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Show s - ; - 'I To Live Long . - I . r T"HB average American now lives to the 'age of 56, compared with 41 bacl in 1870. But by. 1930 people will have a life span of 70 years, predicts Dr. George Martin Kober of Georgetown University Medical school. His prediction, of course, is based on a supposition that people will Increasingly live more sensibly and correctly. We hope so. But he certainly is an optimist . Four . hundred years ago the average length of hu- man- lifs-wa lomtwheri between 4 8-and -20 I years. And it was only 25 years as late as ' 1 800. A gain of about five years In two cen-' cen-' turles. There has been a gain of thirty-one ! years in the average life span since 1800. 1 People live longest in New Zealand, ver-1 ver-1 aging 60 years at death. In India the average age of death is before 25. These "average" figures, however, are arrived at by adding up ' and striking an average of all deaths, Includ- ing babies. The gain has been mostly in cut-' cut-' ting down the death rale among children, espe-f espe-f daily babies. This has raised the' average. It Is doubtful whether there are any more peo-' peo-' pie living to "a ripe old age", than formerly. Or even as many, for that matter. -The gain has been made largely In cradle i years. As regards individuals who reach ma-- ma-- turity, they seem to die at about the same average age as In former generations. As far : back as 1908 experts estimated that three 1 million Americans were constantly on the sick list, and that forty-twa out of every 100 of these illnesses were preventable cases. Similar Sim-ilar situation today. When people succumb to preventable diseases, they generally are victims of their own carelessness. This care- lessness In many cases results from underestimating under-estimating their personal value In cold dollars and cents, . ' ' - For Instance, tale a man with an Income ! of H3000 a year. Now J3000 is 6 per cent ' interest on an Investment of 1550,000. If the J000 a year man had an auto or any other machine worth J50.000 he would Insure it against every possibility of disaster, and he would. care : for it as If It were a priceless possession. You can imagine a radio bug neglecting a 150,000 receiving station If he owned it On the other hand, the $3000 a year man often neglects ils 5 0,000 body as if It were an old bit of junk. Give your body a square deal. Treat It with the consideration con-sideration and care that Its high value deserves. |