The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-05-31

New York. May 30.-In a cozy apartment
In Madison avenue lives the most remarka-
BILE and probably the Oldest native of New
York City. Although turned 80 years old.
Doctor j. B. Rich is as active and as Wig
orous as any man half his age. His
physique still retains the muscular devel-
opment and powers of a trained athlete.
He is ready at any moment to run a mile.
II not at record-breaking speed, still at an
ordinary racing pace. His figure is ereG,
his bearing military. He enjoys all the
pleasures of life proper and becoming to a
gentleman Of means who has not yet turned
his first half century.
Beyond a slight touch of rheumatism
some years ago. he has escaped all the Ills
that flesh is heir to. Surely. II any man
has solved the secret Of perpetual youth it
Is Doctor ]. B. Rich.
. An hours conversation With the grand
old man is an education He is no faddist.
He freely expresses his contempt Of all
craDks. His theory of physical culture IS
built on sound and c-ommon-sense lines. But
1t Is as a story teller. a relater OF anecdotes
Of generations gone by. as a living histo-
memory of his boyhood days and of each
succeeding year is as bright and fresh as
that of raen fifty years his junior.
his voice 1S the voice OF youth. he Is tull
of gesture and ACTIVITY as he tells of hap
penings seventy or eighty years ago. And
his knowledge Of New York as 1t was in
the early part of the Nineteenth Century
is certainly unequaled by that of any liv-
Ing man.
SOME CURRENT ERRORS.
1T amuses me-" said Doctor Rich the
other day, ito read some Of the ridiculous
errors which nowadays get into print con-
corning the New York of my boyhood's
days. A little while ago We were told tha.
the Hall OF Records. now demolished. had
originally been a prison similar to the
Tombs. AS a matter of fact the prison
stood upon n site between City Hail and
Broadway. near Murray street. now occu-
R,ea by I The slq deS,of Gf i saTh wss s sf sse oshe a
side Of the park. and 1t was that which
was converted into the Hall Of Records;
co ~ was born tSa S SppSsiStel The dec Battery rEI in 1si n,,r
parlor windows we could see Staten Island
on a clear day. One of my earliest r%scolec-
H s1en and Of w P,dsyi or fish sS0k ia the frd ditch s ghieb is is
now Canal street. There was not a house
near at the time except three frame struc-
dozen private carriages in New York, and
] knew them all by, sight. and who their
owners were. 1 would watch out for them
My father had been killed in the war the
year after | was born.
1T was during my early life in this city
tNdl i ldIu tue IUuf'QdIlOH Oh tne encTmOuS
strength I afterward possessed. When
about IS / left for Paris to study medicine
there. At that time I could break an inch
declared by experts to be a perfect man
from a physical point of view. l weighed
1856 pounds and measured A inches around
developed. l was proud. and determined il
possible to perpetuate my superb manhood.
When 1 reached Paris 1 was declared to be
the strongest man in the world. From that
time / have made 1t a constant study to
retain my strength and my health. My
system of physical culture is the crystalli-
study"
In support of his claim to the perfection Of
manhood Doctor Rich exhibited his hands,
which even now are fit for sculptor's mod
els. He pointed out that the .ruga' Of his
thumbs and finger tips-that is; the minute
system vs. a' Of identiffeationuare arrange in
perfect circles/ and he declared that such
formation is absolutely unique.
HIS YOUTHFUL ADVENTURES.
course, my strength as a yourg man
led me into many adventures" he said.
After 1 had graduated. seventy-one years
ago, 1 obtained an English passport and
Travelled extensively. 1t was then that l
over the globe. Although born in America.
the passport gave me English prota cti1r.
One night in Naples 1 was rudely tureted
He did not get up again. He had to be-
carried away. OF course. l was secured by
a little army of ~genGarmes. and put in
prison. Then I found the man 1 had chas-
tised was the Duk of Padua, brother to
the King.
II sent word of my plight to the British
Consul. There was a British frigate an
chored in the bay. He rompt went
aboard her and the Captain sent word to
the authorities that II the English prisoner
was not aboard that frigate within one hour
the town would be bombarded. When l was
rowed out to the ship fifty minutes later
the frigate had swung round broadside to
the town, the decks were cleared for ac-
ton and the men stood at the guns. The
second the hour expired the cannons would
nave belched forth England's anger. and a
bloody war might have resulted from my
escapade.
manned Ali Pacha of Egypt. That was
only about twenty years after his celebrat-
ed slaughter of the Mamelukes. He himself
told me how those rebellious cavalry had
been surrounded on three sides. with a
precipice on the other. the cannon trained
on them. and annihilated. Only one es-
capped. Riding his horse. he jumped the
precipice and was miraculously saved. As
an officer on the Pacha's forces I was with
naval expedition dispatched to take
Constantiople in 1884. We should undoubt-
eddy have taken the capital of Turkey IL
the Powers had not interviewed"