HAPPY THOUGH HUNDRED

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 May 1930, Page 2

HAPPY THOUGH HUNDRED

THE AGED ON LIFE

The question is often asked, who is the oldest w-oman in Britain? Mrs. Mary Ann Priest, who lives in Fulham celebrated her 102nd birthday recently, but there are several other candidates who are older than she is, says the “Daily Telegraph.” They include: Mrs. Hannah Hoadley, aged 103, of Tottenham; Mrs. Elizabeth Hasler, aged 104, of Chelmsford; Mrs. Ann Hopson, aged 104, of Liverpool; Mrs. Tricky, aged 104, of Budleigh Salterton, Devon; Mrs. Elizabeth Newby, aged 105, of Willesden.

Mrs. Priest declares that she found that life at her great age was not worth while. “I am alone in the world,” she said. “Life goes on without me. Even if I could I would not give the secret of living to be 100.” But the other wonderful old ladies all said this pessimistic outlook found no favour. “Poor Mrs. Priest, I am sorry for her,” said Mrs. Hoadley. “Why, I enjoy a .walk when it is fine, and I like a glass of rum as well this cold weather. Miserable? Not we. I find life every bit as pleasant as when I was a girl—more so, in fact, because I do not have half the bothers I did then!”

Mrs. Hasler was equally emphatic that life after 100 years of it is still more than worth while. “It is true that I spend most of my life in bed,” she said, “but do not ask me if I find it irksome! I believe in hobbies, and that is why I still knit and sew too. I am happy and contented, and I find that young people like to heijr' what the world was like nearly 100 years ago.” Mrs. Hopson, despite total blindness and slight deafness, keeps up to date regarding all the events of the day. She voted at the last election, and when the weather is warm enjoys a motor run.

“I do not find the days long enough for all I want to do,” she said. “Look at the things there are to do now compared with when I was a girl. I have a wireless set, and I thoroughly enjoy it. And I still like to talk to young men. . . Yes, you may kiss me.” Mrs. Tricky is frankly looking forward to the spring—she wants to go out more.. “I have a host of friends,” she said, with a kindly smile. ‘They help to keep me young, and I like to go to see them at their homes. I haven’t been able to walk much farther than my bank lately—the weather is against me—but you wait until the sunshine and the flowers are here.”

Mrs. Newby is in Park Royal Hospital, London, but she is still self-sup-porting, as she makes and sifj’ls tea cosies. “I do not think that it is a question of age,” she said. “Life is what you make it, and I have always tried to make my life worth living.”