Waterbury Democrat., 1902-04-22
LONG LIFE.

b, zinc. needle making and various other kindred trades. saps the constitutions of the laborers and brings them to ar early grave.
 Again, there is no cause for wonder that clerks, and, indeed, all those who are compelled to lead a sedentary life, often in unsanitary surroundings and with a paucity of outdoor exercise, fail to reach by any years the average period of life obtained by their more fortunate brethren.
 1 A consideration of the tables of oc- cupational morality of those which are 1 termed the higher classes, will, how ever, occasion some surprise among persons who have disregarded the mat ! ter.
 i pr Arlidge, an English physician, l has recently published the results of years of the close study of the sub ] ject, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, {: and his conclusions are instructive and valuable. Dr Arlidge has decided that the indolent rich are the shortest lived of all classes, and gives as the cause or this seeming anomaly that they worry their lives away. Doing noth- ing, or existing without a definite and l serious aim in life, leads inevitably i to constant round of so-called pleas ure, but which is really nerve racking labor of the most wearing kind. known ! as killing time." The man of means and or leisure becomes satiated with amusement, and finally life to him is not worth living. Of course all tine rich do not come under this category, and Dr Arlidge excepts the philantbro- plsts who have a purpose, and tbe rich traveller. who has his diversions, but the gilded youth, who lavishly squanderS natures best gifts, soon l finds that he has killed his zest for enjoyment. and he either dies of ou.e ennui, or literally burns himself out The farmer stands at the head of the list of long liyerS he generally has to toll hard, but his work is in the open air, and ill 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 ill life.
 l Next in order of longevity are tne clerical, legal and medical professions l The clergyman in the country leads a life somewhat closely resembling that of the farmer, he is much out of doors. his hours are necessarily regu- lar, and he is precluded by the nature of his calling from disSipated habits of worldly sort.
 The lawyers lines, so far as health i Is concerned. is not cast in s,1ch pleasant places. His life is q more strenuous one, generally full of ex- cltement, with the brain kept for the most of the time at high pressure, and l the nerves on the strain.
 Of the three learned professions the physlclan can calculate on the shortest He. A conscientious doctor must of necessity be the most Self-a abnegating or men; and, as rule, he has little or no time to think of himself as his nllnd IS continually burdened with the
 responsibEities of his practice. In Dolh town and country the medical I man IS compelled perforce to live un. der unnatural conditions; he is out a]l Wealners and at all times, and it may De truly said that a busy physician can hardly call an hour his own. Then ne IS constantly exposed to infection. ana large part of his life is spent in me depressing and deyitalizing atmos- phere Of the sick room. It, therefore. Will De no matter for surprise to learn | that, excepting artists, the largest humDer of suicides are recorded among members of the demicaI profes- sIon Insanity, also. has wrecked tbe minds of many brilliant physicians. I Politics, according to Dr ArIidge. is one of the most healthy of occupa- tlons. This fact has been proved time and agaln-Gladstone, Beaconsfield. Bismarck and Thiers are conspicuous examples or the truth of this state lnent. Great brain workers are mo- loflously long lived, and among liter ary men, scientists, professors aid teachers the mortality is far lower than among the industrial classes. There Tore pr Arlidge holds that activity of the mind, ii bent in the right direction. mas more to do with the health of the body than muscular exertion. but he thinks that judicious combination of 1 both forms of exercise brings about the ideal condition.
 Employers of labor are especially subject to heart affections Nervous complaints come second, apoplexy third and consumption fourth.
 The commercial traveller is a man who seldom reaches the allotted term of years. Irregular hours, too much drinking and smoking, and poorly cooked food are the factors that tentl to bring his existence to an untimely end.
 Policemen are. as class. vary healthy and live to an advanced age, due to the fact that they are chosen for their soundness, and that their life is largely spent in the open air Rhesl- matism is the affection with which the policeman is chiefly troubled. The mail carrier is healthy on account of his outdoor life but for the same req son is peculiarly subject to rheuma- l tism.
 The miner. notwithstanding that for eight of the twenty-four he is working cramped in q coal pit, shut out from the sun and ill an atmosphere thickly impregnated with coal dust, is. .on- trary to preconceived notions, healthy man and usually lives to q green old lage.
 Figures such as collected by Dr Ar lidge are not only curiously interesting, but provide most valuable data for the EcOmpilation of sanitary statistics from