Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-25
ARE THERE NO CENTENARIANS?
Star Correspondent Doubts Tha.
Man Ever Lives 100 Years

To the Editor of The Star
In your issue Of May 20 Dr. Cressy l..
Wilbur. chief statistician of the census
bureau, Is quoted as saying cit is I'M
doubleday true that the age of 100 years
is OCCASIONAL lily attained, but that 1t is per-
maps doubtful whether the age of 11O has
ever been reached or exceeded AS he
presents no proof that the age of zoe
years has been exceeded he might Just as
Wen state that perpetual motion is within
the bounds of human achievement
According to the tables of life insurance
companies which have been compiled
from all authoritative sources Of informa-
ton. the extreme limit of human existence
is about ninety-seven years. There are
1alriy well established cases where this
age has been exceeded and the century
marx almost reached. but the numerous
cases Of centenarianism reported i'm our
daily papers are unworthy of the slightest
credence. inasmuch as no proof of the
GATE or birth can be advanced to verify
the age claimed. And it is obvious to any
one that the older a person is the feebler
the intellect and memory become and
greater the tendency to exaggeration.
Some years ago l wrote an article that
was published in one of the local papers
expressing doubt that the age of 100 years
had ever been exceeded either in ancient
or modern times, and asking that any
such cases that could be esta blished be-
yond doubt be. submitted. and while l
nave been ridiculed by many who say
they have personally known of dozens
OF cases. yet no one has yet presented an
undoubted case Of centenarianism
One OF the oldest life insurance COM
panies in the United States sent in the
name of policy holder who had been
insured sixty-three years, and who gave
his age at entrance as thirty-six years,
making him ninety-nine at that time. but
unfortunately, he died a few months later
at the supposed, age of ninety-nine years
IN, H.
there was no certificate of record of birth.
and the age at entrance, thirty-six may
or may not have been correct.
The Equitable Society of London. Eng
land, organized in 1870, reported that it
had on it's books the name of a client
lO3 years OF age. But further inquiry
revealed the fact that this client was a
woman. not a holder of a life insurance
policy. but an annuity. The correctness
OF the age given lost much of It's force
when it is considered that the older the
annuitant, the smaller the cost thereof.
The incentive to overstate the age at time
of entry In this case was too strong to
permit it's acceptance. Besides women's
ages have never been absolutely fixed
quantities.
A few years ago a gentleman in Eng
land who became interested in this ques-
ton Of centenarianism. doubling the pos-
sibility of the same, offered a reward OF
Loco sterling for any living person who
could present absolute rroof Of being
over 100 years of age. Many came for
ward and claimed the reward. Each case
was carefully investigated by an inn
partial committee appointed for that pur-
pose: and though the claims of many
seemed sincere and worthy. yet in the
end, for one cause or another, all were
rejected except one. In this case a man,
together with his friends, offered in evil
dence the registry Of his birth and the
names of his parents in the parish regis
try: the date of his baptism and mar
riage evidenced by the same parish regis
try and his statement. together with that
of his friends. including the rector of
the parish, as far as they knew, that he
had lived in the same parish and in the
same house uninterruptedly during the
whole Of his life. This certainly seemed
TO answer all requirements. and the
money was about to be paid when the
committee. having been deceived so many
times made another search Of the parish
registry, finding that on the death of one
son another born four years later had
been given the older brothers name
which fact reduced the age Of the claim
ant four years, to about ninety-e ght
who. from sheer disappointment, imme
diately died of broken heart.
T., claims of Margaret Patten. 1871:
the Countess Of Desmond, 145; ,"Old Man
Parr." 1874: John RovIn. 172, and Peter
Torton. 1885, may be placed in the same
who became the father of Lamech when
he was 1877. These people lived in an
age when no actual chronological records
were kept, and probably having survived
all of their contemporaries were looked
upon by their neighbors as exceedingly
COMPOUNDED what. they had heard with
what they stated had been actually OBJ
served.
The claims of old negroes and Indians