The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-02-17
Innuensa's Toll OF Lives.

to tell at this time what the total |
number Of deaths properly attflbut-
able to Il may be, but ARTHUR HIN
TER, chief actuary of the New York |
Life Insurance Company, has pre-
pared a paper. which the Insurance
Press prints, from which an idea |
Of the vlrulence of the malady can
be obtained. The records Of the COM |
patty with which Mr.. HUNTER is as
ISOLATED show that the mortality rate
among Its policy holders for the first
nine months Of 1918 was Unusually |
favorable" although It included
deaths due to war, "the ratios Of
actual losses incurred to expected
deaths being Oh per cent" But:
During the last three months Of the
year 1918 the ratio Of actual l6esee In
CURED to the expected was 1ss per cent.
the average for the entire year oedns
% per cent, which IL the highest in the
recorded history OF the company.
The average for the last Ave years
a half years. was ~ per cent. Our ex.
perience for 1918 seems to be slightly
below the average OF other companies,
the lowest ratio on the basis or incurred
being 81 per cent. and sthe highest IFS
per cent. Of the American Mortality
Table"
AS to the number Of persons who
died as a result of infection by this
plague, Mr.. HUNTER made these inter-
esting conclusions:
Reports issued by the tinted States
Government with regard to the deaths
| from influenza and from all forms OF
pneumonia In the forty-six principal cit
| les of the country show that SO out OF
each 1000 OF the inhabitants have Died
from these causes in the last four
months Of 1918 and the first month Of
1919. From this should be deducted the
deaths from the usual form OF pneunno-
MIA Making due allowance for these
deaths it follows that 100000 persons
have died in the United States from the
epidemic, II It is assumed that the small
err towns and the rural districts have Suf-
fered as heavily as the principal cities.
This estimate obtains conhrma ton from
| the experience OF The Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company. In which clains to
| the goth of January were made under
| 10000 policies In a total of about 49,
5oo.O policies. a rate from the epidemic
Of approximately 80 per cent per 1000"
Figures now available indicate that
the highest death rate was reached
in the city of Philadelphia, where 1t is
fixed at to the thousand. The next
cities in order we're Baltimore, Bos-
ton, New Orleans, Washington, Nash
Vile, San Francisco and Kansas City.
The virulence Of the disease in army
camps was astonishing:
| "In the camps. where disease would
not be expected to bear so heavily as
elsewhere, the death rate showed that
even strong men living out OF doors un-
der healthful conditions were very prone
to the epidemic In fact, one writer states
that the stronger and more vigorous
the man tho more readily he seems TO
succumb.' There have been statements
made by Or. y1cToR q. HEIsER, for ex-
ample, that the death rate in the can
tonments was from two to three times
higher than that In civilian communities.
General GoRaAs states that the death
rate IN the army In the United States
has been about Ave times az large az
among tho civil population In New York
I city. This has been ascribed by various
soldiers sleep In one room, and TO the
close contact OF men in other respects"
1t is necessary. however, to take into
|, account the bases on which the civil.
ian and army rates are computed, and
, Mr.. HUNTER is of the opinion that the
/ actual mortality rates may be more
; nearly alike than has been asserted
, The Surgeon General gives the death
rate per annum; the Census Bureau
i gives the actual number of deaths fol
each 1000 Of population in the cities
, It's reports cover:
"The annual death rate per 1000 foi
the six months ended December 81
1918, in the camps Is given as 80. bu
tho number OF deaths per 1000 men II
tho camps appears to be IA.
: +. "The latAsS Is obtaAsOd by taking -,
) deaths from tho epidemic as given b,
the surgeon-General. 2s,4Sa, and dlvid
ing by the number of men who were II
the camps at the time. approximate,
= 1906. 900.
The great majority of the men I,
+ the camps were from ages 20 TO IS, tn,
[ average aga being 2s. II we were 4
s compare the deaths in tina cities from
a ages 70 TO So with the population a
r these ages. the number OF epidemi
+ deaths during the three months woul,
: apparently be at least 10 per 1000.
n "This makes due allowance for tn
r smaller number Of young men in tn
:. cities than normal and for the fact tina
h SO per cent OF the deaths were amonI
persons at ages 20 TO IS. .
[ 1.-THE deaths per thousand in the camp
> were probably higher than In the citie.
h but not to the extent indicated by som