Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1912-02-29

anced Against Gern1s-Nothine Dies.
Other Thoughts.
ITS Il good age to begin your useful
year" said Thomas a. Edison on hi,
siXty-ifth birthday. which has just
passed. You begin to think you know
few things from experience
I'm as active as twenty years ago
and feel as competent It's matter
of Il short time when we will be sure
we can live to 100 years. If COM
munity should stop short and follow
the teachings of canari-or spirilla
and bacteria-there is no reason why
the life OF the coming people should
not reach 100 years.
Our life is relative to that of our
ancestors. If they led good one it
lengthens ours from ten to fifteen
years. If we in turn did nothing to
shorten it there would be added thirty
years more.
Forms of germ life prove it. Some
60 on and Oh and on. There's the
sequoia. the big California redwood
tree. 1t has lived 5000 years.
''If one form of organism can do
that. why not another?
I'VE humans are up against bacteria.
infusoria and spirilla. They're trying
to live off us. We're good farms for
them. We must Adjust ourselves to
them or conquer them. They are our
balance in nature-in the animal king
dom: enemies to overcome.
'Years ago Minnesota's legislature
offered a bounty for coyotes. Rabbits
began to overrun the state. The boun
ty had to be rescinded, and the state
began to try to breed coyotes. which
are hard to breed This is what l
mean by the balance of nature. This
special adjustment the legislature dis
turbed
"NIan is balanced against germs.
Some are malignant, and some are in
nocuous. AS they disappear he -four
ishes--as those rabbits did.
To-day the death rate in most cities
is much less than it used to be. Our
modern knowledge Of care Of the in
fictitious. isolation and Of preventive
measures brings it down.
1T will continue to bring it down as
politics allows it to- Boards of health
do the best they can. Politics doesn't
run along equally with science"
"What can the individual do, aside
from the community precaution, SAM
tation and disease prevention. etc., to
prolong life?" Mr.. Edison was asked.
He answered:
"A man can take everything as It
comes calmly. He's not running the
universe. If things 60 wrong no one
need worry about 1t, for things do go
wrong.
"Analyze most of these worriments
and you'll find that they're from bad
organizations. These usually result
from excessive eating.
"Down in Wall street if man asks
you to lunch he thinks you ought to
have two or three cocktails first.
"Now, cocktails mostly defeat ma
lures own system Of taking care of
digestion. | know nothing more devil
ish than the connection called cock
tail"
Mr. Edison added:
"NIy wife thinks my worst habit Is
chewing tobacco. I got it when they
forbade my smoking in telegraph Of
flee. The trouble with man Is that
when he takes up morphine or tobac-
co or whisky or eating he overdoes it,
especially eating. Eating is too much
Of a function. II YOU found out you
would probably learn that Hartman
died from too much eating for the
amount of fuel he needed.
"Chldrcn ought to be taught at ia
BILE to eat little. Four tons of coal
should not be piled into a boiler that
needs only two tons. AS matter of
fact. we take two and half times
more food than we require-and that
adds some to our cost of living. 1t
may feel good to eat more than we
need or want. but It's poor PROPOSE
ton and not scientific.
1.-THE trouble is eating is social
function. 1t should not be. 1t should
be Just a fuel proposition. If they
want social grace with eating they
should go 10 the drawing room and
have music or conversation or read
ing"
"After death comes is there life
0IterWaTu 10 you tHihh' Va SohSSio"o-
ness? he was asked.
81 believe" said he, there is intelli-
gence in all matter"
Dust and even plants and rocks?"
he was asked.
"All matter and rocks? Why, If you
put rocks under microscope you will
see their elements working like bac-
terra. A rock has lot Of intelligence.
It gives bromium movements. 1t
shows living movements. piece Of
raw silver shows 1t"
Then you think nothing dies?"
Nothing dies" was his response.
"Intelligence continues to exist"
Lion Monument For Harvard.