Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1901-05-03
WHERE MEN LIVE LONGEST.
Nations OF Most Activity Show Lowest Records
as to Lonsevity-Some Comparisons.

iNdtOuS " NtOSb ftltiNNy JHOW LOWCSt NCNoIuS
as to Lonsevity-Some Comparisons.
Pittsburg Commercial Gazette.
A writer on philosophic subjects re-
Gently declared that "old age is the
terror of youth and the darkening
cloud that obscures the serener joys of
middle life" The rhetoric of the
proposition is unimpeachable, but we
doubt the facts. Whatever may be
the disadvantages of old age there are
few people who do not want to live as
long as. or longer, than the present
span of natural life. In America that
span is being shortened with every
new generation. Some recently pub
lished statistics prove that America
leads the other nations in the world
in the record OF abbreviated longevity.
All those countries in which modern
civilization has gained ascendancy
show a corresponding reduction in the
average length of human life. The
natural deduction from these statistics
is, therefore, that the strenuous life is
incompatible with longevity. Where
men live much in few years nature
exacts the penalty in the shape of a
dozen years or more clipped from the
last half OF their stay on earth. 1t is
the "shut.in" populations that fur
nish the largest number of centena-
rians. The active. aggressive people,
the real makers OF history to-day, are
the short-lived people. Intensity is
the foe of long life. There are nc
statistics available from China, but
conditions there would indicate the
existence of many very old persons.
The big, half torpid population of the
Mongolian empire offers excellent op.
portunities for long life, if mere stag
nation be encouragement to continued
existence. Next to China's supposed
superiority in this respect, comes Ser.
via, the little Baltic principality.
Here in a population of barely 2,0OO,-
600 souls there are 375 persons beyond
the age OF 100 years. Servia's climate
may have something to do with the
longevity of its people, for it is the
most equable on the globe. Ireland
comes next, strange to say. Out of a
population of 100000 there are 57S
persons over 100 years of age. Then
comes Spain, with its medieval civil
ization and its constant cry "man-
ana"-to-morrow. Here people live
to remarkably old age, and there are
over 500 centenarians among the
Spanish speaking races.
On the other hand, the active ma
tions show a correspondingly low rec
ord in producing people who live be-
yond the century mark. Out of Ger
many's 55,OOO,OOO population only 7S
centenarians could be found. France
is q little better, showing 214 out Of a
population OF 40OOO,OOO. But in
Paris the average length of life is one
fifth less than in the rest of France,
thus showing that where once the
whirl of modern life is felt men live
their lives quickly and pass away in
comparative youth. American statis-
tics show only 46O centenarians, >but
we doubt seriously the accuracy of
these figures. At any rate, the Amer
ican life is said to be wholly unfavor.
able to longevity, and is growing more
90 with each succeeding generation.
The conclusion is that to live long
one must live in mild climate in the
temperate zone. Anxious ambition
must be set aside. Intense and mad
desire to get on in the world or to ap.
pear we'll to ones fellows must be sac
rifced. Life out of doors, a lazy, do
nothing, stagnate existence, in which
ambition has no place and achieve
ment no ally. These, according to
the statistics we have cited, are neces.
sary in order to gain many years.
But would such q life be worth the
living? "Better so years of Europe
than a cycle of Cathay."