Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-30
LONGEVITY INSTANCES
MODERN CASES WHERE PERSONS
HAVE LIVED TO GREAT AGE.
Investigations Made by the London
Lancet-Men Nearly Two
Centuries Old
From the London Standard.

From the London Standard
The average duration Of human life seems.
at first, to have been abnormally high and
then to have sunk quite low. only to be
raised again. OF course. no one Is ever
likely to equal the 969 years attributed TO
Methuselah or the 9G2 years of Jared. but
there seems to be no good reason why the
age Of 10 or so should not lie reached H.
the future a great deal more often thar Il
now is. In the seventeenth century the
average age TO which mankind lived was
only just over thirteen. but then they had
TO contend against war. famine and pesti-
lence. as well as doctors. The average at
present is about thirty-eight. which in
cludss. of course. infant mortality. Fur
Their, it is computed that in England. at tn,
present time. out of 1000 people over 100
reach the age OF seventy-five. thirty -eigh,
reach eighty-five and two attain to ninety
five, while one person in about every 5000
becomes centenarian. In former times.
however, man OF fifty was considered old
and resident OF 100 made a town or n vii
lage famous. We do not, however pro-
pose here to deal with mere ceutenarisus
but with men who have lived TO ages Of l2a
and upward
The Record Breaker.
The record probably is held by Michael
Soils. who. according to the Lancet. was
living In Bagota in 1878. He claimed To be
living in Bogota I'm 1878. He claimed to be
Hernandez. man Of over eighty years OF
age. who investigated the case. knew him
as a centenarian when he himself a
boy. But the signature OF Michael Soils.
who is a half-breed, is extant on docu-
ment referring to the building Of Francis
can convent at San Salvador. under tn,
date lI12, so that he was not quite so young
ha a .HgEa IL. I'LL
is very little doubt about the authenticity
of this remarkable case. The Lancet in
Vestigated il thoroughly in 1878. and cam,
TO the conclusion that the man was at least
$50 years old then. Ii was in 1895 that DIR
Hernandez made his inquiries and in 1895
he was still alive. so that his age, III NJ
died in that year, was only two years shor.
of two centuries. Michael Soils attributed
his extraordinary longevity to his regular
mode of living. He used to cat but one
me al a day, and that he allowed TO get
quite cold before he touched il. while II
consisted of the strongest and most nour-
ishing foods obtainable For two days I'm
every week. however, he tasted. and on
these occasions only drank large quantities
of water.
Yorkshire's Oldest Man.
A man who runs close second to Mich
ael Soils was born in the parish of Bolton,
in Yorkshire, In the year 1900. This was
Henry Jenkins, who was brought up to
the business of a fisherman, which en-
ployment he followed for over one hundred
and forty years. On the occasion of n trial
i'm York. involving the question of Gus
tom which had been followed for years I'M
counted. jenkins was called, as being thu
oldest man in the parish to give evidence
In addition To him were called two other
men. both on the verge of hundred. who
both declared on oath to the judge that
Jenkins was an old man when they were
little boys. The age Of this modern Me
thuselah was exactly 500 years less than
that of the real patriarch. for he was laid
to rest in Bolton Church in the year 1861.
when he was 1G9 years old. The int resting
things in history which this old man saw
happen Were extraordinary. When he was
born popery was by law the established
religion He saw the papal supremacy
thrown off. two queens beheaded, the mon
astorics dissolved, and the Protestant re-
ligion become the law of the land. Then
popery came in again, and was finally over
thrown forever. During his time the whols
navy of Spain was destroyed by the Eng
fish, ard the republic of Holland was
formed. He was. i'm fact an eyewitness
of the most stirring scenes of modern his
tory.
Thomas Parr.
Next came the famous Thomas Parr.
This man lived during the roigns Of ter
soVoreigns Of England. and holds the rec
ord i'm that particular, Jenkins having seen
only eight reigns-BOt including the com
monwealth Parr was living at the sam"
time as Jenkins. having be,n born in 1883,
and he died in 1853. which makes his age
1.i2 years He WAS husbandman. ard fol
lowed this calling steadily for 100 years
He was twice married. the second time
when he ought To have known bctter-that
is when he was aged l2D years. The off
spring of this marriage was soE, who APP
parently inherited his fathers recipe foI
longevity for he managed to keep alive for
10 years, and had son who made a good
attempt to emulate his grandfather, by
living to the age of l2i years.
Women have their share of longevity just
as mon have. but they do not attain To
nearly the same ages as thrir worse halves.
The oldest woman living ut present that
is the oldest known. is probably Mrs.
Nancy Hollfeld. She is a lady of color.
and has attained to the age If 12l years.
Her case was investigated by the Rev. e
Lee some six years ago. and he then found
her age to be 10 years. The gentleman,
who died I'm his ninetieth year. remembered
Mrs Holifield as his nurse. and that she
had at that time several children. that
the estimate cannot be far short of the
mark She lives near Peterborough, n. q.