The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-21
LONG LIFE.
Some Occupations More Conducive to
 It Than Others.

very great It can be easily under
 stood that factory work, and partieu
 larly of a certain kind, such as match
 making, working in copper, lead o
 zinc, needle making and various othel
 kindred trade, saps the constitutions
 of the laborers and brings them to al
 early grave.
 Again, there is no cause for wonder
 that clerks, and, indeed, all those Whc
 are compelled to lead d sedentary life
 often in unsanitary surroundings anc
 with a paucity of outdoor exercise, 1al
 to reach by many years the average
 period of life obtained by their more
 fortunate brethren
 A consideration of the tables ot oc-
 cupational morality of those which are termed the higher classes, will, now
 ever, occasion some surprise among
 persons who have disregarded the mat
 ter.
 Dr. Arlldge, an English physician
 has recently published the results of
 years of close study of the subject, l quoted in the Chicago Tribune" and
 his conclusions are instructive and val 1 uable Dr. Arlidge has decided that the 1 indolent rich are the shortest lived of all classes, and gives as the cause of
 this seeming anomaly that they worry their lives away. Doing nothing, or existing without a definite and serious
 aim in life leads inevitably to con-
 stant round of so-called pleasure, but 1 which is really nerve-racking labor of 1 the most wearing kind, known as kill 1 ing time" The man of means and of leisure becomes sated with amusement
 and family life to him is not worth living. Of course, all the rich do not come under this category, and Dr. Arlidge excepts the philanthropists who have a purpose, and the rich traveller
 who has his diversions, but the gilded youth. who lavishly squanders natures
 best gifts, soon finds that he has killed his zest for enjoyment, and he either dies of pure ennui, or literally burns himself out
 The farmer stands at the head of the list of long livers, he generally has to toll hard, but his work is in the open air, and in an altogether healthy en- vironment. Good digestion with him waits upon appetite and he eats heartily of wholesome food, which nourishes his frame and makes good red blood. The dissipation and vices of cities are unknown to him, although he has his innocent pleasures, and, above all, he is a man with an object
 in life.
 Next in order of longevity are the clerical legal and medical professions
 The clergyman in the country leads life somewhat closely resembling that of the farmer he is much out of doors, his hours are necessarily regular, and he is precluded by the nature of his calling from dissipated habits of a worldly sort.
 The lawyers lines, so far as health is concerned, are not cast in such pleasant places. His life is q more strenuous one, generally full of excitement, with the brain kept for most of the time at high pressure, and the nerves on the strain
 Of the three learned professions, the physician can calculate on the shortest life. A conscientious doctor must of necessity be the most self-abnegating of men; and, as a rule, he has little or no time to think of himself as his mind is continually burdened with the responsibilities of his practice. In both town and country the medical man is compelled perforce to live under un- natural conditions; he is out all wealth CTS and at all times, and it may be truly said that busy physician can hardly call an hour his own. Then he is constantly exposed to infection, and a large part of his life is spent in the and devitalizing atmosphere | of the sick room It, therefore, will be | no matter for surprise to learn that, | executing artists, the largest number | of suicides are recorded among mem | bers of the medical profession. Insanity, | also. has wrecked the minds of many brilliant physicians.
 Politics, according to pr. Arldge is | one of the most healthy of occupations. | This fact has been proved time and i again-Gladstone Beaconsfield, Bis i marck and Thiers are conspicuous ex amples of the truth of this statement | Great brain workers are notoriously L long lived. and among literary men, scientists, professors and teachers, the is far lower than among the class S. Therefore Dr. Arl,dga IlOluS that dtliNlly VI iilC iiiiiu, II bclit In the right direction, has more to do with the health of the body than mus ,ular exertion but he thinks that a iudicious combination of both forms of exercise brings about the ideal cond- ion.
 Employers of labor are especially | subject to heart affections. Nervous come second, apoplcxy third md consumption fourth
 The commercial traveller is a man vho seldom reaches the allotted term If years Irregular hours, too much and smoking, and poorly cooked food are the factors that tend o bring his existence to an untimely nd
 Policemen are, as class, very lealthy and live to an advanced age, Iue to the fact that they are chosen for heir soundness, and that their life is argely spent in the open air, Rheuma- ism is the affection with which the po- iceman is chiefly troubled. The mail- arrier is healthy on account of his out oor life, but for the same reason Is ecularly subject to rheumatism The miner, withstanding that for ight of the twenty-four he is working ramped in a coal pit shut out from the un and in an atmosphere thickly im- K regnated with coal dust, is, contrary, ) preconCeiVed nations, a healthy man