The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-29
HABITS OF cENTENARIANs.
Curious Reasons Given by the Long
Lived Ones for Their Age.
From the London Standard.


From the London Standard.
Those few people who succeed. not only
in passing the allotted three score and ten
but in living half as long again, some
times give very curious reasons for their
length of days. Most Of them, indeed. think
that they are preserved by their temper
ance and regularity. But Mr. Wilmington
OF llellingdon. who died when he was lA.
could not say that. He never drank any
thing but London gin, and OF this he con-
sumed 1l9 plnts every day. Mrs. Mac
pherSon, of Caithness, lived to the fine old
age Of III by the simple plan of subsisting
on buttermilk and greens. a Mr. Smith.
OF DolVer, ate everything that came in
ms way, but his only drink was buttermilk
which he thought dissolved ali those
earthly matters that clog the system. II lie
dled when l0l years old. of Mr., Price, of
Glamorgan, who also completed l0l years,
II Is said, Herb tea was his breakfast,
meat plainly dressed his dinrer and in
stead of supper he refreshed himself with
smoking pipe of tobacco" Dally exercise
is thought to be the best possible promot-
er OF health, but long life can be obtained
Mlthout y, Tor carpenter named Hum
phfleS, OF NeNington, London, was never
one mile away from his own home, vet he
lodged the fatal scythe for 102 years. But
exercise, and even hardship, are certainly
not antanognistic to longevity. Anne Day
a gypsy, did not sleep in a bed during the
iast seventy years of her life. She lived,
nevertheless, to los, and was as bright as
a lark when the last hour came. Among
the examples of modera ton In diet Miguel
Soils, of San Salvador, is conspicuous. He
was, according to the Lancet, $50 years old
IN 1873; and, If he is still to the fore, is like
~ TO complete his second century
lie believed that he had lived so long
because he had never eaten more than
one meal a day. Even in that he limited
hlmselr to what he could tuck in during
the snort space of half an hour. He there
iore was living argument against those
nyglehlsts VINO bid us eat slowly and
masticate well. His diet was chiefly veg
etable, meat, which was always cooked
the day before, entering into it only twice
a week. For two days in every month he
tasted, and he drank large quantities Of
water His plan included several other
details, and, on the whole. we of the three
score-and-ten can, without envy, wish him
joy. Macklin, the comedian, who lived and
died IN Convent Garden, was a wonderful
oddity in virtue of which-or perhaps in
spite OF which he managed to get through
lgI years. He followed the wise and sim
pie rule OF eating when hungry, drinking
when thirsty and sleeping when sleepy.
All these he did on liberal scale. He
never took off his clothes except for the
purpose of having his body rubbed all
over with brandy. He always slept in
blankets. and history does not record a
single journey ON their part to the laun-
dress. And his couch, which was nard,
was placed in the middle OF the room.
What Is most strange about longevity is
that 1t comes like the dew of heaven, TO
every class Kings who live in luxury,
beggars who go through existence in a
state of chronic cold and hunger giants
and riDDles, abstainers and drunkards,
large eaters and small eaters, oilers and
sluggards, brain-workers and body-wOrk-
ers, vegetarans aud carniVores, smokers
and non-smokers, sane and insane-all
nave apparently an equal chance of the
prize of long life. An old woman who
died in Ireland at the age of liz was all
her life beggar, and, during the last
half of il, was never known to eat a
square meal from one end of the year to
the other. In the United States, on the
other hand, man even exceeded this
figure, and he was never known 10 pass
a day without eating as much, all by him
self, as an ordinary family Of five.
1t was also an American who grew a
new and fine set of teeth at the age Of
1916 for the purpose of eating three pounds
of pork, three pounds of bread and a
vast quantity of cabbage on the day
when he gave up the ghost. on the other
hand, a Shoreditch barber, who died aged
1O5 never drank anything but water and
ate only once a day. A priest of Nice
lived solely on vegetables, which kept his
machine running in perfect order for Jos
years. Among a host of Others, one gen.
tleman of 127 years, a grandson of the ia
nous Thomas Parr, attributes his length
lar exercise. And Mrs. judith Bannister,
who died at Cowes in her 108th year, lived
on apples, biscuit and milk and water. for
man Named SoSif NJ RTrvtbo,Se a"biaved
the wonderful span of century ana a half
through moderate eating, great exercise,
and gulping down raw egg once a day.
BY pleasant process one earl of Hunt
ingdon contrived to celebrate 100 birth
days. He took care to eat oysters a every
meal Roasted turnip for supper every
night in the year formed the elixir that
carried Mr.. Wilson of Sussex through l16
years. And Mr.. Ekins of Combe lived a
century by feeding, during the latter two
fifths of it, on bread, milk and turnip-
tops Mrs. Mccarthy of Cork breakfast
ed at Z. dined at ] and supDed at half-past
8, This she declared was the secret Of her
long life. She died aged 103 years.
But Philip Laroque. a Gaseony butcher,
was drunk twice every week for eighty
years, and yet lived to be 102. while a
Kerry man, named Mccarthy, drank rum
and whisky as we take tea and coffee II
he was ever tempted to descend to claret
or ale. he drank Immediately afterwards
an equal quantity of poteen.-'ia wedge, -
he said. He kept doing this. for III years.
Smoking heavily was the practice that
kept Mrs. Robertson, Scotch woman,
going for JOG years. And Mr. Richard
Brown of Peterchurch was never seen
without pipe in his mouth. II would be
interesting to hear some Transvaal rec
ords, for in that country they keep the pipe
going with as much consistency as "A blast
furnace. owen Carollan of Duleek, near
Dublin, lived III years by temperance and
hard work But M. Fontanelle prolonged
his days in pleasanter fashion. He at
tributed his longevity 10 a good course
OF strawberry eating every season. And
once. when he was just on the point OF
giving In during the winter, he exclaim
ed IF l could only hold out till the
straw berries come CON I would pull through. :
sugar candy was the curious compound
that kept Baron Capellis alive till he pass
ed his 10th year. The diet of Mrs. Wat
kins of Glamorganshire was simpler She
lived to ITO. and, during the last thirty
years OF her existence, subsisted entirely
on potatoes. Oatmeal. according TO mod
ern scientists, is the worst possible food
for those who wish to live long.
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