Glacier County chief. [volume], May 13, 1938, Magazine Section, Image 8

About Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
CAN WE CHEAT DEATH?
Na, Sci •net Admits, But
Life Expectancy Can
Ba Baiaad
By JOSEPH W. LaBINE
Since the world began man
has sought to cheat death. Some
have looked for the Fountain
of Youth; others, more scien
tific, admit earthly immortality
is impossible but cling to the
chance that man’s visit here be
low may be lengthened.
Foremost pioneers in this
work are America’s insurance
companies who currently cele
brate Life Insurance week. The
combined mass of statistics
gathered by these firms during
the past century has given
America an amazingly accu
rate picture of how long the av
erage man can expect to live,
and what he can do to live
longer.
These figures, linked with re
ports of sensational medical de
velopments, today give John
Public good reason to believe
he will live longer than his
great-grandfather. He may
even dream of the day when
science can give him new
mechanism to replace his de
caying vital organs.
But artificial hearts are
flimsy and intangible. A more
startling fact is that science
has given the United States
more than 4,000,000,000 years of life
since the American Revolution. A
child bom 150 years ago could ex
pect to live from 30 to 35 years,
while seven years ago the newborn
infant had a life expectancy of 59
to 63 years—a girl baby four years
longer than a boy.
Thus, in 150 years, the average
span of life has been boosted 25
years!
Joint Fight on Death.
No single factor is responsible.
Man, though selfish in his instinct
for self preservation, has co-operat
ed with other men whom he knew
could help cope with the problem of
premature death. Scientific work
ers looked to the insurance compa
nies for figures showing what causes
death. Little known mortality facts
were excavated from the mire of
superstitious centuries, and erased.
Cities, states and the federal gov
ernment co-operated in eliminating
hazards.
Figures from the United States
public health service reveal that a
good way to live longer is to be
bom in North or South Dakota, Kan
sas or Oklahoma—and to stay there.
Statistics compiled through the
years prove that expectation of life
in those states is almost 10 per cent
greater than for the nation as a
whole. As a second choice the seek
er after a long life might pick Wash
ington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,
Wyoming, Minnesota, lowa, Missou
ri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Michigan,
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama
or Mississippi.
100-Year Goal.
The term “span of life" is con
fusing. Science points out that it
has not changed through the cen
turies. Probably as many persons
lived to be 90 in ancient Rome as
in New York city today. The span,
or maximum average life, is about
100 years. Although the 1930 cen
sus showed 3,964 persons who
GAS FOR PUMP- JORGAN KEPT
ING BLOOD ALIVE HERE
ENTERS HERE
1
-A® 2 .
TWv I* I 1
j I
to] yiK
-J/ (XL \
eMP* J
55M8 5
rm-n i n m 111 rrn 11 rri rr in 480
600 600
550 - J - 550
500 - 500
Defemarativt Dittasn* •*, p' HI <0
450 14 -I *- - l- / 450
L ~
350 \ 350
300 300
unmivi
350 250
in
Influenza and Pneumonia < ♦ | >
200 rt>r ~~J minim 200
too - L-4 J 5' I! * 100
AmUmtUlt AiciAtmu.
SmiciAa W Htmtcidn
<n AnnditMt. UUr %f Sfmtck S . - —
~ ~ ZZZZZ-** 30
1901 1905 1910 1915' 1920 1925 <9)O 1934' °
This chart, prepared by the Northwestern National Life Insaraoce
company, shows how America’s death caases have varied since UOI. De
generative diseases, including heart disease, cerebral hemorrhage and
cancer are rising. So are accidents and suicides. Communicable diseases
include smallpox, typhoid, yellow fever, leprosy, malaria and cholera.
claimed to be 100 or older, the fig
ure is open to question because
nearly 2,500 of these were colored
people who simply “guessed” their
ages.
If 100 years is the maximum av
erage, it offers a far-away goal for
scientists who have thus far in
creased life expectancy to 59 years.
To increase the average only 10
years is a monumental task that
would necessitate almost complete
removal of the diseases now re
sponsible for juvenile mortality. Ail
ments causing infant deaths must
be strangled. Tuberculosis among
young people, communicable dis
eases—and especially venereal dis
eases—would be stamped out, and
advances in psychiatry would elimi
nate the menace of suicide. All
this, and our life expectancy would
be raised a scant 10 years!
2, 0 N Tears of Progress.
No forward stride can be expected
overnight. Expectation of life has
been increasing slowly for almost
2,000 years, and we are now much
more fortunate than Roman infants
in Caesar's day who could look for
ward to only 20 or 25 years on earth.
Insurance companies are both sel
fish and benevolent in their cam
paigns to increase longevity. The
fact remains that every firm now
adays takes a deep interest in its
policy holders' personal health.
Many companies offer yearly exam
inations and distribute literature to
help its customers get healthy and
stay healthy.
No definite set of health rules can
be applied to all men. But physi
cians agree that a long life is en
couraged by following certain gen
eral laws. They may be placed un
der five headings. Each is well
known but will bear repetition:
Fresh Air and Exercise—Fresh
air is the largest single element in
the preservation of health. Win
dows of the sleeping room should al
ways be opened to admit it freely.
Business and professional men and
women should take special care to
get sufficient outdoor exercise daily.
Food and Diet—Drink plenty of
water so there may be an atnmdant
excess to wash out the waste prod
ucts through lungs, skin and kid
neys. Eat fruits, green vegetables,
whole wheat bread and milk. Vary
the diet and avoid an excess of
meat, especially at ages over 40.
Sleep—Some people require more
sleep than others, but few can keep
in the best of health with less than
seven or eight hours.
Mental Attitude—Everyone who
wishes to keep well and live to old
age should persist in a cheerful
view of life and prohibit worry so
far as possible.
Temperance—Excess use of alco
hol definitely increases susceptibil
ity to disease.
General scientific advances in the
battle for longevity have been made
without fanfare. But occasionally
has come a discovery whose poten
tialities startle mankind. One of
these is the testimony given by Dr.
Alexander Cannon, distinguished
British physician and psychiatrist
who went to the Far East investigat
ing supernormal phenomena. He
gained an audience with the sup
posedly unapproachable Grand
Lama of Tibet who staged for him
one of the weirdest demonstrations
of occultism the eye of a white
man ever beheld.
Tibetian Black Magic.
He reported a coffin containing
the body of a man seven years bur
ied was brought before the Lama.
At word Of command the “dead"
man opened his eyes, advanced to
the throne, bowed, and retreated
to his coffin where he apparently
became lifeless again. Dr. Cannon
reported he made all the usual med
ical tests and pronounced the man
dead. But the Lama assured him
that In another seven years tin
body would again be resurrected I
That was black magic, but thsre
la a truly scientific foundation be
hind the “artificial heart" recently
developed by Col. Charles A. Lind
bergh in collaboration with Dr.
Alexia Carrel. Briefly, the heart is
known as a “perfusion" pump made
entirely of glass in which the only
moving parts are the valves and the
gas and the fluid which sustain life
in the organ under observation.
Can such an artificial pump be
grafted to the human being, replac
ing a natural heart that will no
longer function? If possible, it might
postpone death for years, though
medical men suggest that the
broken down tissues of the body
would often prove too much for any
robot heart to overcome.
Many other experiments of this
nature have bean revealed recently.
At the University of Minnesota heart
and hinge era being kept alive 14
hours after removal, in a dry air
tight vassal immersed ia water to
maintain an even temperature] Uni
versity es rsaasjlisiiia —
ere wortdag an a dam atsmach
wMeh wena the
j-^^TSTii^SSs
M . y F,l ! nd & LUtl.a'o.kU.
Joseph •"**vszxz.' n ‘
THOUGH a strong wind was
blowing, driving sheets of rain
across my front yard, 1 wasn’t sur
prised to see Joseph, my Uttle
seven-year-old neighbor, making
his way up the front walk. Yes
terday was my birthday and be
was here when the postman
brought me a five-pound box of
candy, and Joseph has a weak
ness for good chocolates.
He comes puffing in and while he
sheds his waterproof coat he looks
around for the candy. But all the
candy spots are vacant. My bon
bon resistance ia below normal on
bad days and I have put all the
sweets away and resolved not to
bring them out tor a week. But
now from past experience I know
that without once asking me for
any candy Joseph will soon have
me bringing out my five-pound
box and urging him to take all
he wants. He has an indirect
method all his own that never con
flicts with any of the rules of eti
quette and always gets him what
he wants.
He pulls a low stool in front of
mine, looks up at me and says,
“Guess who I’d be if 1 could be
anybody I wanted to be?"
This is easy for he always
wants to be Tarzan or Dizzy Dean.
But I’m all wrong.
“Not today,” he says with em
phasis, “today I’d be 'Laddin An’
His Lamp.
“And guess what’s the first
thing I'd tell that old genie to do
after I rubbed my lamp?"
This isn’t really meant to be a
question so I simply sit still and
look interested.
“I'd tell him to build my moth
er the finest house in town an’ fur
Once Upon a Time
There Was a—
Baseball announcer who an
nounced an entire game without
utilizing the adjective “beautiful”
in describing the weather, the
crowd, or the plays.
Book reviewer who never wrote
that It was “a book you simply
can't put down.”
Neighbor, who. when scooping
snow or mowing the yard, went
several feet past his boundary line
into his neighbors’ territory.
Group of relatives who didn't
heckle the young male member
of the houaehold by Inquiring aa to
hia status with girls, and add.
whether it was true or not, "Look
at him blush I”—Kansas City Star.
Firestoae Cu Gift T§« I f R
&OCQ44d6 Firestone saves money 1
by controlling and securing rubber w■■ a
and cotton at the source and by HH| BOIIV J
more efficient manufacturing and
distribution. These savings make
possible more extra values at low
High Quality-First choice flf tff OH#
rubber and cotton selected that CONVOY
conforms to Firestone's high g tr i
standards and rigid ——————
specifications. 4.50-10 07AB
UngyißMß Safe, silent tread design 4.50-11 7.ffr
made of tougk slow wearing rubber 4.75-1* Ml
that assures tong mileage, sturdy ban and rugged , M(a aM
notches give protection against ™
■iBWBUt Protection—Nine extra pounds of rubber are ITI
added to every 100 pounds of cord by the Flreetone 5.15-15 “*•»
Patented Gum-Dipping process. Every cord in every 5.50-17 IMI
ply is saturated with liquid rubber which counteracts 6.00-16 lIJS
internal friction and heat that ordinarily causa 6.55-16 IS4|
bloWOlltS.
Nmloi* Protoollun — Firestone's patented HNS
Let your naarby Brutons DaaUr or Firestone Auto g|
Bupftv and Barvke State put a oat of diase kegs slsad,
■uggad. long waeriug Htesflossa Convoy Urea on your
toady for trouble fras IbbMb
nlsh It full of th» flneit furniture
in town an* have a hot supper on
the table ready tor her when (he
got home from work. And I’d
make him give me tome money
an' I’d go down town an' pay
all et her bills an 1 put 'em on the
table by her plate." He finishes
exultantly.
Joseph has no tether and the
bills that have to be paid at the
end of every month hang haavy
over hia head.
He daaps both Uttle bandy
around ona knee and rocka him
self backwards and forwards on
the stool and smile* over this
happy aurprisa for hia mother.
Then he looks around at me as if
afraid I am feeling neglected.
“Then," he says with enthual
aim, ‘Td rub my lamp an' when
that old genie came I'd teU him
to bring me a motorcycle just
like the road copa ride only littlar,
an' a police uniform an' a ma
chine gun that could ihoot for
ever an' a five-pound box of candy
just like the one you got tor your
birthday yesterday. And.” he
adds with a smUe that (hows aU
of his dimples, “I'd bring you
down about half of the candy."
The object of hie visit has been
attained. And be leaves with bia
pockets full of my birthday choco
lates, the rain having let up some
what.
"What Knows He of England
Who Only England Knows?"
“Even after months in England
my wife sometimes had to call
upon the housemaid to translate
some item in the laundry Ust, or to
interpret between her and the
grocery boy,” declares Mr. Harry
A. Franck, the irrepressible
globe-trotter, in “Footloose in the
British Isles.” “In England a
'vest' ia an undershirt, not a
waistcoat. ‘Suspenders' are gar
ten, and ‘braces’ are suspenders.
A child's underwaist Is a 'bod
ice.' while rubber boots an 'Well
ingtons.' The word 'sweater' still
strikes many of the English as a
trifle low-elate and odoriferous;
they caU it a ‘jersey.’ 'jumper.'
‘puUover.’ or 'cardigan.'
“In the draper's shop (which
means drygoods store) un
bleached muslin is 'calico' and
calico is 'cottonprint.' Cheese
cloth is ‘butter muslin,' and in
stead of using cutting flannel for e
Wlm and Othanrtaa
Some people look an Mm
bright sido of things N per
sistently that they wind up the
proud possessors of a gold
brick.
Big men get the beet Jobe,
I'm told. Because the small
men are so often overlooked?
Then there was the man who
was so lazy he bought a Great
Dane so he wouldn't have to
stoop over to pet It.
Money doesn't grow on trees.
Just the same, it’s the smart
birds that get it.
Name Is Poetry
It seemed curious that any place
should be named “LlanfairpwU
gwyngj-L'gogerychwyrnd'-obw i i 11
andyeiliogogogoch." Yet a little
Welsh village bears this 56-let
tered oame. It is a locality of
charm and beauty. Uan ts
"church," Fair ia_.“«t Mary,”
Pwll Gwyngyll is “the pool of
White hazels." Goger ia “rather
near." while Chwyrn Drobwll ia
“the twist whirlpool," and Tysilio
gogo guch is “of Tysilio of the
red cave.” Is it not therefore
suggestive of romance and beau
ty enough to visit the village of
tfc* Church of St. Mary by the
Pool of White hazelr near the
swift whirlpool of St. TysUlo’s
Church of the Red Cave?—Detroit
News.
child's pajamas one buys *winca
yette' and aaka for a 'sleeping
suit.' A spool of thread la a ‘reel
of cotton.' An American who asks
for crackers will get firecrackers
or a package of those Christmas
paper bonbons that explode when
pulled. In England a cracker ts
a 'biscuit,' and biscuit is a roll.
A muffin is aomathing else again,
and cookies art as unknown aa if
the word were Persian.
“Our kind of bacon is “streaky
rashers'; a slica of ham ts a
’gammon rasher,' and the best cut
of beet is a 'piece of topside.'
Gasoline is 'petrol.' kerosene I*
'paraffin,' and paraffin I* 'paraf
fin wax.' An English cook does not
rtnso the dishes, (he ‘(wills'
them. When my wife told tho
nursemaid to bath# the children,
or to give them a bath, the maid
proceeded to ‘bath’ them or give
them a ‘baths.’ ”