Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-09
QUEER THINGS ABOUT SEX.
Why More Boys are Born-why do the
Cities Produce More Girls?

SAtAeo E~FOOuce more 1lfI9E
From the Atlanta Constitution. =.
You have boy and girl, twins, perhaps.
Which will outlive the other?
Nothing but death to both IL certain, but in
all probability If both pass the age of thirty.
hve your girl win live the longest
In 1880 there were fifty millions of people in
this country, and about $50 900 more males
than females. That was only because more
males were born; the females live the longest.
OF the centenarians, l,409 were men and 2,607
were women
The boys start out nearly million ahead and
are in the majority until the sixteenth year,
when the girls are a little more numerous
Sweet sixteen is a numerous age, anyhow.
After that, first one and then the other is in
the majority, the girls gradually gaining after
thirty-six and leaving the men far behind after
seventy-five.
There are some interesting facts about the
old people: The native whites constitute
three-fourths of the entire population but
have only one-seventh of the centenarians.
The colored is only one-eighth of the whole
population, but has three-fourths Of the GEN.
tenarians.
There seems to be a providential provision
10 balance this longevity of the females In
almost every state few more boys are born;
not many more, but almost always few. 1t is
astonishing to see where the census gives thou
sands and hundreds of thousands of BOYS and
girls under one year old, there are, with one or
two exceptions always a few hundred more
boys, and only few hundred more.
In only six of the forty-nine states and terri
tories are more girls born, and in these states
they are very slightly in excess-from eleven to
elghty. These exceptions are Arizona, Della
ware, Florida, Louisiana, Montana and North
Carolina.
The fact that the females are in the majority
In all the original thirteen states but Delaware
and North Carolina, especially in Massachu-
eetts and New England has created the i'm
preston that there is something in the eli
mate or IN the people that produces more
women than men. This is a popular but
egreglous error. In Massachusetts there
were In 1880 437 more boys than girls under
one year Of age. The males are in the minor
ity in almost all the eastern states because
many OF the young men go west All over the
west there Is an excess of men, and those who
are not foreigners have been withdrawn from
the states farther east. In the new states and
territories this Is most noticeable, In Idaho,
for instance, there are twice as many males az
females, but the male infants are only little
III excess of the females
The west is drawing heavily on the manhood
OF the east. From this all the old states have
suffered. Massachusetts seems to have lost
more than any. There are parts of northern
Ohio which are portions Of New England re-
moved Massachusetts, shows the loss and Ohio
shows the gain.
Another curious fact is that while all over the
country more boys than girls are born, in cities
and towns there are more girls.
Between the ages of five and seventeen in
elusive, there are 1850 more girls than bows in
New York county, l,7OS more in Kings county.
It's more in the city Of Baltimore, l,0l3 more
In Suffolk county, Mass, BOSTON,. zoos
more In Cook county (Chicago), H.. 2.l31
more in the city of st. Louis 1871 more in
Philadelphia county and 1888 more in the par
lsh of Orleans. All these cities except New
orleans are In states where more boys than
girls are born.
Coming nearer home. take Georgia There
are 1877 counties, and in all but 26 of them
there are more boys than girls. These 26
counties include the IL large towns and cities.
Strange that not one of the cities should be
left out! Stranger still the excess of girls is
about IN proportion to population. Savannah
leads off with 52o more girls than bows: Allan ia.
$50; Augusta. 304; Macon 154; Columbus l3l:
Cartersvllle, l23; Rome so; Athens so; Albany,
10; Griffin, IL. and Americus. Z.
Savannah, though she has a somewhat
smaller population than Atlanta, has larger
excess of girls. This seems to be peculiar to
old cities. 1t Is so with Baltimore. New Or
leans and New York. The excess is greater
In New Orleans than anywhere else. Is this a
peculiarly of the French?
Cartersvllle has larger excess Of girls in
proportion to population, than any town in
Georgia. Barlow is one of our richest counties.
and the climate unexcelled. Part of it is lime
stone and part freestone country, and it grows
beautiful women and brave men
The facts are unanimous and present ques-
ton worth studying. Is there less manhood in
the cities than in the country?
These facts were taken from the United States
census OF 1880, but they are corroborated by
the school census taken by the Georgia depart
ment OF education last year. By that enumer-
alton the contrast between town and country
was even more strikingly shown. In the coun-
try districts of Chatham county there were
more boys, but in Savannah more girls; in the
country about Augusta there were more bows,
but in the city more girls. This was the rule
without exception, wherever the cities were
compared with their rural environments