Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-11
THE EXPECTATION OF LIFE.
Mortality Rates ~ Affected by the various
Occupations.

Mortality Rates Affected by the varioul
Occupations.
From the n. Y. Times
Life insurance experts, and those interested
in mortality statistics generally. employ in their
business q self-explanatory term known as 9Th.
expectation OF life." Under this heading ex
perience has furnished valuable tables, By
means Of which the probability Of the duration
Of different lives is reduced to a PRACTICAL,
accurate basis-a basis rendered doubly re
liable by reason of the fact that the results are
based upon many independent sets Of observa
tions obtained from widely different sources
The similarity Of the statistics thus obtained il
remarkable.
Charles Stevenson, welI-knowu actuary OF
Edinburgh. has contributed to the "expecta-
ton OF life tables the most recent informa.
ton on this subject in the shape Of a little
paper on The Effect Of Employment on Life
and Health, in which many curious facts are
presented concerning the relation Of occupa-
tons to mortality rates.
The largest mortality rate in the indoor &C.
equations considered is found among liquor
sellers, fact which explains the reluctance OF
life insurance companies to write insurance on
that class OF risks. Mr. Stevenson finds the
average mortality among 1000 liquor sellers to
De Z9.Z. increasing from II. between the ages
OF twenty and twenty mine to 1923 from age
seventy upward. He divides the liquor sellers
into three classes-licensed groceries. hotel
Keepers and barkeepers-and shows the re-
spective mortality rates to be. from twenty-five
years OF age upward. 1879. 26S and 1874, re-
spectively. which shows that the life risk Of tbs
average barkeeper is an exceedingly hazardous
quantity.
Among 1000 gardeners the death rate is
found to be DC; carpenters. ~ 4; shoemakers.
i34; stonemasons, 1853; butchers, 17.s, and
innkeepers, ala. This agrees precisely with
the information collected BY American life in
surance companies, which shows the butcher to
be hazardous risk second only to the inn
keeper and saloon keeper
The most curious facts resulting from this in
vestigation are those concerning the death rate
among the clergy. class which the author has
divided into three sections, namely, Church OF
England clergy, Nonconformist clergy and
Roman Catholic clergy. One thousand cases
investigated in each OF these sections shows the
death rate to be lowest in the Church of Eng
land clergy, where the average ia 1872 and
highest in the Roman Catholic clergy. where
the average is 15.7 These figures suggest an
interesting contribution to the study Of celibacy
IN its relation to the mortality rate.
The value OF outdoor exercise, with abund-
ance OF fresh air and a clear conscience, is
amply set forth in a comprehensive table show
ing the number per 100 of the various occupa-
tions that attain the age of 20 or more. Again
the clergy tops the list, with AZ out Of 100 who
attain the age of 20. while the farmers come
next with 40, and the other occupations in the
following order: Commercial men (drummers),
So; military men, 80; lawyers. 20; artists, 2S;
teachers. 81. and physicians. "a.
The apparently anomalous feature Of these
hgures IL that military men. whose occupation
seems to be most hazardous from q lavman g
point of view. in reality attain a greater
longevity than their less warlike brothers OF the
sciences and arts This favorable position of the