The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12
MAN IS GROWING BETTER
TALLER. STRONGER AND LONGER
LIFTED SAYS MIR. MCGEE
The Tendency of the Human Race Forward
White Mans Superiority to the Saw
nEe - Herbert spencer Wrong About
Amcricnns-Less Drinking and Smoking.

4
prosperity has lost Its hardy virtues They
| admit superior excellence In individuals but argue
! mat the man OF today has become cnervated
| and degenerate They say that he Is overworkctl
| ana undcrfcd. They say that he has become
/ emnscuatcd by twentieth century civilization
| that he IL dctcriornting physically mentally and
| morally. These prophets Of evil then go on To
| patucularIrr. They point out that the long
| aud Irregular hours Of labor continuing in many
cases far into the night. and the high pitch to
which the nervous system IL wrought in per
| forming tho constant brain work required Of the
| man ot 10 day strain To the swapping point the
| vitality Of the individual. and lead To the con
/ slant use Of s,imulants They attest these argu
! ments by indicating the enormous total increase
| In the consumption Of liquor coffee tea and other
other stimulating drinks, alcoholic and non
| non alcoholic. Tobacco also they say In al
most universally used today
Such opinions arc not shared by W. j Melee.
chief OF the United States Bureau OF Ethnology.
whose business IL To study Just such questions.
Man is To day nj the high water mark Of his
development as compared with tho past" he said
when questioned on the subject Looking for.
ward II may safely be predicted In view OF the
present progress that tho |, 500 900 900 Of human
beings who inhnbt the globe are making that We
are but ON tic eve II development which as far
'hHN''HuN 'llh' vi 'f present. nv lIlf prtSnt sur
passes that of centuries since. There il certain
class Of prophets and historians which IL con
tinually trying To impress upon the men Of 10 day
their infcriotty to their parents in all ways except
those uf material progress The son. they say,
/" no, the physical. mental and moral equal
81 his father They look ever backward for good,
and e" distorted does th,ir vision become that in
looking forward they can see nothing but ,SIl
Now this view ~ wrong. let mc cmphnSi1c that
point EiS totally wrong The sOn II tu morrow
will prov" u better man in every way than the
father Of 10 day. lie will fhr surpass IN the clc
m"rts thnt 90 Ia make up real man hood the grand
father 81 Yesterday, 1T this. too b" rmpha
sll"d. but do not let It be- misunderstood The
world is moving "nwa ard and upward
one ~ tho hes, indications 81 the strength Of n
race nll things considered - the longevity Of its
pr,pl,-. Rccrntly there have bcrn c,numcd from
the ruins II rVmpcli number Of aciuarcs' tables
In 'hcsr the ancient Italian Insurance agents had
worked out carefully the expectation Of life for the
people with whom they did business When the
Italian nctuhncN tables were compared with the
ariIriIr- tables Ui III" insurance COMPANIES
now doing business IN the United States u r-
matkHhlr condition wh~ found a. obtain AT present
II WAS discovered that III" expectation ~ life ui
lh" Nm"ricnn cItIcu exceeds by eleven years the
"'p citation ~ the ancient lisllHu. The average
expectation ut liir ~ the United States exceeds
iH ~" YEAR III" aNriHgc expectation 81 life IN
England The estimates for England exceed IN
turn th" estimate, for France. Germany and Italy
aud ih"trNi - Eut"p" taken asa whole. 10y about
two Wears
\n,"rr important factor which must be- con
sii"r'i Nh, iir question II the Improvement II
mankind r- that 81 stature II - p fact that the
average Nu"ficuu ui tudhy = u taller man Than
the aN,,.p,s, founder ~ nm, ctItr, INC ny,t,,,"
EuEi~hntHu uf iu day B., iuhhl" tu rnras,' himself
III III" rfinur MEifh hrs 'uf'Drar. un rithcr sidr
M"t" ~ H." battle "' Lasting, iy way ~ ,unI
pHf~"u n niN h" remarked that the Nm-rrau
y an lu'h taller than n" ErgllShman. while the
tnsiShuhu IA Turn u nm inch taller than the
HN"tHrr t"uuu"utHl
'IluW dr"> the iNrthls" vh.t" man compare with
ihr savage iu I"tul 81 strength Wa asked
i ur"'ruu" that You have ~ nlnd the Indian
aud he traditional superiority N point II strength
aud endurance was Ia" answer. '\uN have
h'"d l"rE time among IA" Indians II know
any budN fancy that ri i the red man, aud ran
~ every way In the first place tn" white man
has mur" II ihn' quality huowu as bottom The
Whit" man can Nit more run further aud faster.
II" can W"rt more can -" NOR" aud ~ ia" course
# time HnD ifs'liy" can hrii the indian At any
81 h7 "Nn game v" "n tn" fac" "t tn" globe
".T'.u ,lr-r Is l1r uursr'nt ~ athletic records
\.'rI wear roll, rlnd That nuwhcrl,sr new
'r. ri~ ~" mot ">,uu'',u"1 \. y rul', the rrrurd
- last SEA. is "lua.rd ur "Srr!I~l tins year W.
,HguH lo'A hn., q" any old records They all
'"I Ia Ni'ulu in"s'' '.i III" irnSrut day IND not
"a" athlr "i inr new w.,iI N competition against
~" rfr"t- 81 tine rl> urlan game. NJ Nthens
break an Of stree records Il anliuuItg'
7 frurmnrr lhat Wu"n was n boy nu athletic
feat Of 90" tiny caused ~" greatest "N,Itrmrni
N"mnr hamm.n "alh"r G',"lnpl'Nh"d ~" 'ssN If
" ti" tine thiN Vas tic" lalk q IA" country
ii"" mnn' men d" 500 thlnN there a." IA TINS
Viii 'r'u" {" lilac" IA" uEuf" hrt""rn ten
thousand aud y hundred ihpUSrud
n'l li''hrf' SPENCE cam" t., ih.S c"unirv
the Nm"ryrN Is' pl" W"'" running themselves
I" death II" s.aI"H iha' h" believed tnHt they
would eventually M',nm" rrHIN. great must
the resultant urrN.u> strain h, from WORKING
a ia" nigh Nm'rrnu speed Mr. Spencer WAS
Wruur lie failed To- rrnli.r that We wrfr going
al an tNF luN b tlttun
~ a general raj" tuai pcupl" uu the average d.
what lh'l ar" able I" d.. and that what they
what thcy can 4" In Berlin IL" average man
walks ~ III" rate 81 two and half miles an hour.
l"r, Hnd IN Chicago, san Francis" and Denver
n" latter pHr" - exceeded But Mr Spencer
would haNr found, 4 hr had taken III" trouble
Ia investigate, that III" Hr"taE" length ~ h'r
~ \m"'irn exceeds u" average III England and
nat the proportion 81 our population thhtls con
less than IN either England France or Germany.
! b,cN" That th" greater amount of lnh"r iha'
the American able to stand IL due in cnns,dcrahl.
breakfast eater 81 the world tie invariably
commences III" day with good meal nf strong.
u" drag ON HIM ana he can surpaS- easily ~ r..
suits the Eurupcan who commences the day with
What de- You iii link 81 the statement ,hs, tn.
american people aye running their nerves by
thc,crGnsumru9n Of ,IIIc", ten and ,1bacro'"
lists have built their houses mostly upon n fnnn
daiion 81 sand II ~ true that the Use 81 these
beverages Is increasing aud has become almost
universal liut am inclined Ia think that they
ore much more of n blessing than a curse Ia the
race In fact. hnv" no doubt that the comfort
health aud longevity 81 the race Is increased by
the use II coffee and Ia lesser degree this state
mcnt IS true of tea rs well As "a tobacco. We
have no accurate data hut | have been greatly
interested IN observing the extent Ia which IN
harcn WAS used twenty or thirty years ago and
comparing its use then with It's Use Ia day Then
II was the exception e. lind n man who did not
smoke nj the end Uf dinner 10 day when din.
ing | observe that AT least half Of the gentlemen
refuse the cigars when they are passed around
In fact there * nothing 50 far Ms know 10 indi.
cate that the per capita consumption II tohacrn
is increasing Moreover | do not believe that
the "a" "i tobacco IL injurious In most instances
In fact, there oro cases in which its is posi-
lively beneficial
is drunkenness and the consumption Of nlco-
hOliC liquors On the increase and does the former
threaten Ia become u universal evil among the
American people
II shnud sHy decidedly no To any questions of
this kind We do not have 10 80 far back into the
history Of the Anglo Saxon race to lind time
when drunkenness was rife Passing over The
days al rlhaldry which marked the time ~ Charles
II and the Georges IN England, We come Ia the
earlier decades Of the present century During
that time IN our own american Congress drinking
was the rule, and almost any night numbers II
drunken congressman could BE- found gathered
around the gambling tables and IN the SalonIIS