The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1906-07-12
A CENSUS REPORT
Result Of an Inquiry Conducted I'm
der the Direction Of DR.. Alexan-
der Graham Bell.
INTERESTING STATISTICS.
He Finds About One Person in Ev.
cry 1,2OO Blind and One in
Every $50 Deaf In the
United States.

washington, July lU.-ADOuJ one
person In every 1900 was blind and
one in every $50 persons was deaf in
the United States in 1900, according TIC
special census report on the blind
and deaf in the United States in that
year just issued by the census bureau.
The inquiry was conducted under the
direction of DR.. Alexander Graham
Bell, who determined the scope of the
investigation and wrote the text Of
the report on the deaf.
The total number of blind in the
United States in 1900 was 64,763, Of
whom 1896 were totally blind and
29,11S partially blind.
These figures, however, the report
says, can only be considered as the
minimum, as an unknown proportion
of the blind were not located by the
enumerators. OF the total blind,
37,O54 were males and 27,7O9 females.
The blindness is chiefly defect OF
adult life, almost 65 per cent. of the
blind becoming so after 20 years oil
age. About one-tenth of the total
number of blind were born so. The
number of blind per 1000 of popula-
ton was greater among the negroes
than among the whites, and greater
among the foreign born whites than
among the native whites.
In about per cent of the cases 81
blindness reported the parents OF the
blind were cousins. OF the blind
whose parents were so related rs per
cent. were congenitally blind, while
among the blind whose parents were
not cousins the proportion congenitai-
" blind was only 6.S per cent.
OF the blind at least ten years old,
90 per cent were engaged in some
gainful occupation.
The percentage of persons engaged
in professional pursuits trade anu
transportation and in manufacturing
and mechanical industries are larger
among the totally blind than among
the general population.
Deafness on the whole, the report
saws. Is more common in the northern
part of the United States than in the
southern and there are more deaf
males than females. The total num-
Der of deaf in the United States is CIV
en- as S9,2S7, of whom 37,42G were to-
tally deaf and 5l,SGl partially deaf
From the latter class, are eliminated
those merely "hard of hearing" The
census report of 1890 gave the number
of persons as deaf as 121, ITS and the
opinion is expressed that the returns
for 1890 were undoubtedly excessive
while those for 1900 are deficient. OF
the totally deaf j2.5 per cent were
males. Negroes constitute 11.6 per
cent of the general population and on
ly 50 per cent of the deaf. That the
negroes seem less susceptible to deaf
ness than the whites, the report says,
is probably due in part to less COM
plete returns from the negro deaf.
OF the totally deaf 81 per cent were
so from childhood under 20 years OF
age) and Sc per cent from birth. Of
the S9,92S persons returned as deaf
55,5O1 were able to speak well, SAY
imperfectly and the remainder not at
all The report presents figures to
show that the schools for the deaf
are doing excellent work in teaching
articulate speech. When the subject
of deafness is considered from the
point of view Of consanguinity, It
would seem that heredity has played {,
part in producing congenital deafness
and the deafness occurring in adult
life; whereas, deafness occurring in
early childhood, after birth and under
age of five, is probably to large ex-
tent adventions. OF those at least ten
years old among the deaf 3S.5 per cent
were gainfully employed as compared
with 500 per cent among the general
population. Of the deaf who were
gainfully employed 1877 per cent were
found in occupations in which perfect
or even partial hearing is not essential.