Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-29
ing the actual age groups of 1870 and
1920, is as follows:
Balancing Age Groups.

the 29th year on the condition Is eX-
actly reversed. Apparently there is an
increasing tendency toward balancing
the different age groups. The COM
parison grows more notable as the
group grows older.
This report records notable achieve
ment In a country like the United
States with its great cities, its keen
competition, it's hurried, hectic living
habits and its lack of philosophical
calm. The Galapagos Islands turtle
has at birth a normal expectation of
life of about 400 years. But the turtle
never worries and never hurries. He
spends most of his 400 years asleep on
a drowsy beach His life processes are
simple He has not evolved compli-
Gated organs to get out of order. He
does nothing to wear himself out.
But even the most indolent. phleg-
matte of men, especially in the United
States, leads a hurried, wearing life
He is not a turtle He has sacrificed
longevity for the thrills of action. He
must expect to be worn out quickly
| The more active and complicated the
society in which the individual lives
and of which he is an unacceptable
psrt--the quicker the wearing process.
No advances in medicine or sanitation
can compensate for the calm of the
turtle. as factors in increased length of
life.
Achievement With Handicaps.
1t is in the face Of the automobile,
the airplane and the radio that the
| American people has achieved its slight
advance In longevity In half century
This country still is far from being.
even comparatively. nation of old peo-
pie. 1t has no such record. for ex-
ample. as that of Bulgaria, where out
of a population of about 5000, 900 there
was reported recently total of 3.139
| persons more than 100 years old. The
| United States, with its 100000
| population had in 1920 only 4.267 CEN
tenarians--hardly a figure to boast
| about.
| Life. in a sense, is harder for the
| Bulgarian peasant. His sanitary sur
roundines and his opportunities for
wholesome recreation are not to be
| American. He must work harder to
| make a bare living. His life and his
| property are not as secure. But. on the
other hand. his life is slower and SIM
! pier. He Is not subject to the same
| storms and stresses. He Is born into
| an economic and social position from
| which. except under extraordinary cir
| cumstances. there is little expectation
/ that he can rise He is calmer and
more content than the American be-
| cause he is not subject to the same
stimuli to his ambition. He is little
/ closer psychically to the Galapagos Is
land turtle-and the difference is re-
vealed in the comparative records for
! longevity
Longevity in the Country.
The same comparison holds true be-
! tween different sections Of the United
| States The greatest number of cen
| tenarians are in the rural sections
| where social movements are slower,
| even If life is harder. The number of
men and women more than 100 years
! old among the rural negro population
of tie Southern States Is particularly
| notable. In Georgia for example, one
| person out of each $500. approximate
| ly. is more than 100 years old, but 424
/ of Georgia's 453 centenarians are coll
| ored and ats OF these are colored wom-
en-. Most of these women. it is likely.
never have been outside their own town.
ship and have passed through CEN
/ fury of life almost untouched by the
/ great stresses which have passed
/ through the social structure of the
! country They have taken life as 1t
came, with almost no realization of
| what lay over the hills The colored
men couldn't achieve quite so good q
record because. being involved in the
| work of the outside world, they were
| forced into contacts which stirred their
/ ambitions and aroused their worries.
| Even more was this the case with the
| white men and women around them.
| New York in 1920 had only one
centenarian out of each $1,000 Of the
/ population. Massachusetts, had only
one out of each $4,000. These popu-
| lations were exposed to the stresses
| and strains OF their environment. They
had paid for quality of life with length
Of life--and there was no escaping the
payment,
Seventeen Ccntenarians Here.
The District of Columbia showed in
the 1920 census a somewhat better rec
ord-l7 persons over 100 years old out
of total population OF 4ST,STi, or one
in each 2S.739. But of these II, Is
were colored who came to the District
late in life from the rural sections of
the South. They already had lived
through the period when social stresses
could wreck their bodies.
The longevity OF BulgarianS has been
a matter OF wonder to medical men.
tions of curds and sour milk. probably
has something to do with It, But this
isn't the entire answer Probably of
even greater Importance Is poverty and
illiteracy Persons who can't read
about what Is going on in the world
can't worry about It. They can't grteye
over chances they have missed II they
never hear about them,
Infant mortality In the Balkans, of
course. is still considerable problem.
II has not been reduced by sanitation
and hygiene as has been the case in
most parts of the United states. Prob
ably the average age OF Bulgarians.
taking all groups into consideration.
would fall below the average age for
Americans, But in the higher age
brackets the difference Is astonishing.
The same Is true of other Balkan
countries. although none have quite the
same record as Bulgaria, DR. kyril
Popov. Bulgarian director OF statistical
research. recently has checked up and
authenticated the reports OF centena-
rians ia the Near East
Turkey contains large numbers OF
centsnarianS, including that remark
able couple Faro Aga of Consfantinople
a man Of huge stature who is claimed
to be las and to have outlived nine
wives, and Fatma Hanem of Angora.
who Is said 10 be older than Faro. IT
may be noted that Fatma was born In
Bulgaria. and her eldest daughter died
at the age OF 90 A woman named
Rukkie who died In Adana In the sum-
mer OF 1928 was declared 10 be ia2
Faro was born in Kurdistan and be-
came, in 1903, q on-eommisSioned Of
flcer In the hodyguard Of the Sultan
Seltm Ill
RumeFsan centenarianS are very nu-
merous, One of them, Maria uStay
Of Carcalia, in the Dobruta, who died
IN the Winter of 1927 was 1873 and
had never been treated by doctor
Eighty-two of her descendants attended
the funeral Malo Frantsitch, THE
MethuSelah Of JugoSlavla," who also