Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-17
TUESDAY. ........JULI II, 1894.
Yital statist:es of Richmond.

Vital Statistics of Richmond.
on page . Of this issue. under the ini-
tsls +. l.. VI. we to-day publish a valu-
able article on Rlchmond's health re-
cord
1t is from the pen Of gentleman who
has had much experience in the investi-
CATION OF vital statistics, and it involved
the examination OF all the reports OF our
Board Of Health $50 far as they were OBJ
tainablc) since its establishments
The amount Of work that our contrihu-
tor has bestowed on the preparation OF
this paper Is inconceiva5le to all but those
who have undertaken similar tasks
statement which is embraced in one
line may represent whole days labor
A paragraph may have been quarried
out OF a mountain OF figures at the
cost OF weeks work. All who read his
article will we feel sure. be impressed
with the diliEent search for material. the
painstaking care in compilation, and the
conservative conclusions Of the writer.
Ordinarily such an article as this would
better suit a medical Journal than a daily
newspaper but so much adverse criu-
csm has been INDUCED in with respect
to the health Of Richmond and so many
injurious and unsupported statements
have been made in relation thereto. that
we have felt it to be a positive duty to
place before the public the record Of this
learned and patient investigator.
For years and years-and wholly una
vailingly-the Dispatch has urged the
City Council to employ a statstician to
compile the vital statistics Of the city
since the establishment Of our Board Of
Health, SO as TO ascertain what sections
of the city show the greatest mortality
and what diseases are most fatal here
and at what seasons Of the year. Also,
what is the truth as 10 the comparative
mortality Of whites and blacks as shown
by tables running through a long series
Of years That work which the City Coun-
Gil would not have done this volunteer
!nves ;igator has done-has done as far as
the material at hand would enable him TO
DO it. The result. in our judgment is
the most powerful vindication yet made
OF the healthfulness Of Richmond. Here
We have not n chapter Of theories not a
volume Of spcculations. but figures from
the record Of Richmond and other cities.
1t seems to us that unless +. l.. H.
figures can he successfully attacked, IT
viii b. useless for any one hereafter 10
charge that Richmond's death rate is ex-
cessve
one of the revelations Of these tables
is that the white mortality Of Richmond
has rarely exceeded p per 1880 per annum,
and that during TIRE year 1895 it had fallen
to tn. lowest rate recorded in twenty
years. We are told that "a death rate
of lS1 per l.Co0 is exceptional for city
Of 5000 inhabitants and one which will
bear favorable comparison with the rate
for any city in the country Of similar
size"
out OF fourteen Of our healthiest cities
Richmond stands third as regards health
fulness Of white population.
In a table of five leading southern cities
Richmond ranks second as regards
healthfulness." Here the total rates en-
ter-white and black population both are
considered.
ITO consumption and pneumonia are
due the majority OF deaths III richmond
This however, els the case for all other
cities and sections OF the country"
our rate as To- each of these diseases
compares favorably with the rate of the
very healthest cities in this country.
our writer says:
The relation of typhOidfever TO the
water supply is too well known 10 need
being referred to here. but | may be per-
mitted to add that an investigation Of
the condition pertaining to Richmond $
death-rate would warrant the assertion
that the public water supply Of the city
IS of a good quality and in no way re-
sponsible for the typhoid mortality
The number Of deaths here from ~
motto diseases in 1880 was 5Sl. in 1891 it
was JO6. in 1892 ii was 40, and in 1893 it
was only $751;
From the tables presented it appears
that the highest death rate here is IN
Jackson Ward and the lowest in Monroe
Ward.