The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-09 00:00:00

nucE.. 4d.
STAMPED sd.

been in any year since 1881. In ordinary course
January is almost 3 deg. colder than December ;
but last January was as warm as the remarkably
warm mouth that closed the year 1865. At the be-
ginning of the month the weather was stormy, and
the wind blew in gales ; and on the 11th there was
seriously
Londonoulys a fall of unusually heavy snow, which
e
impeded traffic and broke down the tele-
graphic
poles and wires. Soon the snow disappeared
under a rapid thaw, which was followed by the in-
undation_ of all the low-lying lands in the valley of
quent changes,
the Thames. Heavy rains and high winds, with fre-
attended the month to its close ; but
its most striking feature was the high temperature,
which continued till near the middle of February,
and showed an average excess of 6 deg. daily. From
this date till the midde of March the air was almost
wenas
faobuorutdays
continuously cold,
•and t3hedaverage daily defect of
ftoemllopwereadtu; temperature
s
warm period of eight days, in
tem-
perature rose above6idtfierstgrieeshe
egoiaNyvteeo.OFlcdoonl•dr andda anyd finallydr ofyheat
w a ae
esesasnodf
fruit
budded,six
rieahget.heTmheeeaxntrenieuickened vegetation;
weeks q
Ind in some places
hedges
almost burst into blossom.
at-
mosphere from mild and damp g
we ehadfavourable to agricultural operations, which
been in a backward state, (min.,
,„ to the soddened
state of the ground ; and was besides a salutary;i
check on the too rapid advance of vegetation and
at the end of the quarter the growing crops mere
sufficiently forward not to be injured by sudden
frosts. The mean temperature of the air in the
quarter was 41.2 deg., which is 1.7 deg. above the
average of the same period in the previous 25 years.
The fall of rain way, 9.3 in., which amount is 4.5 in.
above the average. Less than 2in. of that quantity
fell in March, the rest in nearly equal portions in
the two previous months. The atmospheric pres-
sure was low throughout the quarter. AtAldershot
on the 11th snow covered the ground to a depth of
9in., and about the middle of the month snowdrops,
crocuses, and primroses were in flower. On the 4th
February a hurricane of unprecedentedviolence blew
at Belfast and for many miles around it, accompa-
nied with thunder and lightning, and with hail and
rain which swept along in masses. " Large
trees were torn up, chimneys thrown down, and
slates whirled through the air like feathers." This
storm visited Manchester and some other places in
the North of England.
DEATHS, AND THE STATE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH.
The weather in the quarter, as it was observed in
the metropolis, has been described in its main points,
and the description of it is for the most part appli-
cable to that which was experienced over the coun-
try. It was unfavourable to health ; and by exciting
or aggravating pulmonary diseases carried off many
persons of advanced age. The total number deaths
in England and Wales was 138,233, which implies
a rate of mortality above the average of ten previ-
ous winters, though not so high as it had been inthe
winters of 1864 and 1865. In these two periods
142,977 and 140,646 deaths were registered.
It deserves to be noticed that while the mortality
in London and other eight divisions was lower last
quarter than in the corresponding period of 1865, it
was higher in the two remaining divisions, viz., the
north-western (Cheshire, Lancashire, and York-
shire). It would appear that in thelarge andalways
unhealthy manufacturing towns in these parts the
people suffered more than they did in others from
conditions and sudden changes of the atmosphere
which were not confined to them ; and also, as
shown in the Registrar's reports, that scarlatina,
measles, hooping-cough, and other zymotic diseases
prevailed there, and co-operated with the weather
in producing a high mortality.
The population of London is not very differcntin
amount from that of Cheshire and Lancashire ; the
births were as 28 in the former to 30 in the latter ;
but the deaths were 20 to 26.

The annual rate of mortality last quarter in Eng-
land was 2-653 per cent. ; the average of ten previ-
ous winters being 2-501. But it is a remarkable cir-
cumstance that this excess above the average was con-
tributed entirely by the large towns ; for in the
country districts the death rate, 2.252, was actually
lower than the average, 2-295. The annual rate of
mortality in the 142 town districts was 2.967 against
the average, 2-680. These results confirm the con-
clusion that there were other destructive causes at
work besides unfavourable states of the weather—
that the diseases above mentioned, which commit so
much havoc in towns, were still more extensively
fatal, and only acquired additionalvigour from influ-
ences peculiar to the season.
The death-rate was higher in Cheshire and Lan-
cashire than in any other of the 11 divisions ; it was
3.384 per cent. In Yorkshire it was 2.960 ;in Lon-
don it was 2.666 ; in thewest midland counties 2.654;
in the northern counties (Durham, Northumberland,
&c.), 2.443. It was lowest in the south-eastern
counties, where it was 2.185.
If the map of England were shaded to represent
the rates of mortality of last quarter in the registra-
tion districts, the eye, travelling from the lighter
south to the darker north, would be instantly drawn
to a spot of portentous darkness on the Mersey ; and
the question would be asked whether cholera, the
black death, or other plague, imported with bales of
merchandise, had been lately introduced into its busy
and populous seaport. Happily this has not been the
case ; but fever, probably developed or aided by the
mild and damp atmosphere of the season, and by
overcrowding in an increasing population, has been
busy and fatal in Liverpool, and in other towns of the
same county, and of Yorkshire. The annual mor-
tality of the borough of Liverpool in the three months
was excessive, and demands immediate and earnest
consideration ; it arose to 4.593 per cent. This im-
plies thatif this death-rate were maintained for a year
46 persons out of 1,000 in the population would die
in that time, or 15 more than died in Glasgow, its
northern rival, 19 more than in London. The mor-
tality in the city of Manchester, though far less
than that of Liverpool, was higher than in any
other of the 13 selected towns of the United King-
dom; it was 3.742 per cent., and that of Leeds was
hardly less. The following numbers of deaths
registered in a few districts in three corresponding
quarters, make the recent increase sufficiently
ap-
parent :

Ma81122r,8,:c302164h91353365.Qr. MalrBc6hs.Qr. March Qr.
IManchesterLiverpoolv es t Der b y 1866.
3,059 3,526
Chorlton
TheAshtonLe Oldhames
Registrar 2,047 2,628
1,196 1,50 G
2,324
7792,496
673 836 1,006
Blackburn
892
of thieolBlBoward-st99rteet subdistrict
of Liverpoolreports33 deaths from typhus out of 330
from all
whooping-cough. hoocpauses_ ; and many occurred from bronchitis
and
samec ough. In the St. Thomas sub-dis-
trict of the
town 28 were from typhus out of
311; and pulmonary diseases were fatal. In the
Mount Pleasant sub-distrid, in which the work-
house is situated, out of a total number of 1,050
deaths, 215 were caused by typhus, 112 by
bron-
chitis, 143 by phthisis, 26 by whooping-cough, 23
by measles, 19 by scarlatina. The Registrar of the
Islington sub-district of Liverpool believes that
overcrowding is among the causes of a high mor-
tality. At Warrington there were 287 deaths, and
no less than 94 of these were froni measles: Typhus
has been for some time very fatal in Manchester ; it
is stated by the llegistrar of Deansgatethritt,si di
e n the
quarter ending December 31, 1865, na less that
1,530 persons were attacked by continued fever in
i n
Manchester and its suburbs, and of these 5
7 )..s
continuedl
e also
1 1 r
g the
last and the disease has
prevai
d
last quarter. In the sub-district P
were prevail
a
turned
a total mortality of 570 deaths, of North Leeds, i 2
caused by fever.
it
castle-on-Tyne. Y in New-

THE FATAL EXPLOSION AT GARSWOOD COLLIERY
—THREE MORE DEATHS.-The number of deaths from
this terrible accident at Garswood Colliery, near St. Helen'F,
has now mountecto eleven—three more of the injured men
having expired glace their release from the pit.