Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-06-13
OCCUPATION AND LONG LIFE.
le Has Been Shown That the Rich and IndoIent
Are Not Long on Earth.
Memphis Times-Stai


An English physician, after years OF
close study OF the subject, has pub
lished some statistics on longevity that
are interesting and instructive.
He has reached the conclusion that
the rich and indolent people are the
shortest lived of all classes. And he
follows up this rather unusual state
ment with the assertion that the cause
for this, paradoxical as it may seem,
lies in the fact that rich people worry
themselves to death.
In his list showing the relative
length of life in various occupations,
the statistician shows that the farmer
lives longer than any other worker.
His is about the bealthiest occupation,
long hours and hard work in the open
air, good digestion and a healthy
appetite give him strong frame and
the good red blood that are character.
istic of his kind.
The clerical life is next in order,
the clergyman in the country leading
life OF outdoor freedom in many in
stances that compares favorably with
that OF the farmer. He must OF ne
cessity keep regular hours and lead q
life of temperance and unwordliness
where his pleasures are concerned.
The lawyer is next in the list, but
because Of strenuous brain work, high
nervous tension and life of excitement,
his number OF days is not so extended
as that OF the other two professions.
OF clergymen, lawyers and doctors,
we are told that the last named can
calculate on the shortest life. A ply.
sician, to be a success and follow his
calling conscientiously, must be the
most self-sacriicing, self-denying man
among all others. His time, his very
life and thoughts, are mot his own.
He lives under no system of regularity,
he is subject at all times to journeys
in any kind of weather, and his own
rest and comfort are points not to be
considered when he is needed. The
conscientious physician is one of the
heroes whom the world must ever rec
ognize, and his life is sacrifice to the
needs of others. The life of the men
of medicine is so strenuous that as a
class of people given to suicide they
rank next to artists. Insanity is a
great enemy to physicians lives.
The political boss, the ward heeler,
and the office-seeker may or may not
be included in the statement that" pol
is one of the most healthy of occupa.
tions." DIR. Arlidge, the compiler of
these statics, points out Beaconsfeld,
Gladstone, Bismarck and Theirs in
proof of this statement.
Activity of the mind along literary
lines is conducive to long life, the
great brainworkers, such as writers,
scientists, teachers and professors, be.
ing notorious, mental activity bent in
the right direction and after a Judi.
cious fashion brings about an ideal
condition of health.
Heads OF large corporations and EN-.
ployers of labor are subject to heart
affections, nervous complaints, apo
plexy, and consumption, and so their
lives are continually threatened and
materially shortened.
The commercial traveller, with hasty
and irregular meals, generally poorly
cooked, has added to his uncertain
habits of living a menace to life that
is Il grave one, and his days on earth
are necessarily considerably shortened.
Policemen and mail carriers come
high up in the scale of long lived peo-
pie, and strange to say the miner, with
his pitiful life of darkness, shut away
in the coal pits for hours at time,
often live to a green old age.