Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-01-06


twice, and even three times, as grea, as in the
Large cities OF Europe and American In add.
tion to the ~ deaths charged to old age, -, of
about eight per cent, are classed under the
vague term debility" In other words, 100
deaths, or nearly one fourth OF the whole
number tasdc from small pos) are attributed TO
"old age and "debility."
Finy deaths, or twelve per cent. are
said to have occurred from "dropsy." Strictly
speaking, dropsy IS symptom Of some organic
lesion. To be Of any value scientifically. not
the prominent symptom, but the Organic dis.
ease should I've stated. Twelve persons are re-
ported To have died Of ''hcmorhagen- from
the lungs or bowels, OF elsewhere but whcre2
Who can tell what is meant by such items rs
one death from congestion" and two from
Inflammation Inflammation Of whatp
Seventy three persons died Of "consump.
ton and OF bronchitis" that is, il we con.
slider the Board OF Health statistics to be rei.
able, consumption was the cause OF i6k per
cent OF the deaths. Compare this showing with
New York city. In 1880 the total deaths were
SLo57; from consumption, 4,7oS, or Ias5 per
cent Compared to the whole population. the
deaths from consumption in New York were
80 per cent in Honolulu, 40 per cent. Notice
also that while only three deaths are reported
from bronchitis, not even one is reported from
pneumonia. Is this credble2
Eleven deaths only are reported as due to
Syphilis Any one who knows how prcva.
lent this disease is here. how little relief is
sought in medical treatment, will ask at once is
not this number reported from this cause sus.
piciously small' II, again, 20 lepers can be
| apprehendcd at one swoop by the police, in a
population OF 10000, is it not probable that
there are at least five times as many cases that
escape the knowledge of the police officials;
and is it not strange that only one should be re.
ported as having died OF lcprosy in whole
year1
Why is il that the Board Of Health should
perpetuate, year after year, such absurdi,ies in
| classification, and such reports that show only
how meagre. unsatisfactory and incorrec, they
arcp
One fact they show, however, which ought
TO be impressed upon the hearts and minds of
| our community, and that is the high death rate
| tha, prevails in Honolulu. From 20 to 2s in
| every 1000 OF population is the usual average
in large cities. In New York, in 1885, ii was
| 2o.47 per thousand, and of the total number Of
| deaths IS. 81 were children under five years of
~ T.l
| only a63, or gals per cent, were under five
years of age. While the deaths of young
children were one.third less in proportion thau
| IN New York city, taking the returns of our
population at 10000, our death rate was a. rs
per thousand; or, taking the figures of the
| Board of Education, minus the deaths from
| smallpox, ooo, we have death rate of 10Y
per thousand, two and one third times as great
as in New York city. Yet IIH per cent Of the
| total number of deaths in that city were from
measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, Group, and
whooping cough, diseases not known to any
extent here. During 1880, as reported by the
! Board of Education, the deaths in Honolulu
were I,I62, representing an annual death rate
of 72.62 per thousand two and three-fourths
as many times proportionally as in New York
city for the same year. The death rate in San
Francisco was reported as 1927 per thousand.
| For the whole State of Massachusetts, the death
rate was 1873; for the city Of Boston, 23.7.
| The birth rate for Massachusetts was 24S
| -. =. ~.
high birth rate to be accounted for? Unfortu-
nately, the reports of the Board of Education
do not give the sex or nationality in their sta
tistics of births OF 6,oSa females in this city,
5,2oS were natives and half-castes, IS. per cent
Of the whole number. Are we to look to the
small fraction Of foreign females, I4.4 per cent
Of the whole number, for an explanation of this
large birth rate3
These statistics have been spread before the
public for many months. What member Of
the Board of Health has taken the pains to
study them, and set on foot searching investi-
cations as to the cause TO be assigned for an
annual death rate so excessively dispropor-
tonate to the usual estimate of the health Of
this community, and to the known average
death rate Of the large cities Of the world ?
Who is caring properly for the health Of the
community when no one knows how one in
every five OF the people who die among us
came to their death1 Whose are the children,
growing up to mould this nations destiny and
character, three times the usual average coming
into life here every year, and in what schools
are they being trained, in whst homes nur-
tured9
When We shall have had published the NOR
tuary statistics for 1882, what will they show I
Has there been, during the past year, any more
exact and scientific statistical work, any more
careful scrutiny of the causes Of disease and
death, any more philanthIopic and systematic
provision for the protection of the people
against preventble disease1 Will our many.
oficed Secretary Of the Board Of Health have
the time OF ability to devise a scientific classi.
ication, OF to investigate for the public benef,
the causes and the remedy for the present ex.
cessive annual death ratel
"FROM THE cOURT C/RCLlZAR.n u