Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-07-06

J have seen three centuries. That, of course, does not mean that they then will be 300 years old, but only that they were born at the close of the svY- enteenth century, and lived through opening of the to-be-more wondersu. this wonderful nineteenth, to see the twentieth.
 There are a number of these old peo- pie in the United States and some of them were born here. when the repub lie was in it's infancy. They saw the times that tried mems souls;" they remember Washington and his Con- tinentals, and old Tippecanoe Harrison and old Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor fighting in Mexico at the head of the American army; and Mcclellan and Grant and Lee and Stonewall Jackson and Sherman and Sheridan mixing 1t Up in the fratricidal strife that marked the passing of slavery and the martyrdom of Lincoln; they saw the first steambeats and the first rail- road trains and the introduction of electricity; and h their old age they have come upon people balancing themselves upon two wheels and traY- cling about over the country at sur prising speed; they have wondered at the harnessing of electricity and its use as motive power to drive cars and carriages, and engines that once were run by steam; they have just seen war between nations finished of in a few short months. with modern fight ing implements. that In their youth would have lasted for years; they have seen the United States grow from aR infant republic to a world power, and they appreciate the marvellous in the things that to the youth of today seem commonplace.
 There were no records of births and deaths kept in this country when these old people were young. so there is no way in which their number can be con- puted with exactness. But a competent authority has estimated that there are at least TOO of them scattered about over the states. In the older countries of Europe, however, these records have long been kept Up. and over there It has been figured out that on the first day of the twentieth century there will be over 1000 persons living who were live on the last day of the eighteenth century.
 Seryia Is especially the country of centenarians, and leaves all other Eu- ropean countries hopelessly in the rear in the longevity race. One man in 2,260 has seen 100 years, and, in all, Serxia boasts 575 men of 100 years or over.
 Ireland ranks next, with one cente- marian in every S.13o of the population. or SIS in all.
 Spain favors length of years. and out of 43,000 Spaniards one is centena- rian. with a total of 401.
 Norway. numbers 23, or one in about 96,O0O.
 England. Scotland and Wales rank next with 192, or one in about IT, 900.
 France has 213 eentenarians. or one in 1S0. 75O.
 i Sweden ranks seventh. with 20 only. or one in 250,O00
 Germany has 7S. or one in 705, 900.
 Denmark only claims ?. or less than one to 1.000.o00 of it's pc ~lation; and Switzerland, with all it's Feputed health l mess. seems not to possess a single I centenarian
 In Northampton England, a latter ] day Methuselah lies buried in the porch l of All Saints church John Bailes' | gravestone declares that he lived to be l26, but local tradition adds yet an other four years t9 the tetal This re- vised version is reached thus; Bailes affirmed thal when he was a boy of 12 4 he was present at Tu6a5. when Queen Elizabeth reviewed her troops. and as that was in 1888 and he died in 1706 ] his age was 130 Instead of 126 Against this Is the testimony of the parish reg ister. which reduces the age of it's John Baiies to about H. There is no proof that the Jehn Bales of the register was the Bailes Of the tablet The latter had daughter who claimed two years moro than century for her spar of life, and that achievement counts certainly in her fathers favor. Leav- ing him, then. in undisputed possession of his l30 years. John Bales began life under Queen Elizabeth, and finished 1t under Queen Anne, thus seeing out all these rulers: James l., Charles l.. Cromwell. Charles IT.. James II. and William and Mary! These old people seem to have stood to one side while the procession of life marched by, friends without number have come in- to their lives and gone out again; hay- ing lived longer their grlefs must have been greater. or at the least more nu- merous than those of their fellows, but so. too. perhaps. were their joys. And now in the fullness of their days