Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-22
HOPES TO GET
RID OF PLAGUE
FIGHT AGAINST CONSUMPTION
GAINS HEADWAY
Bulletin Issued at Washington Declares
Continued Decline In Death Rate
May Henceforth Be.
Expected
tBy Associated Press.l

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21.-The great
fight against tuberculosis Is being
won, according to Chief Statistician
Cressey L. Wilbur of the division OF
statistics, census bureau.
In a bulletin Issued today based on
the annual returns of deaths from the
death registration area of the united
States he says:
"It is probable that the great atten-
ton that has been given to this dis
ease through the international con-
gress on tuberculosis held at wash
ington in 1905 and the organization OF
many state and local societies, has al
ready begun to have its effect upon
the mortality from that disease, and a
continued decline in the death rate
from 1t from year to year may be ex-
pected.
"A disease of increasing Importance,
according to the returns, Is pellagra,
from which twenty-three deaths were
returned in 1908, but as most of the
deaths from this source occur in the
south, from which no records are re-
ceived, this figure does not represent
the mortality from this cause.
Among the rarer diseases smallpox
caused ninety-two deaths, plague fives
yellow fever two, leprosy eleven and
rabies, or hydrophobia, eighty-two."
The total number of deaths from all
forms of tuberculosis returned in 1908
was 72,189, exceeding those of any pre-
vious year of registration, but the
death rate per 100000 for 1908 is con-
siderably less than that for 1907.
In all registration states the deaths
from tuberculosis showed a decline,
except in Colorado, Rhode Island and
Vermont.
Causes of Death
Each of the following causes was
responsible for at least 5000 deaths of
male bread winners during the year:
Typhoid fever, tuberculosis of lungs,
cancer, apoplexy, paralysis, heart dis
ease, pneumonia, Bright's disease,
suicide, accident. The total number
of deaths of occupied persons from
these causes was, for males 138259,
and for females 17,434.
Of the deaths of occupied males, 29,-
443, or Is per cent were due to tuber-
culosis of the lungs, and of the occu-
pied females 5511, or 81 per cent were
due to the same cause.
In the registration area during the
year 1908, 800 deaths out of every 100
deaths of occupied males who died
between the ages of rs and "a years
were caused by tuberculosis of the
lungs, or nearly one death out of every
three.
During the same age period H.9 per
cent of the bookkeepers, clerks and
copyists; 40.1 per cent Of the BARRIERS
and hair tressers, 40.9 per cent OF the
servants, AL per cent of the boot and
shoe makers, -49.2 per cent Of the COM
positors, printers and pressmen; 41.2
per cent of the tailors and 25.6 per cent
of the farmers who died in the regis
tration area during 1908 were victims
of pulmonary tuberculosis.
The number of deaths from all forms
of pneumonia returned for 1908 was
81, ,259, q decrease Of over 600o
The crude death rates from. cancer
continue to increase, and slightly
higher rates are recorded for each
main subdivision of the registration
group.
For the year 1908, S3,465 deaths from
this disease we're reported as against
3o.514 for 1907.