The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-17
LIVING LONG .

LttENG LUNG.
 A Pennsylvania crank named Coch- ran has evolved a sure road to long life. just as many others have done along different lines He is what we suppose might be properly called hi- He refsrs to the ground lhog which retires at the approach of winter and remains practically buried till warm weather returns. and points out that for small animal the ground hog is iong-iived: therefore, he argues, the way for man to live long is to hi- bernate during the cold weather. But as The Kansas City Journal says. why not consider the alligator and be a great deal wiser9 The huge saurian is of long life and he has personal habits that should appeal to the thoughtful student of longevity. And when it comes to hibernation the alligator is a specialist. He seldom wakes up from his mud bed long enough to seek food. If the Information theory is sound, why shouldn't Mir. Cochran hunt up some nice warm slime and go to sleep in Hs That would be almost as profit able as for a strong man to go to bed In September and stay until February. just because the ground hog ands bus mess dull during the same period" In other words. if one wishes to be crank why not make a good job of itG
 But to come down to bard facts. this man is no more cranky. if we may so express it, than are the numerous oth- CT faddists who point out infaIIfble methods of living long and enjoying good health. The world is full of them and each Is confident that he has found the true and only road to patri- archiai age and health. We may laugh at and ridieuie some of the beliefs and superstitions of the ancients but we needn't. for in some respects we are not any better. There. for example. ''is . man who grows to be hundred be- cause he has never used tobacco. Across the street isSthe sturdy young ster of cycle of time who has smoked and chewed since boyhood. and per- haps he knows some centenarian crony who hasn't had sober day for a de- cade. Then there is the large class of dietarians who pin their faith to freak foods. from peanuts to pickles. and those who take hot or cold baths at weird hours, or walk or stay at home. or fast or gorge, or sleep in beds or in trees"
 And so the list might be extended indefinitely, but 1t would do no good. If man has a long life and health fad and chooses to follow 1t no one should object. provided he doesn't in- terfere with the inelinations of others. The real nuisance is the man who thinks he has made great discovery and is continually trying to fores hls views on everybody else. Probably Mir. Cochran thinks that by only actu- ally living half the time he win be able to extend his stay on earth and live q century-provided he calls it living. If he has nothing else to do and chooses to go into his hole at the approach of winter and sleep till the roses bloom we know of no legal or constitutional objection to his doing so. In fact, such course might be benefit to others.
 And speaking of beneats. we cont know but it would be good thing if the Cochran idea could be very mate rially extended. The world would be better ofr if some of it's inhabitants would hibernate about half the time. There is the man who is always pre- dieting evil to come; the man who will never speak well of others; the man who delights in doing harm to others; in short. we might single out quite a ,Srge list of people who woU q benefit humanity .S going into hibeenation a few months each year. In some caS~s 1t would be well if they would make ti permanent, but half the ttps would IhcIp sornc Let Cochran extend his theory.