Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1921-04-02
FORGOT THE YEARS 4
Worlds Big Men Have Laughed
at Father Time.
History Records Many Who Defied
the CaIendar-Too Busy to Take
Note of Crows Feet.

Sir James Camille fatty challenges
a current misconceptiOn in his state
ment: "Old age is just a pose. A
man usually grows old because he
thinks it is dignified. He sits back
and lets the years do what they like
with him." 1t is not so with the sep
tuagenarian, who rises at 80 and
dances Highland filings. He shares
the spirit of TennysOn's ulysses
who could not bear to sit idle amid
his island crags, or of Barrie's peter
Pam who refused to grow up, or of
him who, according to another poet,
kept the immortal child tarrying all
his lifetime in his heart.
We do not hase to look long for
monumental examples of great men
who like Oliver Wendell Holmes in
his poem, The Boys" and in his per
sonal example, defied the calendar.
To one such perennially young gen
tleman, namely, DIR. w. w. Keen, the
community that affectiOnately reveres
him is even now preparing to do hon
or. The will to keep youthful in the
spirit seems to be the biggest part of
insenescence. We have lately had Oc-
caSiOn to consult the record of a gen
tleman named Hepburn, who gradu-
ated from Princeton in 1882, and did
not pass away until 1911, 10 years
later, when he had attained the ripe
age of ninety-siX. Unlike many of the
Old Testament patriarchS, of whom
nothing is recorded but their exceed
ing longevity, Doctor Hepburn was
usefully and fruitfully busy through
several generations. The empire of
Japan, country that never fOrgetS
anything or anybody, will forever hold
his name in honor among the benefac-
tors. Not merely did he train some
of the. foremost of her diplomats, but
he complied the famous dictionary
that resolved the barriers betWiXt the
tOrtuouS tongue of Nippon and our
own
The thought of growing old is chief
| ly oppressive to those who never grow
| anything else Most of those who pro-
| duce, create, achieve, are too busy to
| study crows feet in the mirror or cal
| culate percentages of lime in the bones
| a. acid in the blood. They are not
| forever in a lonely observatory on the
| outlook for new symptoms. They are
| up and doing. with whetted appe-
| tite for fresh adventure. There is
Labrador" Cabot of Boston, who is
| forever starting out on a One-man eX-
| petition among the Indians of the
| barrens not very far from the desc
| late spot where the balloon came down
with Lieutenant Hinton and his com
| radeS. 1t is useless to tell him that
| he is too old You might as we'll try
| t0 persuade "OOOm John" Burroughs
| to quit exploring swamps and forests
| and playing with squirrels. Nature
| they tell us, has no favoriteS, but she
has way of granting to the natural
lists a special grace in growing old
| The life of Fabre, which began in 49,:
| and did not end until 1915, might be
| cited, or that of Chevreul, 1TS6-1SS9
| Many artists, moreover, are like st
| Gaudens, and 'dO not count the NOR
| tai years it takes to mold memorial
| FORMS" IF l live TO be 10O," sale
the modest HOkudai, perhaps l shall
be able to draw line" Such a maj
knows what it means 20 live for man!
| years and to remain forever young be
cause forever acquisitive, inquisitive
aspiring. -Philadelphia Ledger.