The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-09-05
NEGRO'S WORST FOE.
CONSUMPTION AND KINDRED Dis
EASESKlLL MANY COLOREO PEOPLE.

Statistics That Show the Principal Causes
of the High Death Rate - Afro-Ameri-
cans Peculiarly Susceptible to Pulmonary
Complaints.
The last census is hopelessly inaceu-
rate in the matter of correct enumera-
ton of the population. While it gives
something like 1000, 900 Afro Ameri-
cans, the opinion is that the number is
nearer 100000.
Until very recently we were quite in
ignorance of how these 1000, 900 Afro
Americans live, what they do, their
health conditions, and the like There
was much wild speculation, but no
trustworthy data upon which to base
conclusions. This is no longer true.
The experiment stations of the United
States department of agriculture are in
forming US i'll bulletins, regularly is
sued, OF the kind, quality and amount
of food Afro Americans consume in the
rural districts of the south. The Johns
Hopkins university at Baltimore has
had Investigated their farm holdings
and mortgage Indebtedness, the Atlanta
university is conducting o systematic
Investigation into their social and
physical condition in the cities, and the
Hampton and Tuskegee conferences,
held annually, throw food of light
on the subject by giving the farmers
themselves an opportunity to testify as
to their condition and prospects. The
federal department of labor is also TAX
ing a hand in the matter and has issued
several helpful bulletins.
With all these agents actively at work
gathering the facts ana putting them
into handy reference form, we shall
soon know vastly more about the Afro
Americans of the southern cities and
rural districts than we do about the
white population of the same section
indeed, that is almost the case now.
Atlanta university has issued a PAM
phlet embodying the proceedings of the
second conference for the study Of prob
lens concerning negro city life, dealing
especially with the social and physical
condition of negroes in cities. The sta
tistics gathered in this publication and
b41O OD1u1OuS anu OOuGluElOuS duNdDO6u
have the merit of having been gathered
and put forward by Afro American
graduates of Atlanta university and
other Afro-American schools of higher
learning. The nature, scope and thor
oughness with which the work was per-
formed are worthy of notice here.
In the course of these manifold in
vestigations it has been discovered and
pointed out that the negro has much to
fear from the death rate and the dis
eases producing it.
L. M. Henshaw of Washington has
collated and analysed the vital Stats
tics of Atlanta, Baltimore, Charleston,
Memphis and Richmond Mr.. Henshaw
finds that i'll the five cities covered by
his Investigations the excessive mortal
ity of ro-Americans was due to pull
monary, sorofulous and infantile dis
eases. He says that these principal
causes of excessive mortality are iden-
teal i'll all the large cities. He there
fore makes the following table for
Charleston, Memphis and Richmond
combined and gives the average death
rate per 10000 for a period of Is years,
from 1881 to 1895;
Per cent
excess OF
White. Colord color'd.
Consumption and pneu-
monia.. 1916 75.4s 1904
Typhoid, malaria, scar
let fever and diarrhea 20l6 1922 800
Cholera infantum, CON
vulsions and stillborn 14.S7 39.43 1851
Scrotula, etc............ 81 Az 4S2.7
The two principal causes of death, as
shown in this table and in all others
contained in the report, are consump-
ton and pneumonia, while the waste Of
child life on the part of both races. it
is shown, is simply appalling. That
consumption has already become the
worst enemy of the Afro American race
is shown by the following tables, show
ing the death rate per 10, 900 for the
five cities under considerations:
ATLANTA