The Sidney herald., 1956-09-13
When You Retire
BY Robert Peterson
Robert Peterson
MEN LIVE LONGER
IN MIDWEST

IN MIDWEST
Where do men live the longest?
The five leading states are South
Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota.
Iowa and Kansas. People who
read this will wonder why such
famed sunny states as California
and Florida don't head the list.
Statisticians explain it by point
ing out that both California and
Florida have a large influx of
Spanish-speaking people who
comes from less healthful areas.
These states also attract great
numbers of older and ailing peo-
pie from other parts of the u. S.
and Canada. AS a result the rela-
lively poor longevity figures for
Florida and California are great
ly influenced by people who
spent most of their lives in other
areas.
Do you ever hurry down the
stairs without holding on to the
bannister? Or stand in a slippery
bathtub? Do you occasionally
climb a chair to hang a picture?
If so - you're counting disaster.
More than 70% of all deaths
from accidental falls occur among
people IS years of age and over,
according to figures from the Ma
tional Office of Vital Statistics.
Most of these fatal injuries, they
find, occur in the home.
Profitable hobbies: Here's how
a Sc year old widow solved her
retirement problem. When she
lost her husband five years ago
she was left with an attractive
seven room house but with bare
ly enough cash to buy groceries.
What should she do? Since the
small Ohio town in which she
lived lacked a first class hotel
she decided to turn her home into
a hostess house.
She notified local clubs and
organizations that her home was
available for meetings, teas, we'd
ding receptions and parties for
only SIS an event. She offered her
entire home, including the use
of her kitchen, china, and silver
ware. She even promised to clean
up afterwards. The plan was an
immediate success. Today her
hostess house is booked nearly
every afternoon and evening. She
loves the arrangements and,
while her friends warned that
her furniture would be ruined
and her china broken, she has
found that guests r very con-
Siderate.
Not only does the hostess house
bring in enough income to help
this Sc year old widow live COM
fortably, but it also gives her
something exciting to do. She has
lots of phone calls and people
are always dropping by to make
arrangements for events. She's
even added a small catering SER
vice and now for an extra fee
will prepare tea, coffee, and cakes
on request. If readers know of
schemes which alert old
sters are using to whet their in
terest in life and supplement their !
income we'd like to hear about
them. I
Do most older people eat the I
foods? Apparently not. Re- I
searchers at the Harvard School {
Of Public Health made a detail
ed survey of the eating habits I
If 100 men and women past IS. e
More than half were not meet
ng requirements for a we'll
-ounded diet. Their chief defici-
ency: not enough milk and green
vegetables. Another finding was:
half of the men and more
han half of the women were
overweight. If you want to live a
ong enough to see your grand r
,hildren graduate from college i
,ou'd better start policing your i
iiet and waistline. s
Senior celebrities . The great
ethel Barrymore, a grand dame r
f theatre, will be II this sum- r
ner. Friends say her mind is :
till sharp as a tack and her v
My ailment is a touch of arth- b
tits One of the best ex- F
NIPPLES of growing old success y
ully is Konrad Adenauer, 80, I
chancellor of West Germany and a
,urope's most commanding po- A
.tical figure. We caught a glimpse I
t him last week during his U. S. y