The Washington herald., 1919-09-01
By E. c. RODGERS

by L. =. RODGERS
Hyden. Ky.-Listen to some good
advice from the lips of the oldest
workingman in all the world, John
Shell. 131 years old on September 3:
Work hard. but don't ovsrwork.
Too much work is as bad as too
little.
The workingman has to have
all the food his body needs. all the
sleep his body needs. and a little
fun besides. every day. or he can't
do his work we'll"
John Shell ought to know for
he's been working for the past
116 years. ever since he was a
little over "A. and lived i'll the
Sciota Valley, Ohio. when reds"
meant Indians and not the Cincin-
natl baseball team.
His work in days long gone by
was splitting wood for the winter
fire, hunting game, hshing and
chasing redskins westward Years
ago, however. he took to farming,
and has hecn farming for three
quarters of a century, hogs, and
corn principally. But he's a cork
ing good marksman even today.
and only a short time ago won a
sharpshooting contest in which his
tried to show him
up-and couldn't!
The worlds oldest workingman
was born September 5. 1888, ten
days before Congress made New
York City the capital of the United
States, and something like six
months before George Washington
was first inauguratcd President of
the United States. Shell is the only
living American who has lived
through the whole row of Presi-
dents
He got his first Job, splitting
rails, the year Ohio was admitted
as a State, when the population of
New York City was 10000. Later
on the population got too thick for
him in Ohio. where often there
were neighbors within eighteen
miles of each other and bIazed a
trail into Southeastern Kentucky,
where he hunted and fishCd to his
hearts content. He's been here
ever since
Then he married and went to
work, farming. When he first
started farming land was sold for
less than 81 an acre. and some you
couldn't give away. Once Shell
swapped six acres for a gun, ana
today those acres are worth $1,000
Il can remember when we burn
ed corn in winter to keep warm"
the oldest man told me; ut was
cheaper than cutting wood, and
wood was to be had for the cut
ting. guess I must have gone
years without paying a cent for
clothes. animal skins filled the bill.
In those days the cost of living
was mainly keeping the supply of
ammunition up. didn't know
what a meat bill was until long
after was middle-aged. and |
never have had an ice bill. 1 can
remember when the only money we
had was animal skins, and when
the Monroe doctrine as there now
- ONSA mo AOa Nb VI hdllOnS-
Folks down here on Greasy
Creek. Leslie County, call the old
est man Uncle John" They think
he's the grandest man in the world
and pay far more attention to what
he says and thinks than they do
to all the other wise men put to-
gether. Uncle John can just about
tell when it's going to rain, and
when it's best to plant the corn.
He has 200 descendants living near
here, the father of eleven chiII'
oldest born ninety years ago,
youngest just years old, and there
are grandchildren, Observation-Disclosures
and Observation-Disclosures. They
all will come to Uncle Johns house
for a grand birthday party Septem-
Der 3.
While there are some here who
believe Uncle John is only a young
stsr of III years. he has a tax re-
ceipt showing that he paid taxes
in 1909, when he was 81 years Of
age.
His eyesight is good. doesn't need
glasses when he reads. His teeth
are better than mine. They ought
to be for they are his third set. and
he Just recently cut them.
Cutting teeth after one is 100
years Old" he smiled, "ain't no
easy matter"
I saw Uncle John swing an ak,
and if you have any idea that a
man can't work at 131 get rid of
that idea, for never saw a
younger man handle an ak in bet
ter fashion. He can plow, hoe and
spade with The best of them, al