THE OLDEST MAN

Hokitika Guardian, 21 August 1930, Page 6

THE OLDEST MAN

A SESQUICENTEN ARIA N. VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES ‘ LONDON. July 3. Tlie celebrated Turkish sesquicentenarian, Zaro Agha, has left Constantinople for the United States, where lie is to be exhibited. Turkey has many' centenarians, but Zaro Agha is the oldest of them all. He is, perhaps,' the oldest man alive, as he claims to have' been born in 1774, and has papers to prove his assertion. “The other day Zaro Agha came to see me,” writes a London journalist. “He was accompanied by his secretarycompanion, a young man of *75, who arranges his interviews, helps him along the street, and generally looks ’ after him. The old mail was in great form when he came to see me and walked quite briskly. He relished■ the idea of driving in a taxi-cab and being whisked up several storeys in a":lift. After the preliminary courtesies had; been exchanged-—among other things, the Agha hoped that I would live to be liis age—we sat down to listen;to the story of his life. ‘ ■ A HAND CARRIER. . “He is a Kurd, having been bom iny Bitlis of poor parents. He came to. Constantinople as a young man, and,: after doing his military service became ■ a Hanial (porter). He used to pride himself on being able to carry a piano s on bis back. Those days are gone, but ' be can still walk about with the aid of a stick. His memory is good, and; lie can recall historical events which, occurred over 100 years ago. During his lifetime no fewer than twelve Sultans ruled over Turkey, and he was 50 when the Janissaries, who formed the Sultan’s bodyguard, were very forcibly disbanded by Sultan Mahmud 11.. Zaro Agha is a great admirer of Ghazi Mustapha Kemal Pasha, by whom, hp has twice been received. He thinks the, “Republican Sultan” as he calls Mustapha KemaJ, lias done a great- deal of good, but has been wrong to- give so many privileges to women. Zaro is one. of the old school, and believes that women should be kept indoors and forbidden to show themselves in public with ' short skirts and shingled hair. SURVIVED TEN WIVES “The Agha has survived liis i4n wives, and all but one, a daughter of' 64, of bis 28 children. As a young WiaiC lie travelled extensively in Turkey, and lie lias also been abroad.' When' lie was in Rome ho was deserted by bis companions, and found himself penniless. But, he related, the then Pope; hearing of liis plight, sent him money' for his return to Constantinople. He has always been a quasi-vegetananf' and now he subsists solely on vegetables, fruit, and yaghurt (sour milk). He is quite bald, and the last of -lus' teeth barely survived the fall Oftljib;; Emperor Napoleon 111. NOT A SPEED KING.

“It was inevitable that I should question Zaro about life in 1830 e&uf-i pared with 1930. His answers were illuminating. Nowadays, lie said, men■' are like birds imbued with evil spirits; They rush about everywhere, at break-. neck speed, and never seem contented to be still for very long. Jn. 1830, he said, men moved about slowly, takingseveral weeks to get froth; one village to 1 another, They reflected before they did anything, or went anywhere. But; 1 , he added, men were much richer* 100' years ago than they are to-day.yyGold was abundant, and everything was; cheap. Nevertheless, he prefers 1930, and waxed quite enthusiastic about wireless, gramophones, aeroplane^,-bfr. cycles and the like. : '!iV !

“There is supposed to be a very old FJoja ( priest) living in the Fatih,quarter of Stamboul, and ] asked Zaro whether he was certain that this wor'hy was not older than ho. The Agha rose from his chair and declared indignantly that there was no one in the world,, let alone in Turkey, within 20 years of. his age. He confessed, however, that' his own years were numbered,. , .but cherished the hope that he would live to be 175. He receives a small pension from the Constantinople Municipality, and acts as a caretaker in an old house in Galata.” • ■ 1