WHEN" IS A MAN TOO OLD?

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 5, 7 January 1928, Page 22

WHEN" IS A MAN TOO OLD?

How old is too old? Many kerbstone philosophers, at least those under 50 years of age, contend that little of worth is accomplished by men who have passed the. half-century mark. Youth is accustomed to looking at 40 as tho peak age, and that is also established by some compounders of success formulas as the age at which a man must have made his mark in tho world if he is going to make it. But Dr. W. A. Newman Doriand, of Chicago, discovers the peak of achievement has been set back considerably. Summarising the lives of 400 of tho most famous men in history, in an article in the "Welfare Magazine," of the State of Illinois, Dr. Dorland draws the conclusion that renowned men live from 20 to 30 years longer than those of past ages, and that they reach the peak achievement 10 years later-in life. He states that 50 was the average age at which the 400 did their best work, but that world leaders who are still living do not reach the limit of their ability until they are past 60 or close to 70. "In the world war all the great commanders on both sides—Hindenburg, yon Blow, Foeh, Haig, Pershing—were 60 or near it," Dr. Dorland writes. "J. Pierpont Morgan, at the age of 70, raised 40,000,000 dollars in 40 hours and stopped tho panic of 1907." Obviously, the practice of urging retirement on men who have reached 60 is unwise. If the United States were to lose the services of its outstanding men who have reached or passed 60, it would be in a sad plight. This is a high-speed age, an age in which youth is predominant, but it is plain that youth can no longer be gauged by years.