A Longer Life Span
March 19, 1889Man Gradually Increasing the Average Years of His Existance.
The mean age of the members of the sacred college is about 80, and not one of the cardinals displays any mental falterings which are supposed to be incident to such advanced years, and to prclude, save in exceptional cases, a continuance of usefulness and activity in the discharge of their public functions. It might be supposed, perhaps, that there is something in the Italian method of life which tends to prolong activity beyond the average limit in other countries. But the fact is that Italy is not particularly favored in this respect. Taking the whole number of Italians, the of those over 60 is just 7 , against 7.7 in Germany, 7.8 in Sweden, 8 in England, 8.7 in Brazil, 9.9 in Belgium, and 12 in France.
The life insurance companies have made of the question of longevity almost a determined science, with an ample array of figures and rules. According to these the average man who has reached the age of 60 has a little less, and the average woman who has reached the age of 60 a little more, than fourteen years to live. But the expectation of life does not relatively diminish with the advance of years, for at 80 the man’s chance is somewhat less and the woman’s somewhat more than five years and a half. According to the English standards the persons who live longest are members of the clergy, while in other pursuits longevity ranks in the following order: farmers, merchants, soldiers, clerks, teachers, and physicians. The death rate among the clergy of the Established Church of England is exceptionally low, being, in the years of active clerical service, only ten in one thousand of population, whereas that the English Catholic clergy is 50 percent higher.
The figures of the insurance companies, which are ample regarding every point involved, show that, the age of 50 passed, the expectation of life is more than twice as great for the temperate as for the inebriate, the proportion being as seven to three. The proportion of the rich as compared with the poor, over 70, is about four to one, and it is generally higher among women than men.
The nervous, exciting, restless life of most Americans is not conductive to extreme longevity, and the steadily large immigration of those who have reached the years of manhood in other lands as emigrants tends to greatly reduce the standard of longevity in this country; but the tables of American insurance companies show that it is steadily rising. Should this increase continue, it may not be many years before the rate here will compare favorably with what long experience and repeated proof have shown to be the normal rate in other lands. New York Sun.
source: The Salt Lake Daily Tribune
location: Salt Lake City, Utah
