Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1910 — AUTOS WRECK NERVES. [ARTICLE]

AUTOS WRECK NERVES.

nrii«in n ri Rv»-U* Car. tm . or M iM< Mails »« H««lu Mr. “Running an automobile is the greatest strain In the. world on the human body. It is not half so great a strain to run an engine at 80 miles an hour over a track laid out for it as it is to pilot an automobile from 30 to 60 miles an hour over rough roads.” This rap at automobiling was taken by Dr. E. 8. Pettyjohn of Topeka, Kan., national medical examiner of the Knights and Ladies of Security, who spoke on the general work of a physician examining applicants for insurance at a meeting of the medical examiners of the order at the Hotel LaSalle in Chicago recently. “Some poet has said that man has made many inventions for shortening life and has succeeded admirably, ’’ said Dr. Pettyjohn, “and I think he was right. Nervous diseases are on the increase, due to the strenuous life Americans lead. There are more deaths from cancer than from tuberculosis In many localities. “I think man should live to be 125 years old. I base this on the theory that the expectation of life should be five times the age at which any animal reaches maturity. I think both man and woman mature at 25 years of age. The law says 21 years for the man and 18 years for the woman. This is not true. I have seen men at 20 years and boys at 30. I have seen women at 18 years and girls at 30. “Probably we cannot lay down any hard and fast rule in this regard. We should all live as long as we can, and it depends largely on ourselves how long we do live. Personal history should be taken into consideration 'very largely by the medical examiner. I think the doctor should base his report on an applicant for Insurance onethird on family history, one-third on personal history and one-third on the examination.”