Evening Star Newspaper, August 3, 1930, Page 95

17 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D.. C, 'AUGUST 3, lf).'%()‘ = = at-Is. the IDEAL AGL (1) Boyhood is usually pictured as a jolly, carefree time. I think it is a miserable period. = (2) In the 20s youth can work all day and dance all night. (3) At 30 Manr @ man is cynical, disillusioned of everything. Dreamsfade. It is a trying period. (4) After 35 a man knows the right road and ke can escape pitfalls. Some Prefer Youth, Others the Golden Age of Fifty, but Not This Famous Outdoor Man, Now Approaching Sixty. BY LILLIAN G, GENN. P 3 UPPOSE, if miracles could be wrought, there was one age you could be always. One age that you have found more giorious than any other. Which would it be?” Albert Payson Terhune, who has lived life to the brim, from roughing it in strange, far- off lands, boxing with famous champions, to spending exciting days as a reporter, did not hesitate a moment. “J'd choose 35, he replied. «~But isn't 50 man’s golden age?” the inter- viewer asked. “The age in whirh he produces his best work?” «It is, but that doesn't mean it is an ideal Certainly it isn’t the age I would per- sonally select to endure forever. I should like to see Father Time stop anywhere from 35 to 45. Mentally and physically those are wonder- ful years. The man of 50 would change places with one in those years any time. Take the word of this old man.” -+ is difficult to believe that the famous author would, in another (wo Vears, be ap- proaching his sixtieth birthday anniversary. His tall, powerful form is erect and vigorous. His face, deeply tanned by the sun, has none of the marks of the years on it. There is & glow of health and energy about him that made one think that the middle years he found so gorgeous are still his. IN HIS autobiography, “To the Best of My Memory,” he wrote that his life has been a very happy one, and it is evident to the casual eye that although his days may no longer be tumultuous ones, yet happiness is still his— a happiness of & more tranquil kind. “Boyhood is usually pictured as a jolly, care- free time,” he told the interviewer. “I think it is a miserable period. To the average boy, school i8 a treadmill of toil. The dire possi- bility of flunking in exams and of getting the scorn of his schoolmates and punishment at home is always facing him. ' Later in life, if you don't want to ‘face the music,’ you ean pick up your hat and go away. But when you're a boy there's no dodging punishment for anything you may do. “Pifty is supposed to look back with regret to the days when he was able to swim across the river with the boys, climb trees and race on skates. But, in reality, all he remembers is the horror of the thrashings he had to take from the bully of the neighporhood, the taunts of the other kids when he couldn’t do the things they could and the blackness of his despalr when he couldn’t go to the circus. These are only a few of the things than can make boy- hood a fiendishly miserable time. “But when the boy comes to his 20s, then life proves to be more enticing. The whole world is at his feet and there is nothing that he thinks he can’t do or can’t become. He sees himself as President or a second Dempsey. And, of course, he's sure he will be able to relieve Rockefeller of some of his millions. “Every day brings new interests, new excite- ments and pleasures. He hasn’t any cash in his pockets, but then, 20 hardly needs a penny to find enjoyment. He has exuberant spirits, great vitality and shifing hopes. He has looks and charm. He can laugh uproariously at nothing. He's game for anything and there is nothing in life that bores him. “A Jad In his 20s can woirk all day and dance all night. He can order impossible com- binations of foods and snicker at granddad's An Answer From Albert Payson T'erhune. Albert Payson Terhune, famous American author, and his beloved collies, diet. He is always sure of himself and sure that he knows everything. Love comes so easily to one during those years. You don't have to sit on the sidelines watching the young lovers. You are playing the fascinating role yourself. Never does life seem to be so beautiful as those nights when you can stroll under the stars with The Girl. You seem to be standing tiptoe, with breathless wonder, at the ga'es of heaven. You know that The Girl loves you, not for the money you have made or the material advantage you can offer, but for your own self. That thought alone gives you an exhilaration that makes you feel you can wallop the world. “For the youth, the mere joy of living is (5) At 50 the keynote is moderation: ) enough. He has noble ideals, great hopes and enthusiasm that life as yet has not had a chance to dampen. Today in particular is a marvelous time for him. So much is offered him in the way of opportunities. And what is more, hescan enjoy real companionship with girls of his own class, a thing that was un- heard of in 1 youth.” f “Then if youth had money in its pockets, it would be an ideal age?” the interviewer sug- gested. “It would be happier,” he answered, “but it would still not be the ideal age. “I love youth,” he went on to explain, “for the gorgeous times it can have, for the grea: physical energy that it has, but I would not want to be in the 20s forever. The young person of that age makes many foolish mis- takes. He will .not listen to reason. He doesn’t appreciale the rich store of knowledge and wisdom of older people. He is so cocksure of himself that no one can tell him anything. The result is that he stumbles into pitfalls of his own making and causes needless trouble and pain for himself as well as for others. “Youth is happy, but at the same time the boy doesn’t know where he is going. . He tries one thing and another. The boss’ smile and frown are too significant to him. Since he doesn’t realize his limitations, he is.constantly inviting stabs on all sides. Of course, youth can quickly recover, but, nevertheless, at the time he is terribly crushed by the blow. “By 30 he's beginning to be disillusioned about things. The career doesn't seen so won- derful. The girl hasn't turned out to be a celestial goddess, but a very human being. The ideals and the hopes he had appear ridiculous. The dreams of growth, of honeors, of winning a fortune fade away and he becumes cynical about everything. It is a difficult, trying period for him. “However, by the time he reaches 35 he has a square perspective on life. He knows which way he is headed and he knows what he can do. He is still young enough .to possess the vitality and the zest of youth. He isn't over- whelmed by youthful passion or plunged to the depths by defeat. He knows the right road ané the wrong one, and he can escape pitfalls. H* He Thinks the Ages of Thirty-Five to Forty-Five Are the Best Years in the Lifeof a Human < Being. has enough sense to take some of the advice of those who have already lived life. He ean keep a cool head while his heart is as warm and as eager as ever. “His children are still small. He doesn’t even begin to think of the day when they will leave him to hew their own paths. He has money with which to do things and to travel a bit. He knows that he can’t become the head of & railroad, but he realizes that by keeping at it life still holds a fighting chance for him. He can work at high pressure and yet have pep left over for other things. If he wants to he can have flirtations and not look ridiculous. “At 35 to 45 he is in the burning, throbbing Summer of life. If a miracle could be per- formed I would want to spend the rest of my days in those rich middle years. Those are the ones that to me, at least, are ideal.” “But 50 is still the prime of life,” the inter- viewer stated. “Fifty is the golden Indian Summer,” he replied. “But it isn’t Summer. It no longer has the burning heat. “When a man reaches the half-century mark he can't be rated as young any more. Physi- cally he begins to lose power. He has to be careful not to do anything in excess. Modera- tion must be his keynote. - He must have sense enough to know that he can't eat o gestible combinations of foods, late suppers or drink liquor; that he can't play 36 holes of golf or a fast game of tennis. But 50 seems to have a queer psychological effect on a man. He wants to prove to the world and to himself that he is still young. He goes dancing with young girls at night clubs and deludes himself into thinking he is a gay young Lothario. -He whips himself into joining gay parties and gorges himself with rich foods. “Of course, there is no particular. pleasure for him in associating only with old people, but certainly it is much better than making a spectacle of one’s self with the young. Fifty must learn to fight down this temptation. It's a hard task to do this because the mind is still young and keen and it has a way eof making you believe the body is young, too. “At 50 one has cash in one’s pockets to spend as one pleases. But one hasn't the zest for spending it. As the years mount up you begin to feel content to cut out a great many things in life. You don't want speed, excitement and revelry, but the quiet, simple things. “Since it is difficult for the older man to make friends, it becomes poignantly hard to lose those he has. Soon it becomes painfully notice- able that there are few left to call you by your first name. Every one deferentially addresses you as mister and somehow or othe}t you never grow used to the title. You want to hear some one call you by your first name or nickname. It is warming to the heart to hear it. “And a real tragedy comes when some wall meaning younger member of the family pats you lovingly on the baikt and says: ‘Why, grandad, you're the yo®:agest person in this room.” Then you may really believe that youth is gone for good. “However, if Pifty doesn't sit back and look wistfully at youth he will find that there is & vast store of happiness in life for him. Nature has bestowed her favors generously and every decade has its compensations. If Fifty would only believe this he would save himself a good deal of heartache. But he usually doesn't walle up to this faet untll he has wasted several gond years.