THE ELEMENTS OF LONGEVITY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1759, 6 February 1888, Page 4

THE ELEMENTS OF LONGEVITY

If yoa take the annual returns of the Registrar General yon may analyse the oiusbb of about ona million deaths t e^oh year m this country. Yon may learo what mortality attends the olt-r^y, tbe lawyers, tbe doc-tors, the brewers, the public ans, the working men of every class throughout thj oonotry. Tbe causes of iloknesi and premature death ate, m the main, want of food, want of clothes, want ef comfortable bouses, liability to accident and in] ary In the trade m whinh a mau belongs. If you take the deaths of tb> working men between twenty five a d sixty-five y«ars of age throachoat th» country, yoa will find that m eaob 1000 living there are about fifteen deaths m each year, and tbst over the average o' tbe wbol^cooDtry thio percbDtageoomesoot with wonderfolonstancy. S -ma of th'-se working men wiil hive a higher mortality and some a lower mortality, according »o their occupations and to the olrcumsUucei of their life. Now, what la the mortality which we m'gbt expect among, say, the pablioons ? Tne elements of longevity among people are, first, abundance of food. Who then are besifed - tht* pnblioans or the average wrrking man ; I reply, the publicans Then who are the best clothed ? I answer, the publio»Uß, and especially the publican's wife. Then who are tha best housed ? I anrwer again, 'he pahlicons* An 4 again, who are the most free from the rick of accide tt m their ocoapa'ion ? Well, I think that thn publican, m (irawing hrt«r or doling our. g'n or wine, runs hut a ve-y small ritk of bre<ikirjg bis neck, while butldtrV men, miners, sa'lors, horse drivers, are much more exposed! 10 risk nf personal Id j ary from accident. It appears, 1 therefore, that m all four of the great /totoru which go to promote longevity and bea'th, the pobliow has the advantage over tbe working man. And if we represent these font; advantages by the fonr fiagera on the hand, there is one more— they get "good lfquor unadolterated," and with tbo advantage of its being always at hand. This fifth advantage we will represent by the thumb Well, then, what mortality ought we tn oslcalate upon among a class of men In ail these five respects so much more advantßgeoaily placed than the average working man. The working men have, as wj have learned, an average death rate of fifteen p»r 1000; perhaps we might expect the publicarj, therefore, to die at the rat* of twelve par 10 0 per annum. Oariomly, we find that, where fifteen workiug men die, insiead of twelve publicans dying we have thirty die ! Tiff 'fact is that "good liquor unadulterated," and always at hand, vattly ovdrbal&no<-a all the advantages which tho publican undoubtedly gets by having better food, .better clothing, better housing, and Ib»s riak of accdeutal Injury. The egtstrsrGeneral e»ys : *' Tne mnrtality of men who are direcly oil cur**'* m tan l. ; qnnr trade is appalliDg." (Vuh page -xx^i Supplement to Ft^Btßtr*r-Ueuera,'a 45 h annual rep ,rt. ÜBR ) Daring tho th^e yanra 1830, 1881. 1882 the aotual figures for twenty-five to sixty-five years cf agt are that, while 9j7 men of all die, 1521 publicans die, and 2205 publlc»m' servants die. Io fact, if yun look through tbe vartona oecupaiiot,B, yju will find that the death-rate depends more upon the extent to which people are brought into conisot with drink than npon anything elie whatever. — Dr John Edmondi.