Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1897-10-10
CAUSES OF LONGEVITY
More Ola People ycuad I'm AEricri-
tufal Plaeea Than - CItien.

CAUSES OF LONGEVITY
Aor. ola People ycuad in AErie.i-
tural Places Than 81 Cities
A German statistician who la 1adc
longevity statistics the special subject
OF careful researches recently pub
lihhed the result of his Investigations i'll
m interesting article. On account OF
the difficulty OF obtaining full data in
regard to the conditions surrounding
each case OF longevity on record. the
deductions MS to the causes favorable
o. ~unfnvorable to longevity are neces-
sarily hypothetical. The figures OBJ
tanned by the statistician seem to indi-
cate. however, hat climate md the de-
gree of civilization are among the most
important factors influencing lon
Scvity. More people of over 100 years
arc found in the mild zone Of southern
Europe than in the higher ATTITUDES,
with their long and severe winters. In
countries with q highly developed civ
il:zation comparatively fewer cases Of
longevity are found han in more print
tive countries. The statistics also show
that in agricultural countries the per-
centage of people over 100 years old is
greater than in countries principally
devoted to industries. Some of the fig
ures collected nre, indeed, surprising.
According to the last census the Ger
man empire has a population OF about
$4,000. 900. Among them there are only
Is who have passed the hundredth year.
France, with q population of barely 49,.
000, 200, car boast of 2l3 persons who
have celebrated their centennial in
good health. The figures in regard to
Great Britain are very interesting anil
significant. OF persons who have
passed the century mark there are in
England 146, in Ireland SIS. and in
Scotland only i6. Another peculiar fast
is the unequal distribution of lon
gcvity in the Scandinavian peninsula.
sweden has only ten centenarians.
While rugged Norway. with n popula-
tior of only about 10000, 900, can
beast OF % people who have lived
o'cr five score Of years. There.
is but five ~centenarians in the
industrial beehive OF Belgium, only
two in sea girt Denmark. and not
n single one in Switzerland. with it,
snow-clad mountains.
Figures from Russia, Austria and
Italy could not be obtained. For Rus
sic no census has ever been taken, AMI
data as TO the age OF individuals are
unreliable in that country. unless they
are based upon official researches. Such
cases would. of course, not enable a
statistician TO use them as n foundation
for any comparison. In Austria md
Italy local censuses have been made,
but they we've mostly confined to clties
m certain industrial districts, and no
cnrn nfafa fnpy.G ,n,,Il L. 4It...
The most astonishing figures are fur
nished by the south Of Europe. Spain,
with n population of about $4,000, 900.
has 4Ol people over 100 years of age.
Even more favorable TO longevity the
climate of the Balkans seems to be.
Scrvia, with n total population of about
2.o3o.000, has no less than SIS people
Il have passed the century mark;
Roumania. with a population Of $780,
900, 1854. II Bulgaria. with n popula-
ton OF 100000 even 3,sS3. In one
year (lS92) there were $50 IeTsons Of
more than 100 years included in the
mortality reports of Bulgaria. In the
minute kingdom OF Servia there were,
according to the census of 1892, 200 per-
sons between LOG md us years Of age,
l53 between lis and l25 years, IS be-
tween l25 and 1875 and three between
135 and 40.
The question, who Is the Oldest per-
son in h world? has often been asked,
and every now and then some claim in
that respect is set up in favor of some
individual Of uncertain nge. a few
years ngo a report went through tn.
continental press OF Europe saying that
in Russia a man had been found who hal
reached the ripe old age OF 100 years.
However, no proofs were given for that
assertion. According to the researches
Of the German statistician. the oldcs,
person in the world. whose age Ia ,
bt IN proved beyond n doubt, is Bruno
Cotrim, q negro, who was born in AZ.
ricarl50 years ngo and now liyes in Rio
de Janeiro. Next comes n c%oachman In
Moscow, with 40 years to his authen-
tically established record. The oldest
woman in the world is 100 years old, but
does not want to have her name men.
tened. because she thinks that there
are many older women in this world.
who might feel offended IL the palm
were awarded to her.-Cincinnati Com
mercial Tribune.