New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-06-29
TRINlTY'S TENEMENTS.
,r so UNHEALTHY AS REPRESENTED.

Of AN EXAMINATION OF THEM BY AN
..,rpr-c CRITICISMS THAT WERE NOT JusTI-
nv rACrs-THE CITY's HEALTH
o.nn,s METHODS DENoUNCED-CON-
r,.py TO THE THEORY AND PRAc-
rIcE OF VITAL STATISTICS.
,,ora,a reply TO the criticisms which
"a. last winter upon the tenement houses owned
-. trinity Church was put forth yesterday by the
~ Of that body. II is In the form OF report
49,, examination that has been made by Frederick
~ uonman a wel-known expert statistician. He
Is commissioned by Colonel Cruger. controller OF
~s,o,v CORPORATION, 10 investigate the whole sub
49,, thoroughly His report Is given herewith in
full
70 the Corporation OF Trinity Church:
have the me aeaIh rate Of the Trinity Tenement
POPULATION with special reference to certain alIega-
" their report to the Tenement House Commission
during the month of December. 1894
subsequently verified by correspondence with the
board OF Heath the Gsarse INA, MAS ma made on hs
IN Trinity Tenements was in excess OF the general
mortality of the city and tina, this EXCESS was as
he tenements of the Corporation of Trinity Church.
u How far the Board OF Health was justified in
nsarh rates based on essentially different popua-
de how net ar 0n Sy R n OF E'
Ss Trinity tenement mortality and It's true causes
clear in the following statement which VIII present
IN as brief manner as possible the main result va OF
my extended Investigation into tho mortality OF the
tenement population OF the Cooperation of Trinity
Church. ,.,,.,. o,.,,
as possible to those not familiar with statistical
methods and statistical fa;aces would require
Lengthy To Oh do ot ,hs in brief report ike
the following would cura the more , ,n DIS
fore confine myself to the statement that In the
Of : S n eaSs rsd
on the subject OF vital statistics from pr farr 70
~ sbe %ew-York Hoard Of Health as well as the
report OF Dr. Billings on the vital statistics OF New
ps Of comparative death rates which will form
an essential feature OF this report ,,,,o =, ri.
nv Tenements consists In the main OF the staten.
OF the Board Of Hsah that the death ,b rate o
erty Of the Trinity Corporation. located In three
different wards Of the Ow b part al ns S rate Of
per c,,S Seo Of SewYork for 1893 The actual dealt
rate stated to be g per Loo or my Iene
mean death Of 24Oi per lo" for The city OF
Network for the same period
AN ABUSE OF STATISTICAL METHODS.
Now we have here in this simple and innocent
looking statement OF the B0rd Of Health the most
astounding abuse OF statistical method ever en-
ployed by writer statistics OF the official OF
Board of Health. l thoroughly familiar with
the reports OF nearly every Board OF Heath IN 'hs
country and OF Of the statistical offices IN
F,urope and can assert with all the emphasis II Is
possible 10 put in words that the method OF the
New-York Board OF Health to prove the unsan'tary
condition of Trinity Tenements is contrary to the
theory and practice Of vital statistics. IL Is =,
ny pecosnzed authority on the subject and one
that will never be made use OF by any one MI WI,
cares for his reputation a statis.ic!an. methou
in short by which two death rates are compare
for two populations so essentially unlike IN qHan, n,
OF proportion that the fraction denoting the !rn,y
popaa.On can only be x2er on S Sa Statistic
no Official Of a Board OF Health has ever at,
ssIp5sa 10 premses To make Of The
employed BY the Board. Of Health OF Eew1Iork
research; would be direct refuta,ion OF the
statistical law Of large numoers ana %Eua ean
ny9ysa IN th 7" St
plain The law Of large numbers elimna,sss the
Influences in the death rate OF the Popsiaa ,ion a,
large which not the case N the r. for oi in
stance the as suicides that occurred in the CITY OF
s s.ss s IF 'H rate peer BY az but
T S'as sSa1 9Sss omitted would AFFECT
the Trinity death rate by o@ per ~ 49,, VT IN ,n,s
%ors IS Setis' fS1
Of error would ,h sscs hs o@sn
saa,, 90 ese one ss death would rsne
men, death a1r Tas Of Deaths are red
from the hospital mortality TO the supposed ipc ;n
-, cadence OF the deceased lin the case OF Itlhty
Tenements in year as many as fourteen e eh
were thus sss c ~ 'n @
Trinity death In one Instance hea, b ~ de
assigned naS 10 40, 1I ne9 there or two
such errors cannot possibly be avoided, Know nov,
sSauid not be calculated small populations or n
done al all only with the u,nos, care ana r Wn nm
consideration OF all 'ne ue'"'' '''''
death rate
DIR. BILLINGss OPINION.
D- billings. Assistant Surgeon-General. o. g. A.
the foremost authority on vital s'atsucs j" '''''
country has so plainly expressed MS op'nio" o''
this point that / cannot do better than quote ms
own words: 1T may be well 10 caution those no.
familiar with statistical methods and stausucal
fa.c,es that all death rates or ratios given must
he considered In connection with the actuai num-
bers from which they are derived peo""'' -
uany cases II will be found that EXTRAORDINARY anu
unusual ratios due merely 10 the s''ia""e 80
=, the data from which they have been caIcu.sated
Report on Baltimore and washington p ~ Ss ,Ss
holrne in his work on Vital Statisucs au, w. 2n6
should be excluded from the general calculator
The same writer in his chapter, on involved in
The method employed by the Board OF H ear,s.;
General results r9 Snab 'a rate eF The City Of
York issosD ''may be safely applied to simae
saI ,bs Years 1850 for Instance but Their ap
plication single cases Is fn OF sec OF the
Irecauton that the phenomena or evehs s dG rise
to the most valid objection which has been ,ned
against the use Of the numerical he,"o' III "'
icine."t $780, - ,,o, o,a.s,lcs are 80
well known TO those engaged In the heta OF h ssa
t,stcai compilation and research. they nave De en-
frequently referred to TINE a from ASH i to 1892
,bev No excuse can be offered for their VOCATION
IN tho report OF the Board Of Health TO the ie"e
ment House Commission ,,.,s. -, ,he funda-
mi NOT alone was there violation OF the iu ra a
mental principles OF vital statstics pay ,hst RI"
d"ath rate for Trinity Tenemens for isSssS ~
compared with death rate ioi IN. The dea h
rate for the city based on csnsSs Of 1890
sgsinst an actually enumerated population Jr The
ty Tenements IL 1893 Instead OF ,or isss with
mean CITY death rate for sSss3 calculates sy
Conservative and weknown m etn1o safes census
SormuaeI on the basis Of the United Sta'r ode use