The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-09
INSTANCES OF LONGEVITY
MODERN CASES WHERE PER
 SONS HAVE
Lived to Extreme Old Age-ResuLts of the Investigation of the Lancet Into the Causes of LongevIty-RemariS able Life of Michael Soils.

the Causes of LongevIty-Remaris
 able Life of Michael Soils.
 The average duratio 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 962
 years of Jared, but there seems to be
 no good reason why the age of 110 or
 so should not be reached in the future a
 great deal more often than it now is. In \ the sevnteenth century the average age
 to which mankind lived was only just
 over IS, but then they had to contend
 against war, famine, and pestilence, as
 well as doctors. The average at pres
 ent is about 3S which includes, of
 course, infant mortality. Further, 1t Is
 computed that in England, at the pres
 ent time, out of 1000 people over l0o reach the age of 75, 3S reach S5, and two attain to 95, while one person in about every 5000 becomes a centenarian. In
 former times, however, man of 90 was
 considered old, and a resident of 100 made town or a village famous. We do not, however, propose here to deal
 with mere centenarians, but with men 4 who have lived to ages of 120 and up- wards The record probably is held by Michael Soils who, according to the x Lancet, was living in Bogata in 1878. lie claimed to be at that time 1S4 years old, and Dr. Louis Hernandez man of over eighty years of age, who investi- gated the case, knew him as cen tenarian when he himself was boy, But the sigma lures of Michael Soils, 4 who is a half breed, is extant on a document referring to the building of Franciscan convent at San Salvador, under the date of 1712, so that he was not quite so young as he would wish people to believe There is very little doubt about the authenticity of this re-
 narkable case The Lancet investigat- ed it thoroughly in 1878, and came to the conclusion that the man was at least 1So years old then. It was in 1896 that pr. Hernandez made his inquiries, and in 1895 he was still alive so that his age. if be died in that year, was only two years short of two centuries, Michael Soils attributed his extraordin- ary longevity to his regular mode of i'AN''' day. and that he allowed to get quite cold before he touched it. while 1t con- sisted of the strongest and most pour- ishing foods obtainable. For two days in every week, however, he lasted, and on these occasions only drank large Quantities of water. A, man who runs close second to Michael Soils was born in the parish of Bolton, in York shire, in the year 1900. This was Henry Jenkins, who was brought up to the business of fisherman. which employ ment he followed for over TAO years, on the occasion of a trial in York, lnVolV- ing the question of a custom which had been followed for years uncounted, Jen- kins was called as being the oldest man in the parish, to give evidence. In ad- Sdftion 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 mod ern Methuselah was exactly 800 years less than that of the real patriarch, for he was laid to rest in Bolton Church in the year 1869, when he was 169 years old. The interesting thing in history which this old man saw happen were extra ordinary. When he was born, Popery was by law the established re- Sligion. He saw the Papal Supremacy thrown off two queens beheaded, the nnonasteries dissolved. and the Protest ant religion become the law of the land Then Popery came in again, and was finally overthrown for ever. During his time the whole navy of Spain was de- stroyed by the English, and the repub- lie of Holland was formed. He was, in fact. an eyewitness of the most stirring scenes of modern history, Next came the famous Thomas Parr This man lived during the reigns of ten sover- elgns of England, and holds the rec ord in that particular, Jenkins having seen only eight reigns-not including the Commonwealth. Parr was living at the same time as Jenkins, having been born in 14s3, and he died in 1885, which makes his age 152 years. He was blacksmith, and followed this calling steadily for 19o years. He wfy twice married the second time when he ought to have known better--that is, when he was aged 12o years The off spring of this marriage was son, who apparently inherited his fathers recipe TOT longevity, lOi IlG HidIdStu " hccp alive for 110 years, and had a son who made good attempt to emulate his grandfather, by living to the age of 127 years
 Women have their share of longevity just as men have, but they do not at tain to nearly the same ages as their worse halves The oldest woman living at present, that is the oldest known, lis probably Mrs. Nancy Hollifield. She is a lady of color, and has attained to the age of 121 years. Her case was inves- tigated by the Rev. c. Lee some six years ago and he then found her age to be 115 years. The gentleman, who died in his 90th year remembered Mrs Hol- Iifield as his nurse, and that she had at that time several children, so that the estimate cannot be far short of the mark She lives near Peterborough, N. c. A lady who was living in 1894 in Hungary must, if she be living now, run Mrs. Hollifield very close. Besides, she holds unique record-the fact that she and her husband celebrated in 1894 their century of married life. Her husband at the time was 120, and the couple had for many years been in the receipt of a pension granted them in