New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-04-16

ONE PERSON IN FIFTY THOUSAND MAY
REACH THE HUNDRED-YEAR MARK.

i+tIACft he fs<hfN MANN
From The Spectator
II does not appear quite easy to be a centena-
Ran. Sir c. Cornewall Lewis no doubt was rash
in assuming il to be impossible. and Mr.. Thorn,
the Librarian of the House of Lords. who. after
exhaustive investigation, pronounced such cases
TO be excessively rare was probably the victim
Of preconceyed idea; but even I. T.. Young.
the very newest authority, the late president OF
the Institute Of Actuaries is evidently inclined
TO think that the normal life Of the healthiest
and most enduring persons is considerably less
than a century. The general conclusion of his
very interesting and instructive though rather
overloaded book upon the subject is that the in
stances of abnormal longevity which. however,
do occur are SO to speak. sports or alterations.
The length Of the potential life cannot it is true,
be proved for there is no absolute reason either
in theory or in science why life should ever end,
any more than there is shy should not
be twelve feet high. but universal experience or,
as it is sometimes called, the rule Of fire.
quency.' is sufficient evidence.
Human life. Mr. Young moreover thinks ends
even i'm aberrant cases very close to the century.
The longest life Of which there is proof that
would satisfy an insurance office does not exceed
1O6 years. The duration Of patriarchal life as
serted in Scripture. however the statement may
be explained. cannot refer to individual life and
the cases so often quoted of Jenkins. Parr Cor
narO and others remain entirely without veri-
cation. They sometimes frauds sometimes
bunders and sometimes merely instances of ig-
norant creduty. The number even of centena-
rianS is exceedingly few. The inquiries Of the
Institute Of Actuaries and the Faculty Of Actu-
aries. together with those Of the actuary Of the
national debt office cover more than eight hun
dred thousand lives, and among them only TWEEN
ty-two indisputabe cases Of life prOtracted be-
yOnd the century can be discovered. Of whom
four were males and eighteen females. These. II
VIII be observed were all picked lives. persons
either accepted by the offices because they were
likely TO live, or persons with comparatively good
means who had unusual confidence in their own
chances n survival and therefore hDu0ht
tiles. lMr Young. indeed. makes the exceedingly
acute suggestion that people really know good
deal about their own constitutions. and that
consequently the Self-SelectiOn OF lnnuitants by
themselves impairs the accuracy OF many calcu-
lationsD 1t follows that even among such per-
sons the chance Of any one reaching a hundred
is only about one in fifty thousand while as the
assured especially among women, have usually
surmOunted the great dangers Of life. the chance
OF any one taken unfortunately from the pop
ul1tion is almost indefinitely less
REQUISITES TO LONGEVITY.
The custom Of humanity is therefore against
any one who wishes 10 be a centenaran. while
apparently his own action will help him very
little. the conditions Of longevity being in great
measure involuntary. Moderation in hesh-eat-
ing. il is true. and in the drinking Of alcohol
conduces to heightened life. and does placid
temperament. which. however. must not. We sus-
pcct. be artificial as perpetual self-restraint cX-
hausts vital energy. but the three main cOndi-
tons were settled before the aspirant was born
He should be Of spare habit which is consitu
tiOna; h. should be Of medium height. over
which. as Scripture tells US. he has no CONTROL
and he should be born in one Of those families
the members OF which have a general habit Of
living To eghty-ive or ninety. This is much
the most important requisite Of all and It is not
quite established that it il not a universal one
Whence the quality is derived is not yet under
stood but it is beyond question that there exist1
in some families quality as separate as any
race popularity which enables majority Of It's
members to go on living beyond the average
period. They are not physically stronger than
,ther people and they as often attacked by
disease but they have a power Of recovering
themselves completely after Illness which other
men do not possess and they consequently de-
cay more slowly. 1t is probable. though not
certain. indeed. that this popularity extends to
whole races. and that the greater average dura-
ton Of Western as compared with Eastern life
derived from il. The Asatic-that is. he who IL
never attacked by severe illneSs-lives as long
a the European. but if he is attacked he has an
inferior faculty Of recuperatiOn. He does not re-
cover SO completely. he dies at once II
should be- added that for those wishing 10 be
centenarians II is convenient to be born
woman for the present popular notion. which
Mr. Young shows 70 be comparatively new that
old women tend To live longer than old men is
absolutely true so true as TO affect the tables Of
all life insurance societies. More Of them pass
the Tooth year. and they pass II by Ion ger
period Of time. though at last the oil burns out
in the lamp Of both sexes. (This burning out Of
luT Oll IL. ny lHS. way DHt VI bHr DFSl al gu
mcnts for the usually illogical belief Of the ma
terialists. II suggests that a may have at
birth a certain quantity ~ the essence called
life. commonly supposed TO be- immateriai or
spiritual and that when this is used up he ceases
as a living being to EXIST
AN INCREASE PREDICTED.
VIII the total number Of centenarians III
crease The answer must almost certainly be IN
the affirmative. at least regards the comfort
able classes They tend. as every on" can see
for themselves. to live longer. The - consid-
cradle evidence that in the fourteenth hftAenth
and sixteenth centuries men Of seventy were
considered very aged. and that man OF eighty
nd Of TIM, num-