Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-03-10
cENrENARIaNs OF THE WORLD.
America Far in the Lead and Women
Ahead Everywhere.

From the Courier des Etats Unis.
1t is sufficient to take look at the sta
tistics of the ccntenarians to be struck with
the extraordinary. superiority that is ell
joyed by the female sex. The census of the
population of the United States in 1870
shows that out of 1881 persons who. were
more than 100 years old 2.5Sa were women
and LESS men. In truth. these figures can
not be accepted without reserve. IF we take
into account the number of sehtenarians,
tolerably authentiei that exist ia France
and in England liz Is difficult TO iadnit that
in the Unitedi States. longevity SHOULD as
sumo such a MARVELLOUS develoIuient.
If the rnen,, and especially she womens
who approach the 50th year, bt liaTe passed
it. take Il few years off the date Of their
birth. u sort Of patriarchal vanity induces
the octogenarians of both sexes to mako
themselves older in order TO win the glory
of having passed an entire century. 1t
should be remembered that birth; registra-
ton does not exist in the Limited States,
ana that the assertions OF the lillterate
whites and of the negroes in regard TO
their age are far from meriting unlimited
confidence. The old slaves that We're made
free after the war of secession did not
know, as Il matter of fact what year they
came into the world. and. moreover. they
often exhibited a fC.dness for astonishing
the census takers by, giving astounding
ages. II will probably he necessary. there
fore. to reduce the legions of centenarians
of all colors which the official statistics of
the government OF the United States proud
ly display.
The figures proved by French documents
inspire less suspicion, because they are far
more modest. In 1895 there were in France
only 66 men and 14l women who passed the
age of 100 years. This makes total of
2l3 persons, very modest number, no
doubt, when it is compared with tie 39sl
centenarians of the United States. By TAX
ing into account the difference that exists
between the population of the two coun-
tries; the number of old people whose btrth
goes back to more than a century is tenth
of what 1t is in America. The difference is
too great for probability.
The official documents of the British gov
ernment give no less plausible guarantees
of authenticity than the results of the CEN
sus in France and they furnish us with
testimony worthy of belief in regard TO
the number of centenarlanS that exist in
certain portions of the United Kingdom.
In London, for example there were in 1891
twenty-one persons who were more than
century old. By curious coincidence the
number of centenarians who are still! alive
are not counted in the total in which the
deaths are given, it is presumable from this
comparison that the pure air of the
mountains is much more favorable for hu-
man longevity than the foggy atmosphere
of the Thames. Nevertheless, the most in
teresting fact In these English documents
is that in London, as well as in Scotland.
the same proportion exists in the quotas
furnished by the two sexes to the favored
society of the centenarians. Out OF twenty
reached the age of 100. sixteen are women
and five men. In spite OF the difference in
the climate and the mode of living, this
proportion is maintained with rigorous ex-
actitude in the fogs of the metropolis of
the United Kingdom, and in the pure. cold,
but salubrious air of the Grampian hills.
In France, out of ten centenarians, there
were seven women and three men. The
sex that it is no longer proper to call fair
when it reaches that degree of longevity
more than doubles the other in centenari-
ans, although unlike those of the other side
of the channel lit does not reach the
astounding. majority of more than two
thirds. According to the calculations of a
learned Englishman in regard to .he num-
ber of countries where it is possible for
statitsticians to procure the evidence wor-
thy of absolute belief, the proportion is 43
to 23-that is, nearly twice as many.
This shows that the quota of the con-
tingent which both sexes furnish to the
privileged corporation of centenarians can
not for want of indisputable documents be
fixed with rigorous precision. but one point
is beyond doubt, and that is that wom-
an has two or three times many chances
as man to pass the 100-year mark.