"In the Ozark Mountains of Marion County, Arkansas, just across the Missouri line, lives Mrs. Elmyra Wagoner. She, too, is one hundred and twelve years old. There are a thousand wrinkles in her face and she looks her age, but in her actions she is sixty. Up until a very few years ago, when still past the hundred-year mark, Mrs. Wagoner kept a large garden and was able to work in the fields. While she has given up outdoor work, she is still active. On inclement days she sits by the fireplace in her mountain home and spins. On pleasant days she may be found walking about the yard. Recently her great-great-granddaughter was married at Protein, Missouri, six miles from the Wagoner home. This woman of one hundred and twelve years walked to the wedding, enjoyed it, and then walked back home, a distance that would tire many persons half that age. There are scores of persons at Protein who vouch for this and they tell of similar feats by Mrs. Wagoner showing remarkable physical power.
"Asked to give the causes of her longevity, the aged woman smiled and said that she hated to admit she was getting old. 'Clean, honest living, plenty of work, plenty of good food, and a desire to help others when sick or in trouble, I think gave me my long lease of life. I was always so busy caring for others and thinking of them that I never had time to worry whether I was getting old or not.'"
"Asa Goodwin, of Serrett, Alabama, is one hundred and six years old. His endurance powers are even more remarkable than those of Mrs. Wagoner or Abraham Wilcox. He walks five miles every day. He works several hours daily in his garden, eats anything he likes, and reads without glasses. His family is probably the largest in the United States. A reunion recently held in his honor was attended by eight hundred and fifty persons, three hundred and fifty being blood relatives. Goodwin has been a hunter all his life and he frequently takes down his rifle and proves that his aim is still good. He ascribes his length of life and vitality to his great interest in outdoor sport and hunting, when a young man, developing a rugged constitution that lasted him many years after he was forced to quit strenuous work because of 'old age.' He asserts that he was so busy living that he reached one hundred and six years before he realized it and wants to live fifty years more if possible. 'I feel as if I could do it, too,' he declares. 'I now can take my ease and comfort and the world looks good to me. I have always lived a temperate life, never drank, never kept late hours, and still have had as much or more fun than the average man, I think. It is only now when I have nothing to do that I get to worrying and when I find myself in that condition I take a walk or weed the garden and then feel better.'"
These people are not in what some call the higher walks of life, but they have succeeded in living, where almost all fail. They have been useful members of society, satisfied to take life as it comes, and thus they have gathered much of the sweet. They have enjoyed life, and those who enjoy give enjoyment to others. It takes an audience to make even the best of plays.
Mrs. Wagoner is not rich, but she has a philosophy that is riches enough. She knows that she receives through giving. She has lived this knowledge, which has brought blessings upon her.
These people have all led simple lives and they have worked. There is no secret about growing old gracefully. It means self-control, simple living, work for body and mind, cleanliness of body and mind, and the most important part of physical cleanliness is a clean colon. It is necessary to have a tranquil mind most of the time, for anger and worry are injurious to health.
The average span of life is lengthening. In the sixteenth century the average European did not live to be twenty years old. Now he lives to be about forty. The same increase has taken place in America. In India and China the average of life is still below twenty-four years. As civilization advances the tendency is for the average of life to lengthen, provided life does not grow so complex that knowledge is antidoted by too great artificiality.
However, it is well to note that it is not the last part of life that is being lengthened. We are allowing less and less infants to die as the years roll on. The proportion of the adult population that reaches advanced age is no greater than in the past. Our mode of life is so wrong that tuberculosis, typhoid fever, cancer, kidney diseases, pneumonia and circulatory degeneration carry off immense numbers of those whom we call middle aged, but who are really young people. These are diseases of degeneration. It is to our interest to reduce these diseases. Proper living will do it.
The life expectancy of people over fifty is even less than it was thirty years ago. Middle aged people die from diseases caused by bad habits, extended over a period of years. Therefore, these people should learn to live well if they would live longer.
The diet of the old can be about the same as that of an adult in the prime of life, except that less should be eaten. Those who live correctly have no digestive disturbances. It will be noted by those who are normal that there is not a desire for as much food as earlier in life, and this should be a guide. Old people get all the nourishment they need in two moderate meals a day. If the three-meal-a-day plan is preferred, it is all right, but then less should be taken at each meal.