Tho elixir " life
was forgotten after Il proved an elixir
of death to one or two cntcrprising ~
pOrtcrs who made test of II FOR jour
nalistic purposes. Heart failure AMI
appendicitis. however. have lost moth.
Ing of their vogue. II cannot bc said
that human life has gained In duration
with the advance of medical science.
We have no Methuselalls to-day. ana
the perennial cOlOrcd woman who nurs.
cd George Washington IN Ills infancy
has not been saved from the common
fate Of all flesh 10y the applications Of
modern medical science. ict perhaps
all IL explninnble by the fact that wlia,
We call civilization Inns brought with
Il new lcrils to human health. We live
In crowded cities. pOllutc the air We
breathe with smoke aud dust. wall n,i,
the sun from our homes that the land
lord may profit by housing twenty fam
lilies where i've might live In hcali.
alright our ears with cable gOngS
darkcn our streets with elevated rail.
ways and ''sky scrapers''--livc. IN sllort
In such an atmosphere and amid suc;l
surroundings M might we'll reduce tn
normal years OF human life 10y half
That there has been In fact no al,l'arrn,
decrease In the average years OF man
upon the earth In the last three cen
turtles affords u mOtlicum OF proof that
ut least medical science has kept pace
with cIvilIzatlO multiplication al
mcnaccs to health.