The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-09-05
Rx ELMO SCOTT WATSON

kG1 ks9E3 ATTENTION Dy HIS CldllnS 10
I'm being 156 years old. He is
EoI IN FARO Agha, who halls from
E Istambul, Turkey, and who
has many interesting rec
objections of events which took place
over a century ago. He claims that
when he was 20 years old he heard
the news of the execution of Louis
XVI and Marie Antoinette of France,
and that he served as a soldier in the
Turkish army in 1898 when the Turks
successfully barred the march Of Ma
poleOn from Egypt through Palestine
toward India.
During his visit to Paris, before
coming to the United States, it was
reported that he had mo official dOcu-
ments with stamps or seals to prove
his unusual age" but upon his ar
rival at Providence, r. l., last July
he was photographed exhibiting his
birth certificate which is dated Feb
ruary 10, 1774" AS a result Of the
publicity which this venerable Turk
has received, some even more remark
able cases of longevity have been re-
ported. One is a Chinaman, for whom
the claim of being 1913 years old has
been Set forth. Another is Ivan Pros
kuniak, a Russian peasant, who is
claimed to be 10 and is said to have
been discovered last year by Henri
BarbuSse the French author, in the
course of long trip through the Ural
mountains in Russia. NJ. Barbusse is
reported to have declared that Ivan
Proskuniak is an even better pre-
served specimen of humanity than
FARO Agha. Ivan has all his teeth,
eats goulash peppered with powerful
spices and chews tobacco, while Faro
can only manage milk and goats
cheese for his diet"
But the prize winner so far is an
other Chinaman if we are to believe
the following story which appeared
in the New York World recently:
THAT lively young man from Tur-
key, FARO Agha, who claims a mere
156 years Of life, must surrender his
longevity laurels without a struggle
if the life story of Ii Chung-yun,
whose fame reaches these shores from
far off China, is ever authenticated.
For Ii claims to have entered this
world 252 years ago and grown to the
prime of manhood 90 years before
FARO was given his first nursing bot
tie.
Nor does Ii concede thing to the
playboy of Istambul in the matter Of
matrimonial proves. He claims to
have buried % wives before taking his
twenty-fourth bride, while FARO led
but II to the altar.
"One record young Mr.. Agha may be
welcome to retain as far as Ii is con-
cerned: the Turks claim to be the
only man alive who has survived 156
years without a single drink stronger
than goats milk to sustain him is not
challenged by the 252-year-old China
man. He has never kept track of how
much rice wine he may have consumed
in. the last two and a half centuries.
But Lii, like FARO, does confine
himself to his own particular diet,
and the item in it which he attributes
his hardihood is ginseng root.
Lest any reader be incredulous Of
LIS age let US hasten to add that it
is vouched for by that eminent schol-
ar, General Pei-fu, who also qualities
as full-fedged ex-war lord, having
captured Peiping after the custom of
great military figures in his native
land and having once brought all
North China under his sway. Flu &C.
casionally takes his pen in hand.
According to Flu, at whose home
the venerable Ii lived for some time,
the latter is AN educated man and
still possesses virile mind In fact,
he recently delivered a series Of lee
lures at the University Of Changtu on
the art of life in general, with par
ticular emphasis on how to get the
most out of each century.
Iii, who eats nothing but herbs, dis
believes strongly in any form of siren
uous exercise. Golf is the shortest
way to short life,' he told one of
his audiences. When he was PIT, he
added, he himself tried half an hour
of tennis, which he regrets to this
day, feeling that it shortened his life
span at least decade. A life of har-
mony in spirit and soul is the es-
sence of his teaching.
"Prof. WI Chung chieh, dean of the
department of education at Changtu
university, has learned, it is reported
that 102 years ago Ii received off.
cial Fluctuations from the Chinese
government on the occasion Of his one
hundred fftieth birthday, and that
again, in 1877. the government con.
graduated him on passing the 200
year mark. He is further reported to
have found records showing that Ii
was born in 1877"
Such are the reports which have
been widely published in our newspa
pers during past months. But they
have also resulted in discussions In
other publications which tend to dis
credit these stories and bring the
weight of scientific testimony to beal