Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1918-04-11
VERMONT CONTINUES
A HEALTHY STATE
Deaths in 1917 Fewer Than In
1916 and Gratifying Improve.
ment in Number of Cases of
Typhoid and tuberculosis
Marriages Decreasing

That Vermont IL very healthy state.
one Of the healthiest in the Union. is
shown by the figures that are being COM
piled for the year 1917 at the Office OF the
secretary of the State board Of health.
During that year there were only %
deaths from typhoid all over the State.
and every known case Of the fever was
either brought In from outside the State
or contracted from some one who did
bring It In. Besides almost eliminating
death from typhoid, the number Of deaths
from tubercvlosie was reduced to 200. with
one exception the lowest ever recorded.
In other ways tho state shows great i'm
provement In health.
One thing amiss IL that Vcrmonters In
1917 showed woeful falling OF In affec-
ton for the opposite sex. Last year there
were but Ats marriages as compared with
SGD the preceding year. The legislation
which did away with Bellows Falls a. q
Gretna Grecn might have had something
to do with the shrinkage in the number.
but many elements entered into the
matrimonial business which would
tend to offset this discrepancy.
large number o: soldiers from
without the State. located at Fort Ethan
AMar. WERE married before going away
ana urge number OF Vernonters were
married before Joining their regiments.
Nevertheless. thers were 1.10& fewer
matrimonial ceremonies performed than
during tho preceding year.
Another important thing Is that there
was a big falling off last year in the
number of births over the preceding year.
Tho number during 1916 was 1906 while
last year 1t went down to 1858. OF this
number 1890 were males and 3.733 females.
AS to deaths, there were not so many
last year as during the preceding year.
In 1917 the number Of deaths was $500.
while in 1916 1t was 5.695.
There were s. suicides during the year.
Twenty-three were committed by the use
Of firearms and IA by hanging. Next in
popularity came poison. of which there
were 10. Other means Of committing
suicide were two by asphyxiation eight by
drowning and five by stabbing or cutting.
Rutland county had more suicides than
anywhere else, with H. Chittenden had 10,
Windham six. Windsor seven, Washing
ton seven. Orleans two. Orange three,
Lamoille Ave, Franklin three, Essex two,
Caledonia five, Bennington one and Addi-
, son three. There were none In Grand Isle.
OF the contagious diseases. measles far
| outclassed everything else. with a total
of 1926. but of these only 70 resulted
fatally. There were 895 cases Of scarlet
fever. of which 10 were fatal. Other
contagious diseases were anthrax two,
diphtheria 344. poliomyelitis 172. septic
sore throat 1868. smallpox 66. tuberculosis
Of the lungs 262 and typhoid 40.
Some Of the principal causes Of deaths
were cancer. which showed a slight i'm.
provement, being 392 as against 413 in 1916:
polomyelitis Is. meningitis nine. scarlet
fever 10. septic sore throat nine, tuber-
culosis in other forms than the lungs 60,
whooping cough 81. diphtheria q, in
fuenza 15S and pneumonia 391, nearly a
hundred more than in 1916
The State was entirely free from many
diseases such as malaria and some Of the
common Affections. The most gratifying
item in the report to the health officers
is the showing in typhoid and tuber-
culosis.