The herald., 1897-07-10
HEALTH AND POPULATION
The Larger the City the Lower the
Death Rate

Some official figures recently appeared
in London which gave great surprise to
social economists. They were filed with
the registrar general and showed that
the death rate WAS rela lively lower in
the larger cities of England than in
the small ones. The rate in London was
l5.5 per 1000 inhabitants; in Liverpool,
1919; in Hull, las, and in Sheffield, 1911;
but in the town of Plymouth it was 23. s.;
in Stafford, suburb of Manchester, 25 g.;
in Bolton, 25.S; and in Burnley, Isl.
Though the sanitation of large cities is,
in the main. better than that in the
smaller towns, the transient population
is larger in the former and, moreover,
the big cities usually maintain larger
number Of public, penal and charitab Bile
institutions, hospitals asylums and pris-
ons, which add materially to the death
rate. In the city of New York, for in
stance, as the last figures Of the board
of health show, nearly 10 per cent Of
the interments are pauper burials made
at the public expense and from public
institutions usually '+
The figures filed with the registrar
general in London caused surprise to
many who had accepted it as a funda-
mental truth that in the large cities,
where population is compacted and the
battle of life is carried on under condi-
tions unfavorable to health, the death
rate is larger than in the country, where
there are ample room, abundant ventila-
ton, and less of the sedentary life of
a great city. But the contrary is found
to be the case in this country as abroad.
For the last quarter reported by the
board of health, the quarter ending April
1, 1897, the death rate of this city was
found to be 2023 per thousand inhabi-
tants A year ago the death rate for
the corresponding quarter was 22.S9 and
the year before that it was 25.4S In
other words, as the population has been
increasing the death rate has been de-
cre'asing, and this is seen to be the case
in the big cities of the country-the
larger they become, the lower the death
rate gets. There was a compilation of
such health figures made about a year
ago, and it was shown at that time
that the death rate in New York was
lower than in either Newark or Jersey
City; that Philadelphia is healthier
city than Memphis, San Francisco than
Charleston, St. Louis than Worcester,
Mass. and Hartford than Portland, Me.
An illustration of this can be found
nearer at home, perhaps, in the city
of New York, where, relatively the
death rate is lower in the downtown
and thickly populated portions Of the
city than in the partly rural territory
Of the annexed district. This is espec-
tally the case in that portion of the
Twenty-fourth ward, which includes the
newly annexed townships from West
chester county. The Third, Fourth and
Sixth wards of New York had by the
census of 1895 total population of 45.
SIG; the Twenty-fourth ward had by the
same census a population of only 43, $685.,
but during the last quarter of 1896 the
number Of deaths in the three wards
first named was 229 and in the latter,
the Twenty fourth ward, 244, and GER
tainly no one would look to the Fourth
or Sixth wards for improved sanitation,
while the Twenty y-fourth ward would
naturally be regarded as highly favor
able to health. The truth Of the mat
ter is that when a city grows in popula-
tion and wealth the opportunities for
progress are utilized. A pure water sup
ply is secured, substantial buildings
are erected, good foundatiGns are the
rule and not the exception, sewerage
system is established, and in other ways
the increase of the population brings
about corresponding improvement in the
general health-New York Sun.