JANUARY 1, 1016 



41 



" How have you managed to stand this sort of 

 thing so long? " 



The reply was characteristic. 



" Howard," he exclaimed, " I never could have 

 stood it unless the Lord had just kept me through 

 it all. I'd give almost anything to forget the stuff 

 that I have to see. But somehow, you know, I have 

 thought of myself as a man standing at the mouth 

 of a sewer, saving boys and girls from falling in. 

 It's that which has kept me up, and God's power 

 alone can explain how I have been able to keep on." 



A LONG LIFE AND A HAPPY LIFE. 



I have always been much interested in 

 those who have lived 100 years or more ; but 

 it never occurred to me until just now that 

 we might have a symposium made up from 

 the lives of many people who have acquired 

 old age until the following letter came witli 

 a clipping from the Oregoman: 



Ml". Root : — Here is an article from which I 

 thought you might wish to copy an extract. 



George Rcgkr Chute. 

 Reed College, Portland, Ore., Oct. 30. 



Below is the clipping: 



HUNDREDS OF AGED MEN AND WOMEN TELL WHAT TO 



DO AND WHAT TO AVOID IF YOU EXPECT TO 



APPROACH OR PASS THE CENTURY MARK. 



Practically none of those who have lived to a ripe 

 old age have ever indulged in tobacco, alcohol, or 

 stimulants of any kind except in a small degree. 

 There are only a small number of instances where 

 persons after becoming old indulge at all in any 

 stimulants. 



Old persons depend very little on medicine and 

 have never done so. 



Most of the old persons were very fond of honey, 

 and have alwavs indulged themselves in it. 



The old people, practically without exception, had 

 a weakness for honey. But they did not eat much 

 candy. Fruits, dairy products, vegetables, and 

 honey were used mostly as edibles by the old people. 



Comparatively few centenarians ever chewed or 

 smoked tobacco or drank alcoholic liquors, and very 

 few have been even moderate users of them. 



Let me make a summary from some of 

 the above. First, " get busy," and keep 

 busy. Have something on hand to explore 

 and develop every day of your life — ^some- 

 thing outdoors if possible. Keep pleasant. 

 Love everybody, even your enemies. "Do 

 good to those that hate yon." Sleep before 

 an open window, and have your face so 

 near the side of the bed that the air you 

 have breathed once will be very unlikely to 

 be drawn back with the next breath. Shun 

 stimulants of every sort, and, I might al- 

 most say, medicines of every sort. Get into 

 the habit of thanking God every day, then 

 " rejoice and be glad," even if everybody 

 else looks sour and cross. 



"get busy," and keep busy. 

 The following from the Plain Dealer 

 voices my sentiments exactly. If this great 

 teeming world does not interest and appeal 

 to you, even if you are over 80, you are to 

 be pitied. 



KEEP INTERESTED ; THAT'S SIR WILLIAM CROOKBS' 

 RULE FOR HEALTH AT 83. 



At 83, Sir William Crookes, the scientist, says he 

 does not feel any different from what he was at 40. 

 As to how to keep fit, here is his dictum : 



"A good deal of my own present feeling and posi- 

 tion is due to the fact that I have always been 

 working tolerably hard and always doing something 

 I take a great interest in, and am enthusiastic about. 

 That, I think, keeps one's mind healthy and in a 

 good state, and tends to keep one going." 



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SHALL THE UNIT-^D STATES INVEST MILLIONS 

 IN ANTICIPATION OP WAR? 



We take the following (by the author of 

 "In His Steps") from the Christian Her- 

 ald of Nov. 24: 



PASTOR SHELDON ON PREPAREDNESS ; AN OPEN 

 LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT. 



President Woodrow Wilson, 

 Washington, D. C. 

 Mr. President : — In your speech in New York you 

 are reported as saying: " If men differ with me in 

 this vital matter, I shall ask them to make it clear 

 how far and in what way they are interested in 

 making the permanent interests of the country safe 

 against disturbance." 



I am one of those who differ with you very posi- 

 tively on your program of war preparation, and 1 

 believe the men of the West generally differ with 

 you. You say, " No thoughtful man feels any 

 panic haste in this matter. The country is not 

 threatened from any Quarter.' She stands in friend- 

 ly relation with all the world." If that is true, why 

 all this military program for an enemy we do not 

 pos.sess ? In the entire course of your speech you 

 do not mention one single reason for an increased 

 army and navy. You do not name one nation in 

 the world that has any design to threaten or invade 

 our country. 



Mr. President, I have lived in the West over 

 twenty-seven years, and within the last year have 

 been in every western state, and faced over one 

 million and a half of the people, and your program 

 of militarism will meet with earnest and intelligent 

 opposition from this part of the country. Much as 

 I would wish, as a citizen who loves his country, to 

 stand by the President in matters of vital concern, 

 I for one cannot and will not uphold you and your 

 advisers in this matter. 



Mr. President, you advise men who differ with 

 you " to make clear how far and in what way they 

 are interested in making the permanent interests of 

 the country safe from disturbance." 



If the money you and your advisers declare is 

 necessary for military preparation against an enemy 

 you do not name, were to be used in the education 

 of the people and the Christianizing of the world, 

 we could put an end forever to the war-lust of the 

 world. If we took a small part of the people's 

 money which your program will take from the people 

 to buy powder, and put it into a campaign for 

 national prohibition of the liquor traffic, we could 

 prepare our country for a Christian program of 

 conquest over other passions. 



If we took the price of one battleship and put it 

 into the building of good roads in one of our states, 

 we could prepare our people for a happier and 

 cleaner and saner life. 



If we took a small part of the immense sums 

 your program calls for in the enrichment of muni- 

 tion factories, and spent it in Christianizing Europe 

 after the great war is over, we could once and for- 

 ever remove even the needless fear of war which 

 exists in this country. 



Mr. President, the program you propose to the 



