Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-10-17
Gayly Flouting
yours Merrily
Johr, r. Rogers, 81
Years of Age, to
E,circIe Globe.
Famed for Long as
Manager of Stage
Stars.

To meet an eighty-two-year-old
globe trotter who still maintains all
the vigor. alertness. health and looks
of a man thirty years his junior is
not an everyday occurrence. but such
was the experience of Star repre-
sentative the other afternoon, when
he called on John r. Rogers. for
more than sixty years prominently
identified with the theatrical profess
Ing with the Dancigs, scientific
demonstrators of mental radio. with
whom he proposes to make his ninth
trip around the world.
Greeted with handclasp that
would do credit to youth. this
young-old actor. manager. press
agent and advance man, known In
every nook and Granny of the earth
where theatricalS have been estab-
nshed as Yours Merrily" John R
Rogers, was as enthusiastic over his
forthcoming venture as the embryo
soubrette about to break into the
limelight.
Father Lived to Ninety-Seven.
Conversant with every great sport
ing or theatrical event OF note staged
fury, many of which he had hand
in presenting. the noted promoter rat
tied off his experiences with keen de-
light, and when asked to what nc
attributed his wonderful health he
, grabbed an old paper he had 9 De-
man. with the vigor OF man OF
thirty. exclaimed: Look at this"
He pointed out an old editorial
that had appeared In a magazine,
headed Living tsw a n Genenf by h Sir
James Sawyer. famous English ply
sician. who claimed that by follow
ing them one might live to be one
hundred years old.
All rot" continued Rogers. Look
at me- I'm eighty-two years and
have done just the opposite for the
past forty-seven years Moreover.
my father knew nothing of Sir James
Sawyer's regimen. and he died at
ternal grandfather lived to be one
hundred and five.
Bans Plain Water.
Questioned further. however. 1t
developed that the sprightly ad.
vance man had very definite and
sane ideas regarding the care OF the
body. and by which; he claims. q
usefulness until long after the me
ridian of life. They are embodied IN
tie following simple rules:
l. Never worry.
2. Never take medicine.
g. Never eat white bread.
4. Never eat in a hurry.
s. Never drink plain water.
s. Never use the elevator; either
walk or run up ana down stairs'
Noting the vince emanating from
the inquisitor as rule 5 was pro-
rounded. a merry twinkle came INTO
the bright blue eye of the globe-trot-
ter and he said:
sickIy In Childhood.
Yes, 1 mean it, have not tasted
plain water for forty-s years. MILK
either sweet or buttermilk. coffee. tea,
fruit juices, soup or beer. have quenched
my thurst all during that time.
when / was a little shaver l was
not expected to live. l was taken to
the country. where 1 remained for fve
or taken a drop of medicine since;
IT began living up to the rules Just
outlined forty-seven years ago ana the
result is l have not developed single
pain or ache in my body since. ! look
niece Of machinery. II you do not fire
the furnace with the proper kind OF
fuel the engine will not run. That Is
the reason / stopped eating white bread
and drinking plain water"
Has Own Calisthentc0.
Rogers lays great stress upon what
he calls "the proper fabrication nf the
engine" and he has set OF calisthenic
exercises that he uses morning ana
evening for this purpose.
'There are thirty-seven movements
In ALL" he said. land they call every
muscle in the body into play. one OF
my favorites is what Is commonly
known as Ginning the floor It de-
49, %rioonc If the arm and IL tS
in the triceps a man first begins to
fall
The old manager also disapproves
of we'll cooked meat as well as ne
disapproves of white bread and water.
"Biood-rare," he says. sis the only
way that meat is fit for eating. Well
cooked meat has little. II any. nour-
ishment in it. AS for white bread 1t
was intended only for the day laborer'
and as for water
Disapproves Of Water.
"Once / kept sample OF water
from every locality I visited during
a month. and at the end OF that time
saddest mess I have ever seen. 1t
was then concluded that water was
good for only two things-to wash
with and to sail ships on"
He is strong advocate OF the cold
bath, and rarely misses plunge the
first thing in the morning.
Probably no man living today has
enjoyed closer intimacy with the high
lights of the theatrical profession.
both actors and managers. than
yours Merrily" John R. Rogers. To
look at him or talk with him. One
would take him for a man in his early
fifties. A rosy TINT Is still in his
cheeks. not a semblance of gray hair
is to be found in his well covered
head. and his smile Is irresistible.
Crosses Atlantic 11S Times.
He is of Irish extraction, his people
having settled in Kentucky in the
early days of that state. He himself.
however, is a native of Ohio, having
been born in Cincinnati. December
20. 1870, on a farm that is now the
site of one of the largest hotels In
the Queen city. He went through the
civil war as a member of the 18th
Ohio Regiment and later entered the
theatrical world. Since then he has
made eight trips around the globe,
sixteen to Australia, and has crossed
the Atlantic 11s times.
la1 fv, hi OF