Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1901 — DEATH RATE LOWER. [ARTICLE]

DEATH RATE LOWER.

STATISTICS SHOW MARKED DECREASE IN MORTALITY. r Difference of Nearly Ten Per Cent Shown by Census Records—Average Life la Longer Pneumonia Causes More Deaths than Any Other Disorder. The census bulletin on vital statistics containing the preliminary statistics of deaths in the States and territories and the principal registration cities shows that the death rate has decreased by nearly 10 per cent. W. A. King, chief of the vital statistics division, says: “The most important feature of the results presented is found in the decrease in the general death rate in the registration area of 1.8 per 1,000 of population, a decrease of nearly 10 per cent, and the decrease in the rates from the particular diseases to which the geaeral decrease is due. “The effect of the advances made in medical science and sanitation and in the preventive and restrictive measures enforced by the health authorities is still more strikingly shown in the comparative rate for the registration cities of the country taken together. In 1890 the death rate in 271 registration cities of 5,000 or more people was 21 per 1,000; in 1900 the rate ,was 18.6 per 1,000 in 341 cities of 8,000 population and upward, a reduction of 2.4 per 1,000. The gross population of the ..cities comprehended was 663,631 in 1900. “The average age at death in .1890 was 31.1 years; in 1900 it was 35.2 years. "The total number of deaths reported in 1900 was 1,039,094; in 1890 it was 841,419. The increase therefore was 197,675, or 23.5 per cent. As the percentage of increase in the population was but 20.7, this indicates a more complete return of deaths than in 1890. “The record of deaths upon which these statistics are based was obtained from two differeent sources—namely: the return by the enumerators of deaths reported to them at the decennial enumeration, and the registration of deaths recorded under local laws and ordinances. In the non-registratiqn States no comparison with 1890 are made.” Total Deaths in States. The total deaths in the various States and territories for 1900 are as follows: Alabama 25,699] Montana 2,188 Arizona 1,233] Nebraska 8,264 Arkansas22,slß Nevada ...<... 438 California .... 22,506; N. Hampshire. 7,400 Colorado 7,428 New Jersey ... 32,735 Connecticut ... 15,422 New Mexico ... 2.674 Delaware 3,075 New York ....130,268 Dist. of Col’bia 6,304 North Carolina. 21,068 Florida 6,482 North Dakota . 2,287 Georgia 26,941 Ohio 53,362 Idaho 1,242 Oklahoma 3,181 Illinois 61,229|0reg0n 3,396 Indiana33,sß6 Pennsylvania .. 90,199 Indian Ter 5,286(Rh0de Island.. 8,176 lowal9,si3,South Carolina. 17,166 Kansas■•l6,26l (South Dakota.. 3,088 Kentucky .... 27,091|Tennessee 30,572 Louisiana .... 20,955iTexa534,160 Mainel2,l4Bl Utah 3,079 Maryland 20,422| Vermont J 5.829 Massachusetts 49,756(Virginia 25,252 Michigan 33,572] Washington .. 4,910 Minnesota .... 17,005 West Virginia.. 9,588 Mississippi ... 20,251;Wisconsin 24,928 Missouri .. v .. 38,024|Wyoming 767 Death Rate* in Cities. The cities with a population above 100,000 show the following death rates for 1900 and 1890, respectively: 1900. 1890. Washington, D. C 22.8 23.7 Boston , 30.1 23.4 Fall River, Mass 22.4 23.2 Worcester, Massls.s IS.O Detroitl7.l 18.7 Jersey City2o.7 25.6 Newark, N. J 19.8 27.4 Paterson, N. J 19.0 22.2 Buffalol4.B 18.4 Rochester, N. Y*15.0 17.3 Syracuse 13.8 19.6 Providencel9.9 21.1 Los Angeles, Callß.l 20 0 San Francisco 20.5 22.5 Denver 18.6 23.0 Chicagol6.2 19.1 New York (estimated)2o.4 25.3 Indianapolis 16.7 17.3 Louisville, Ky 20.0 20.1 New Orleans2B.9 26.3 Baltimore 21.0 22.9 Minneapolislo.S 13.5 St. Paul 9.7 14.9 Kansas City 17.4 17.3 St. Joseph 9.1 .... St. Louis 17.9 17.4 Cincinnati 19-1 21.0 Clevelandl7.l 20.2 Columbusls-8 14.7 Toledol6.o 18.9 Allegheny, Pa 18.4 18.2 Philadelphia2l.2 21.3 Pittsburg2o.o 20.1 Scranton •....20.7 21.8 Memphis2s.l -5.3 Milwaukeels.o 18.8 I rincipal Causes of ■ e th. In the registration area the fifteen principal causes of death, with the rate per 100,000, was as follows: Pneumonia, 191.9; consumption, 190.5; heart disease. 134.0; diarrhoeal diseases, 85.1; kidney diseases, 83.7; apoplexy, 66.0: cancer, 60; old age, 54; bronchitis, 48.3; cholera infantum, 47.8; debility, 45.5; inflammation of brain and meningitis, 41.8: diphtheria, 34.4: typhoid, 33.8; and premature birth, 35.7. Death from all the principal diseases shows a decrease since 1890, the most notable being in consumption, which decreases 54.9 per 100,000.