It will not convince the average student of
nature that people can live forever, for in nature there is constant
change. The order of life is birth, development, reproduction, decline
and death. It is not likely that man is an exception.
It is believed that in olden times men were larger and lived longer than
they do today. There is not much foundation for such a belief to rest
upon, except in a few cases. The last census shows that there are
several thousand centennarians in the United States. In the Technical
World for March, 1914, appeared an article by Byron C. Utecht, entitled,
"When is Man Old?" This magazine is careful in gathering its facts. I
shall quote a few paragraphs:
"Abraham Wilcox, of Fort Worth, Texas, is one hundred and twelve years
old, but he takes keen enjoyment in life. He walks two miles or more
every day as a constitutional and, occasionally, he even takes a small
glass of beer. He looks forward with all the enthusiasm of a boy to a
visit to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Mr. Wilcox reads the
newspapers every day and is interested in everything about him, from the
food being prepared for his dinner to the latest feats by aeroplanes.
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