The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-04-22
January Was Most Fatal Month
in All History.
A STUDY IN EVERY COUNTRY
SuperstitiOnS and Habit Play
Great Part in Ideas.
More Boys Than Girls in War
Time in Kansas?


tant feature plays an active part IN
your life? 1t is just as sure and GER
tain as the law of gravitation as sta
tistics, wrecks, sickness and death all
occur with striking regularity and the
law of average plays big part with
them all. Birth, with all its mys-
teries, comes under this head for, dur
ing a period of 500 years the law of
average shows that 107 males are born
to every 100 females. Death stands
out with marked regularity in the
array of figures compiled and though
an epidemic may occur in one country
yet from year to year the law of aV-
erage shows that with so many people
born every year the population, taking
into consideration the natural increase,
remains at about the same ratio of in
crease.
Take the death rate in Kansas as an
example. The highest month ever
shown places the number at 2,21S
which occurred in January of this
year. December, 1915, came forward
with 2,024 which was the next high
est Grip and its resultant causes
played big part in the known reasons
for this high rate. But take the death
list year in and year out. the law OF
average will. taking into consideration
always the natural increase in popula-
ton, play an important part.
First Vital Statistics.
The first known vital statistics were
made by Captain John Graunt of Lon
don, England, in 1861. From his an
alytical study he carried at the con-
clusion that the birth and death rates
were quite constant; that the births
were distributed among the sexes in
the ratio of IA boys to g girls. That
the deaths among a given 100 persons
born could be calculated for each sue
ceeding year and that from an ac-
curate birth record, the total popula-
| ton of the country could be COM
puted
Again in 1905 Jacques Bernouilli,
a professor of Basel died and left be-
| hind a work in which he mathema-
tically made clear the theory of prob
abilities and one which has played no
| small part in the development of mod
ern statistical science
The American Mortality Table
which is used extensively by life in
surance companies today received its
foundation from Halley's tables In
1898 the first life insurance institution
was founded in London and a year
later The society of Assurance for
Widows and Orphans" came into ex-
istence, yet this table was found to
be wrong for Haley did not take into
consideration the increase of popuIa-
ton, yet the idea for the table was
given birth by his records which he
left.
The American Experience Mortality
:
life insurance companies was complied
in 1868, by Shepherd Romans in Phil
adelphia and he gathered his data
from the experiences of the Mutual
Lie insurance company of New York.
In all these tables the law of aver
age is SO pronounced that it is pos
sible for big company reasonably to
pred1ct years in advance it's losses The
same applies to big fire insurance
companies for the one section may be
visited by disastrous fire yet year
after year their losses have proven
that they will equalize themselves to
a reasonable certainty
Quetelet Covered Wide Field.
Possibly it is to Quetelet a Belgian
that the students of these facts owe
more at the present day, than to any
other, for it was he who made extern
sive statistical data in connection with
his studies of mathematics and astron-
omy. His Investigations concerning
weather conditions led to a study OF
the periodical phenomena of vegeta-
ton which was but a step further to
include the animal kingdom and ther
mankind.
Social, moral and physical charac-
teristics of men were embraced in his
investigations and he was surprised
at the similar results obtained from
: each and every variety of phenomena
observed. He became convinced that
mans actions are governed wholly by
the mathematical law of chance oil
, probability. He showed by records
. kept that all kinds of human acts oc
, Cured with marked regularity Crime
, accidents, suicides all showedIigom
. paratively constant figures. He wa
/ not a fatalist though he believed ant
{ proved man to be largely the produc
= of his environment and society respon
sible for the individual
No two persons see the same thin
\ oil ON nf
t of the human mind 1t can picture ant
f comprehend but few things at a time
= 1t is unable to grasp and hold larg
r number of distinct Impressions at an.
one time To prove this let ten mel
Intellectually normal, see murde
committed with it's resultant excite
I ment; hear them explain just wha
happened and possibly no two will de
scribe what actually occurred, that is
the detailed facts. This fact is wei
known to criminal lawyers and on
they base their hope so to confuse tn
witness and jury, by the wide differ
ence in statement of facts, as eithe
to acquit their client or at least obtai
" disagreement. This fact was lon
ago recognized by scientific men an
they began to gather data and to max
records for future reference in orde
v that the law of average might b
e easily and definitely proven.
q Determination of Sex.
g Take the determination or sex. Thl
: has long been a study among medics
= and scientific men but they hav
q never arrived at a conclusion definit
3 enough to stand the test, yet the la'
l. of average in this instance is sue
Il that an even balance is kept. There
e an old superstition that an increase
: the birth rate of boys denoted that wa
d would result shortly. Even today tn
II statement is made that during wa
times more boys than girls are Dor
s and, indeed, statistics after the Napc
t leonic wars proved this fact and eve
J. the birth rate in Europe today show
/ that more boys are born than girl