The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-01-15
A L0NG-LlYED RACE.

persons who had passed mid-lifc.
Some brainlcss fellow, Of rcputcd
scientific attainments, started the con-
troversy by averring that the mature
should avoid every form of systematic
exercise, for fear it might produce
atrophled muscles anG quick death!
Of course, the contention was silly,
and the doctor who put it forward was
promptly told to "Go way back and
sit down" but it suggested to me
little investigation that proved inter
esting and whose results believe will
be Of benefit to Physical Culture read
ers.
The question of longevity has been
broachcd several times in connection
with physical culture, and numerous
isolated examples have been cited to
demonstrate the close connection be-
tween systematic exercise and length
of days.
asked myself, where would one be
likely to find the longcst-livcd race Of
mortals on the earth to-day, and what
would be their environment, anil !
commenced search Of statistics, re-
ports, legends, etc.. that led me vir-
tually into every quarter Of the globe.
Beginning with the vague tradition
of ancient times, that there were the
long-lived races in the Fast, con
suited the available data concerning
the divers tribes that dwell in the
Peninsula Of Asia, but, while fairly
good average of longevity was found,
no record existed of race or tribe
furnishing many examples Of extreme
age within historic times.
A great majority Of the people liv-
ing there, including the inhabitants of
Persia and Arabia, lead active outdoor
lives, live on the product of their
focks and fields, are hardy, rcmarka-
bly, free from so-called epidemic dis
eases, and their average life is longer
by considerable number of years
than that of Europeans or Americans.
But not phenomenally so, and their old
men are no older, as rule, than our
old men.
Careful search of the data at hand
of the land of Confucius failed to re-
veal more than the occasional long
lived individual. The average life
there compares about with that of
Europe and the United States. But
they have their legends Of longer
lived ancestry, and their history goes
far enough back to show time when
hundred -ycar-old man was common.
Among the uncivilizcd people then
the primitive pcoplc-I decided
search would have to be made, if the
world was to furnish any examples of
truly long-lived race existing at
present.
Little that is authentic in this line
could be learned Of the Maiays and
sayages of Africa. In the latter coun-
try, where the aboriginal subjects his
stomach, in most cases, TO unusual
trials, they age rather quickly, and
there is no way Of knowing the aver
age number of years the individual
lives.
The American Indian as a rule is
altogether cleaner, more manly; and
here, in an offshoot Of one of the an
cient civilized tribes, we encounter
the longest-lived individuals and
greatest average eff life to be found
among the inhabitants of the earth to-
day.
THIS peculiarly blessed people, who
live and enjoy life scores of years be-
yond the span supposed to be allotted
to man, dwell in Edenic land. Their
territory borders the Paraguay River
of South America for some hundreds of
miles and extends westward as far as
the Andes Mountains. 1t lies almost
wholly in tropical limits, and the
palm and its kindred are prominent in
the fauna of the region.
The Indians who dwell in. this vast
territory are known to the Spanish
settlers as the Chaco tribes, and it is
noteworthy fact, that although war
has been made upon them for over
three hundred years, first by the
Spanish authorities, and later by the
Governments Of the neighboring re-
publics, they still maintain their lib
erty, their unity, and the free possess
sion Of one of the most fertile tracks
in the world. Legend has it that they
are descendants Of the ancient Incas,
who fed over the mountains after the
bloody conquest Of their country and
took to roaming these fertile plains.
ManV wears ago when Snanish cavo