Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1861-04-04

taken as an approximate eStlnlate.
Let us suppose one hundred thousand
born in England at the same date, say the
next new-ycars day, the lst Of January,
1861. They shall not be picked lives, but
belong to all ranks and classes of society.
Some born in palaces and mansions, sur
rounded by all the cenvenlences and luxu-
ries which riches command with every re-
lief at hand to arrest the first symptoms Of
sickness. Others in huts by the mountain
side, in village cottages and homesteads, in
odging houses of towns and cities, or such
dwellings as are ordinarily found in them.
According to the usual proportion between
and seventy-four of the gross number will
be boys. and forty-eight thousand seven
hundred and twenty-six will be girls. They
may be compared to feet of one hundred
thousand vessels, setting sail together from
the same shore, consisting of two grand di-
visions, one of males. which may be called
the red squadron. another Of females, which
we may indicate as the white It will be
observed that the latter is numerically infe-
rior to the former.
An array of diseases peculiarly beset the
| UCS VI HtC, COiu W Suuh IOChS,
shoals. and breakers along shore, the causes
Of shipwreck. while in many cases infants
are sickly by constitution. and may be lik-
ened to ill-furnished craft. rendering disas-
ter more imminent. Hence. at the expira-
tion of the first year, or on the 1st of Janu-
ary 1862. the feet will number eighty-five
thousand two hundred and sixty-nine sail
having lost fourteen thousand six hundred
and thirty-one; and the red squadron will
have suffered more than the white, tending
to equaize the two divisions, for mortality
in infancy is greater among boys than girls
Fhr first month is by far the most fatal.
about one-f urth Of the loss sustained occur
rim. IN that interval. Daring the second
year. five thousanl two hundred an | sixty
S ven will be- added to the vanished ones,
leaving eighty THOUSAND one hundred and
two for the number of the survivors on the
1St Of January, 1853.
But let us 90 on to the end of FIVE years.
during which perioi children are at home.
under the care of their parents Life and
health then very much depend upon the
ability of their natural guardians to supply
food and raiment: upon the air they respire.
sphetheI that of ii,-ventilasod ioosns and
close alleys. or the free fresh atmosphere !;
and in no slight degree also upon maternal
cleanliness and watchfulness. Happy the
child, if the mother. caring for the welfare
of the body, is likewise carefully addressing
herself to nobler task
"Apart she Joins his little hands in prayer,
Telling of Him who sees in secret there;
And now the volume on her knee has caupht
His wandering eve-now many written thought,
Never to die, with many lisping sweet,
His moving murmuring lips endeavor to repeat"
At the close Of the FIVE years, January l,
1866. the numbers will stand, total loss
twenty-five thousand seven hundred and
ninety-nine, surviving seventy-four thou
sand two hundred and one During the
next five years, when children leave home
more, and are at school, the mortality is less
considerable, and remains small through the
succeeding quintuple period, when those
begin to enter the factory, follow the plough,
OR descend into the mine.
These fifteen years bring US to January,
1878, when the feet will number sixty eight
thousand six hundred and twenty-seven sail
The white squadron will now begin to suffer
rather more than the red, lasting through
the next five years, during which the loss
OF life is somewhat greater among girls than
boys. The lapse Of another quintuple era
completes quarter of century; and. by
January, 1866, the two squadrons will be
nearly equal, consisting of thirty-one thou
sand nine hundred and fifty-eight males to
thirty-one thousand six hundred and twenty
three females. making total of sixty three
thousand five hundred and eighty-one. This
is the average age of marriage. But if the
peculiar danger which besets women at the
era enhances their mortality, that of the
men is more than correspondingly increased
by causes of death to which they are special
( ly exposed. There are fatal accidents on
the rivers and sea-coast, in mines, in travel
ing, in the streets, and in their dangerous
occupations, with the influence of close work
shops, exhausting toll, the wear and tear of
mental application and business anxieties.
After the lapse of ffty-fve years, or by
January, 1916, this generation will have
given birth to and brought up the genera
ton by which it is to be succeeded, when
more rapid rate of mortality will set in, and
upwards Of a thousand die every year.
From this epoch the mortality of women
is less than that of men !; and by three score
years and ten, or January, 1881, the white
squadron is numerically superior, number
ing twelve thousand seven hundred and
eight sail, to eleven thousand eight hundred
and twenty-three belonging to the red,
making total of twenty four thousand five
hundred and thirty-one still aAoat. Much
more than half of these will have gone down
when four-score years have passed, some
nine thousand three hundred and ninety
eight remaining on the 1st of January,
1911. But they have lost their gay appear
ance and gallant attire. No longer,
.'Merriy, merrily, goes the bark,
Before the gale she bounds''
The patched sails are in shreds and tatters:
the spliced cordage is incurably worn out
and all the timbers are ready TO start asnn,