New-York daily tribune., 1858-07-21
INFANT MORTALITY IN The CITY o.
NEW YORK.

of des.hs 10 the population hasconS. IA, W
80 6nrng the pas. century in Americs IS grSr.
hs, been 20 grest 70 inspire the egoomies,''eo'trs
o,bs rrtn,e. The average duration Of life IN Ftss,
Las very much increased, parti;uisr'y n the nn
towns. Mscaulsy says thss there IL gIei.ef iTs
cree bstween the London Of the issn aad tae Lssls
os IN. Eth centuries than between toe I)ndoa & O.
Sin,ry times and the same city durins scnoersss
80, In lss5 which is no. menti pned ~ hsyns Aa
= wear Of unusual mortality, more than one osd
-, co inhabitants of the capita. diei. A. p-ss~
A.. rs.,,v ,verare Is ore OF. Of 81. 10 Nor'hlDr..
-h;cb "a one Of the leas. healthy of the smaller "a,
c,.h cities. tie average duration OF human HE laA
last century was 81 years-now Il has in,f"ased
vs.-s The same facts bold good with regard e u.
m. io:ty OF Continental cities. Ia France aeeo'h-sa
Charles Dupin - days annually were stded .o;hetGrt
ton oshumsn life between the yesrs 100 and M "a
20 yeNs this would I'D ount 20 81 addition 20 sues
lifetime Of 81 yes,sa gift that, with ah1s sss-ompav
i,r lis. the msiority Of mankind would secea vi
xnspeskabe gratitude. In France. IN 1871, one E.s
son died gu. Of every 81, while IL lso tae avsfsN
uss one ont OF 20. The Psiis.sns have t,ken eivs
tsce of this generous delay ON the part OF the fxs
il cuttrg the thread Of life 10 add shout SIX yexsn
their own share the average term beng nov - yes
while in l7S7 L was ouly PSI la Germany, whe's
there s less cultivation among the lower eIs'-es Elo
ave condemned 10 severer and more debssng lsbos
hsr in most other lands, there has rot been go ma-
lest an ncresse in the duration OF hie. The svesss
yearly moS eiiy in Prussia in 1919 was one ont o. eve
" b. In Bavaria from ISL to S1l, Il WAS one oT
OF 30 How different the facts with reg.'G 70 'ss
ountry. In the city OF Baltimore between 1881 all
1910 one person out OF every l3 died yearly. Iriss
he number increased 10 one out o. 80, &nl 4
present amounts to one out of 10. In PhLsiepsS
IN 1854, the average was one out OF 5S la Ne
York, in 1910, there died one out OF every To- inM
one ou. Of fl. In 1870 one out of every g, srda
1875 one out OF every 81. Between 1880 ard 1856
the mortality of this city hiss constan,ly increased
and in the latter year announced to one out O. every
inhabitants.
Melancholy as these calculations are, they ar c.ly
cxplsiBable when remember that IN addition TO ~
reckless, desperate habits OF life for which we Amsl
cans are Justly noted, great impetus has osea siw
10 the increase of mortality in our midst oy the horde
of foreigners who have found this land well saitei
them for a home or place OF refuge. Accordingly,
we examine the official reports, we vii ind tse table,
OF mortality in large cities, especially ON the ~s-
bo&rd to be made up chiefly Of foreigners and ehL
dren. The numerous endemical diseases peculGt 70
early stages of lte particularly n new land, account
for this mortality among the latter class, while with n
gard to the foreign population is superiniuced oys
variety of under the circumstances both nss
raj and unavoidable. For what other fate could W
predict to the thousands who most Of them entirely
destituts of means, annually 10 this county be-
HeviDg it to be land flowing with good gifts . haven
where rlmors Of oppression and deceit shall forever
be unheard They have TO be suys opportunities ia
rising but in most cases their opportunities exceed
,ha 9Th srJ hot tha A
susl labor they find themselves obliged to peromN
even keep their position among the rapid and o.
ergetic natives Of the land and the ncenencies Of our
chaDgeable climate, the process Of acclims.ion s x
to prove tedious if indeed its progress is not inter-
rupted by death. In this city, between lsi7 and 1856
there died 64,49i immigrants. The yearly sysass
amounted to 30 per cent OF the entire mortality Of sis
city, and in some years, as in 1919 aud 1853 n rcNw
80 per cent. IL must be remarked thst this escuAr
on does not include the children born OF foreign p&
rents in this country The same rule, however, sp
plies to them with equal not greater force, FOR .hey
suffer from the same ignorance of their parents snA
are much lees able to bear its consequences.
In view OF these facts, treatise on Cholera Iataa.
nm has recently been published this city, in ,rmsn,
ty DR.. A. c. He1amer which we trust will be product
i've Of much good among the German portion our pop
ulaton, for whom it was specially It is among
the working classes ard the pSupers of our cities .hs
cholera nfantum selects the majority of ts victims ssa
hoss two classes for the greater part made up Of o,.
egneTs, principally Irish snd Germas 10 1855 there
were in this city 10000 Irish, 100000 German srd
81, 600 English inhabitants. Owing to the inexpsreps
and poverty Of these people thousands Of children ~
swept sway by this malady every Summer. Toe ms
JOrity OF deaths in our cities are of children undsr
years Of age. An article on Massachusetts. in The i
Christian Examiner, reviewed in our columns ~
days since staes that " more than onefah Of L1the
deaths In that State are Of infants not one yer oA;
" more than twoffths die before years. 10 Boston,
" the number Of those who die before 5 is reatsr
than all the deaths between and 60, mskisg the
chances of death in the first years greater thsa
the next 3D. This is trus with regard to nsafy
every large town in the Union. In this city In 1871,
81 per cent of the whole number of deaths were CHI
aren under years. In 1857 the proportion hsd ID
creased TO 20 per cent During the LAST ten yesn
i3oioo children have died in New.York City whis
the number Of adults deceased in the same tu1
amounts to only SO III. Should this mortality con.
tnue to increase in the proportion. we NAV eI.
pect at no very distant period the whole new psue,
ton to be swept away from the earth in fs ssrUSt
rancy-.o be transferred to the coffin and the srsysx
rectly from its mothers breaSt.
The only remedy that can be devised for this im-
mense destruction Of infant life s 10 teach habits Of
personal cleanliness and the simpler rules Of hygsns
to the lower orders, and at the Same time endssvor
BY little judicous interference with their landlords
TO ansDge the buildings in which they reside with
greater view to ventilation and the comfort of The r
mstes To the neglect Of these latter precautions tho
suthor Of the treatise in question particularly attributes
the prevalence and maignty of cholera infartuu 10
this city, in the other large cit es Of the Irnop In