Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-22
The Mortality Rate.


| lation die every year In the Ihi'e"
| States These figures. which are the
! nos, accurate statistics of the kind
,b., can he prepared. show that the
United States is one. OF the heai'hiesi
| countries in the world. being excelled
in this respect only by Denmark, Swed-
on and Norway. The most heai'hiui
mart of the United States seems to lie
| in the central West and in the northern
regions of the Mississippi valley ana
its tributaries. In New England as
| whole the death rate Is somewhat
.hoya tho average for the whole coun-
try. due largely to the ravages OF the
white scourge. consumption. but III
Maine. according to our own State re-
port. the rate per thousand in l?o0 was
1s 40 which is a little below the aver
age for the country.
The significance of the death rates IN
the larger cities, as compiled by the
census statisticians. is to cOnSidera-
bic extent destroyed on account of two
interfering facts. The negroes i'll the
South and itinerant consumptives in
the West both are victims of a high
mortality, which gives an excessive IN
crease to the death rates of the places
where they reside. For example. ac-
cording to the census. Pueblo is the
most unhealthful place in the United
States. But nobody believes that
death turks in the pure and invigorat-
ing atmosphere of Pueblo. Its death
rate of 81 per 1000 is due to the NOR
who go there from the East in search
of health. In an equal degree the high
death rate among negroes affects APP
pearances in most all southern cities.
For example. i'll Charleston. 5. c.. the
death rate among the whites is 2o.S.
while among the colorcd people it is
s1.5. In New Orleans it is 23.S among
the whites and aS.9 among the negroes.
In Savannah it is 24.7 among the
whites and 34.3 among the colored pop.
ulaticn. This proportion prevails gen.
orally throughout all southern cities.
and gives them a reputation for UNI
healthfulness which. 50 far as the
whites ar. concerned. is not deserved.
For the. whites. however. the death rate
in the South is much above that of the
North. 1t may be said that. other
things being equal. the heal,hiest cities
are usually situated near Il copious
supply of water. ST. Joseph, South
Omaha ST. Paul. Cedar Rapids and
Minneapolis. which all have very low
death rates afford conspicuous exam-
pies of this fact.
The figures for our Maine cities are
interesting in this connection. .Ac-
corlinS to the report Of the Maine de-
rartment of vital statistics fo" 1900
the number of deaths per 1000 in our
=
burn. 1850; Augusta, 22.6s: Bangor.
1906; Bath. l6.i2: Belfast. 1893; Bid
d"ford. 3l.06: Brewer. 1874; Calais.
1898; PASSPORT, 20.34: Ellsworth 1850:
Gardiner. 1881; IaIlowell. 1865; Lew
isiou. 20.I3: Old Town. 1901: Portland.
1926: Rockland. 1911; Saco. ELIOT.
South Portland. 1863; Watervlle,
1857; and Weslbrook 1918. Thus il
appears that among our 20 Maine
cities the death rate Is highest
in Augusta and lowest in West
brook and Ellsworth. OF course
Augustus high rate is accounted for by
the large number of deaths which oc-
cur at the Insane asylum: otherwise it
is not at all proba BILE that the rate in
this city would be above the avera &C.
Likewise. il is probable that POrtlahds
high rate is considerably Influenced by
the presence of the Maine General hos
pital which receives patients from all
parts of the State. In several of the
manufacturing cities the large infant
mortality among the French population
is a prominent factor. In nearly all Of
the cities the rate is higher than the
average for the county in which they
are located. AS for the counties. the
death rate is highest in York where it
is 1916 and lowest in Aroostook where
il is 12.14. The kennebec rate is 1915.
The average for the State as stated
earlier. is 1910.