The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-28
DEAR BOUGHT.
,HE GREAT FAMINE PROVINCES OF SPAIN
1sad che World in the Production of asss Centenarinns.

Isad che World in the Production of Centonarinns.
 #yyrhe countries of southern Europe are Beginning to publish their centennial l2fAtistics and a few months ago this &xyealed the surprising fact that the famine provinces of Portugal and Spain
 Sad the world i'll the production of cen-
 xnarians. In rocky Algarve, in drouth- StrSed Aragon and Estremadura, pre- 331Aiv In those portions of the old penin-
 (iia where the struggle for existence IS <1o9t discouraging, a remarkable num- ker of peasants and petty government
 5fAcials have exceeded the psalmists Average by a quarter of century or
 n6re, They are mostly villagers, these
 iIfvivors under difficulties, and with
 me exceptions children of poverty,
 8rely able to indulge in any pleasures yYlS1 pastines tending to make lire
 Rorth living. How could they escape
 Eeth by ennui-undoubtedly a foe to
 Se persistence of vital vigor?
 &3EXQIAIldLlOIl lS Od65CoSON NJ NN'~
 Rct that human life can be protracteo
 YssS " combination of abstemiousness
 Itd Qllietism. A torch, blazing in the
 VYlirlStorm of a gale, needs an abun-
 xnt supply of fuel but rushllght'
 kTniilg in the sheltered nook of a
 211ber. can be fed on a minimum or
 Iss4a ef1iall spoonful per hour, provl-
 X6 fkat the flame is protected against StSfv air current On the same plan 6eA lainp of vitality can be kept a. k5rninx for long series of decades.
 3nf,trollinE wrath, stunning exciting
 ie4Sures. avoiding violent emotions or &5f 41kinds avoiding also all extremes or
 tiysical exercise. will reduce the ex- |Sxfidifure Of vital vigor to that Of the 2SbtiISs that crawl into distances Of { IKE unattainable to many of their 3Dra actiye fellow creatures. It is the *a3rf xeyityeof hern1its and widowed coun- {ly parsons. It is the survival of pfis- < 3erh fed on scant rations, but doomed l> ei1forced Inactivity and saved from
 srVSw about the means of subsistence.
 $tv{{ {Xerfck MeYltzel, the Saxon chan
 ~ 3w r1ark. who caused the outbreak Of l y sS 3nvcn years' war by selling the se- 3f95 ff,f his government, was kept thlr- IN v2ssr rae sfn cell just large enough for
 Bench, pail and pallet, but too small
 26r 3llv attempt at pedestrian exercise,
 III Varnhagen von Ense mentions the aSffil stranger case of the prisoner Dar-
 Sx} Fl sborn 1774 in Karskod, near Fra l4~ efSterr Poland, brought to Novgo- SS6 fn tfs twenty second year as con- "A py1ccian ana soon i${te ter sentenced to death for mutiny IEnd assault with intent to Kill. Ine 5E;MYureSs Catharine, acting on re- < of the governor or NOV |s S6fod. commuted his sentence to im- i5r4 42ciiment for life, but ordered that on X SfverY Anniversary of the deed Gan at- eS$i1tnf,t sto Kill his coloneD the convict {; SlJknifld he put in the stocks and kept on |95it.I Ix frafions for week after, the full S5snf t0n hainF two pounds of black bread SzI a1I Ard a tug of cold water" On $ ' i2sSI farms Darapski was boarded at 4 j2s S6vfres, of Kiriloy till 1863, when f.t Hf Sfs " 4nhnroach of his ninetieth bigihday < iys vas again recommended to mercy xsid liberated by order or the czar' < Sftvs with his white hairs induced ms A3 3Siiars to connive at occasional devla- fift from the rule of solitary conf1ne- F K aesIik He was allowed to sweep the < E4f2 7isrs and to gather chips for his |E'33} fffaA HfoyA. but an improvement in his N2yiet was granted only after his elgn- < 4i3th year, when he received smail
 f3ixce of bacon, and an occasional pint x IF yyrup with his rye bread.
 Irhe oeagants of western Spain De- x " 'iyftiee accustomed to an almost equally E ff fiSal bill of fare. Ash cakes, as hard 6 III navy buscuit, and a dish of brown sga 636Ils constitute the staples of their
 ftyd: meat only on Sundays, and a slice <S6f cheese when they are doing extra S yy0rk in the harvest season. As rule z MX4ey tIo not leave their novels before < Iit.. and trudge about in a listless way sSfbr three or four hours, wedding then &3 i1ti- parched fields or gathering prush- f SrtYod on the li1lsides. Their after din sle er Isfesta may last till 4 D. m.. when 5 4hey sally once more and hunt up theil 2 saIfrav cattle in the cool of the evening x They cannot sleep away all thelr leis- NtIre hours. but do what they can, and s{iayr dream through the long afternoon listening to the strumming of drowsy { &ait6r.
 z The time of field sports has gone by 4 Y3ah have become scarce in streams that Asl1dinH to rills every summer, and the ar3bor cottRgers cannot afford the price HS0f ammunition to hunt the few deer S(1j6At ptill haunt the uplands of the Sier- I'm. Bull fights there are, but only fol tlYe ecomparatively wellto-do burghers abk the large cities. Old Pedro Garcia Esfrtfefe to avoid the sting of envy, and N l1roWses away holidays on his little N rancl1e. On the other hand, nature nas < Saved him the main horror of helpless sold age; there is no risk of actual star < vation for beings of our species whe
 have learned to subsist upon parcheo SNG0rn and belotas, a sort Of sweet acorns that can be gathered by bushels i'll the forests of the highlands. A more unex-
 citinr existence cannot be imagined $ outside of a prison cell, for illlteracS lObliges the sluggish old rancher to ap' satair, even from mental emotions. Llte X thus stagnates; the stream meanderinf ' through treeless hills receives but re"
 afIuents, but the same drouths have SC
 reduced the speed of the currents tha
 the time of it's journey to the sea has
 beeu abnormally lengthened; some o1
 the drowsy rivers may lose themselves in a landlocked lake, dreary as dotage { hut even thus they can count upon pe'
 ing a long time on the way.
 { K But the question arises if longevity .s--....l,...,,a n, fbot unauuaT iS worth 'tt