The Topeka state journal., 1903-01-24
OLDEST ~ IN WORLD.
One Hundred and Fifty-seven Years
Old and Lives Near San Francisco.

One Hundred and Fifty-seven Years
Old and Lives Near San Francisco
The oldest man in the world is Manuel
del Vale of Menlo Park. a suburb of
San Francisco, Cal SenOr del Vale is
157 years old.
He is, as his name indicates, of Span
ish extraction. He was born in Zaea-
tecas, Mexico. on November "a, 1745, as
the certificate of his birth. signed at the
time by the jefe politico, or chief mag
Istrate, of ZacatecaS attests. He is
without any doubt the Oldest man in
the world today, and he is probably the
vance Of 100 years who can show salts
factory proofs of the exact date of his
birth
Signor del Vale is very small in stat
ure weighing less than 80 pounds, and
being scarcely five feet tall yet, he is
able to walk without support, and reg
ularly takes a slight constitutional
about his dwelling. He lives with his
-grandnepheW, Jose del Vale, who
runs Il small truck farm at Menlo Park,
and sells its produce in San Francisco.
Contrary to the testimony of many
persons who have reached upward of
the 100 mark, Signor del Vale says that
he has never used tobacco or LIQUORS in
any form. that he has never wet his
feet, and that he has never been out in
a frost. The old man does not speak
the English language huently. He can
understand what is said to him in Eng
lish, but he prefers to reply in Spanish
through his great-g -grandnepheW. who
acts as interpreter. He has lived in
MenlO Park for the last 81 years, hav-
ing just touched the 100 mark when he
came from the Mexican republic. He
has survived every member of his fam
lily of his own and the succeeding gen
GRAFTON. The old man suffers from poor
sight, but he can still hear fairly well,
and, on occasions, he becomes quite
talkative For the last 80 years he has
not wandered more than two blocks
from his home. He has occupied the
same room since 1S45. The Del Vale
dwelling was built before any structure
was erected upon the present site of
San Francisco.
The centenarian remained in active
duty until he was SIS years old. For the
last twenty years of that time he was
a customs official at Ensenada, Lower
California, which is az portion of the
Mexican republic. From 1874 until 1S45
he acted as supernumerary in the
Franciscan Mission at San Quentin,
Lower California the first mission
building to be estab ablished on the Pa
cific coast. now in ruins. He assisted
the friars at mass and in other light
duties until 1915. when he came with
relatives to the present site Of san
Francisco in a vessel bound up the Pa
cific coast from around the Horn
The old man never eats solid food his
favOrite and, indeed. his only nourish-
ment being a bean broth. Almost any
day, summer and winter, he may be
seen sitting in the warm sunlight be-
fore his adobe dwelling. He is not in
sensible to the progress that has gone
on about him He has seen San Fran
cisco spring from a few turf huts to a
great skyscraping city. "Bueno senor, -
he says, with a comprehensive sweep of
the hand, "mucha segnores." Yet, his
mind is given to matters spiritual rath-
er than to the progress of man.
} These rules he gives to attain old age:
/ ITO pray regularly to God; to attend
mass when you are able; to sit in the
sun.'-Hamilton Wright in Buffalo Ex-
/ press.