The Washington herald., 1914-08-10
Census Shows We Live Longer.

While all Europe is engaged in war and millions
of trying to kill each other, and millions OF
women and children in danger of starvation, we
have reformers in this country making a frantic
campaign for the conservation Of health by one fad
or another, but all with the object of trying to live
without eating. Some want to abolish breakfast of
ham and eggs substitute cup of coffee and roll,
simply take cup of hot water. Others equally
insistent that hearty dinner in the middle of the
day is equivalent to suicide, and others would cut
off the evening meal
These dietary faddists the latest but h:y have
large company of veterans who have for years been
preaching against red meat and hot bread beer and
wine, cheese sandwiches acid fruits and alcohol so
that with the whole propaganda in action it becomes
question of ignoring these lectures or trying to
live on the old-fashioned prison fare of crust of
bread and cup of water, if we want to conserve
health and prevent the this side of the At
antic dying off more rapidly than war decinate
the population OF Europe
The census statistics may not be as exciting read
ing as the danger signals of the dietary faddist but
they more encouraging to the ordinary who
eats and drinks what he wants and does not give
too much thought to his health Even the mortality
statistics comforting at this time of war and
worry. The death rate in the registered of the
United States for the year 1913 was I4I per 1000
population and it is marked decrease from that Of
the fve-year period IooI-5. If the death rate
of that fveyear period had prevailed last year there
would have been recorded I35,ooo more deaths 1t
is therefore apparent that the people have failed
to their health by failing to follow the ad
vice of the faddsts. This conservation of health has
been by improved sanitary methods and better pro-
lection against conagion. The greatest improvement
has been in the large cities where the death has
been reduced from 20 to rs per cent Greater New
York leads the country with decrease of IS per
cent and lower death rate than that of the State
of New York, filled as it is with health resorts The
death rate in the registered of the United States
is lower than that of any European country except
Denmark and the Netherlands, and lower than that
of Canada with its comparatively small population
1t is also contradictory to the theory of the health
faddsts to find that Maine with her lakes, forests
and seashore and prohibition, has higher death
rate than Massachusetts, and New York where three
fourths of the population is crowded into cities that
New Hampshire with the White Mountains beckon-
ing to the city population to and find health,
has the highest death rate in the country and that
North Carolina with mountains but the prohibition
of mountain dew" stands close second to New
Hampshire When we want to find the lowest death
rate recorded anywhere in the world we have to go
across the continent not to the summer cline of
Southern California, but to the hustling State of
Washington with its growing cities, boisterous lum-
Der camps and stories of vice In the Middle West
the place where people refuse to have their
names recorded in the death lists than any other, is
Milwaukee where sky-scrapers mark the location of
beer vats..
The registered area does not include the whole
United States, but it does include the most populous
sections the large cities and than 65 per cent
Of the whole OOOulatiop L.,
own records and claim lower death rates and higher
prosperity we'll other features of paradise but
they have not yet been willing to forward their
records to the Census Office, perhaps because they
do not to have the figures submitted to the test
of mathematical comparison The publicity bureau
of Kansas claims the lowest death rate, as it claims
every other good thing in the universe but Kansas
is not recorded in the statistics of the Census Office
and we can safely wait the proof before all go to
Kansas to keep alive and kicking
But after ALL it is sometimes worth while to turn
from the various private statistical bureaus which
are conducted to impress upon the people that we
are rushing pellmell to death and destruction to the
uninteresting and cold figures of the Census Bu-
reau which gathered without any other purpose
than that of recording facts. The official figures
simply show that people we are growing better
living longer, and having better time attending to
our business than are those whole sole occupa-
ton in life is trying to attend to other peoples busi-
ness .-'