Longevity

Excluding people below the age of 40, one may divide the population of the world into two classes of people: 1) Those who worry about whether they can get something to eat; 2) those who, having enough to eat, worry about what is the right thing to eat.

The problem of this second group was treated, last week, by the classic nonagenarian of the U. S., in almost classic, although not scientific, language. Chauncey M. Depew, approaching his 91st birthday (Apr. 23) wrote for Collier's Weekly:

"Drinking was never really the curse of America. Eating was and is. I found that I ate too much when I was this side of 60. One day, I discovered that I felt unwell, very much below par. . . . Beefsteaks and roast butcher's meat figured too much in my diet, I concluded. Out they went, never to return. I'm not a vegetarian; wouldn't be one--that's going to extremes--but I don't need red meat and don't eat it. For 30 years, the only meat I've eaten has been poultry.

"At about 65, I had another bad day. Instantly I analyzed the cause. My secretary, who had charge of my office regimen", told me that cigars came and went with too much rapidity--proved that I had the habit of smoking 25 cigars a day. . . . I've never smoked since.

"And I'm not an anti-tobacco advocate. I merely believe that every human organism is capable of absorbing so much of a pleasurable poison and no more. By the time I had reached 65, I'd absorbed my quota of nicotine.

"Much later, about three years ago, when I was about 88, I had another bad day. This time the analysis showed that alcohol was the trouble. . . . had made it a habit to drink a pint of champagne a day. It was tonic, stimulating, just as cigars were tonic and stimulating. But, at 88, it interfered with health and efficiency. Reluctantly but decisively I cut out the wine. Now I take a glass when a cold threatens--and I'm extremely susceptible to colds--but, apart from that, I'm a total abstainer."