The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-16
MAYORS REPORT IN DETAIL

-. IA. a,ditov
The report OF the ciiy auuiso.
shows receipts ana disnursenisnI,s
account OF $s,0S5, 1880, Win . casn
balance on hand FEBRUARY !,
of 75.02165. Five hundred tnou
sand dollars worth OF city oonas wsrs
sold during the year. Inc ss,lIa ~. =
receipts for the genera iuho nor 'ie
,hscal year 1919. are $a,ssi."oo,;
The report OF tHe cry col'erso. !.
shows the amount conec'eu us .la.
offcer during the year 10 nave pee"
S2,9Ss.634.5s. The report OF the col
lector 81 deilnquent taxes SHOWS cos
lections during the year OF si4,Vef.-o ..
The commissioner OF the revenue
reports taxable values Tor the year
Real estate .. 90 ,.v5
Personal property ....,.... 7s,4l 4,4se
Pubic Health.
The outstanding feature OF the re-
port OF the chief health officer for the
year 1918 is the increased deatn rate
In Richmond. due to the epidemic Oh
influenza which swept over the entire
OF the year. The result OF this cpl
den1ic In Richmond is shown IN me
fact that the total number OF deaths
in Richmond was S,023 against 2,sSo
during 1917. an increase OF % .
death. Expressed as rates, the totaI
death rate from all causes, was 1919
per 1000 in 1913 against 1890 IN
1917. Assuming that but for the
epidemic OF influenza the 1918 rate
would have been the same as that Tor
1917, the influenza epidemic was re-
eponsible for ssI deaths, wnicn Is
equivalent to an increase OF o.Is
deaths per 1000 population.
The report enters into consideration
Of number of points in connection
with fhA 1nAnAnxa endemic. while tine
manner in which this epidemic was
handled in the two emergency nos
pitfalls which were established Is more
fully discussed In an appendix SUD
n1itted by him. This appendlx e
quite voluminous and Will nor oe
printed with the report OF the CHIEF
health officer. but the original report
will be bound and kept on fle.
While the death rate WAS higher
than In any year since the reorganiza-
ton OF the health department IN
1905, there was a notable decrease IN
the death rate from a number OF
special diseases. indicating mat out
for the epidemic OF influenza there Is
every reason for believing that ne"
low record for Richmonds death rate
would have been established in 1918,
There were only twelve deaths from
typhoid fever. giving rate OF 10 per
100. 900 inhabitants This was next to
the lowest rate known for the city OF
Richmond. The rate for lslf was
S SO per 100000 while, with the ex-
ception OF these two years, the lowest
rate previously recorded was 1913.
There were only eighty-twc deaths
from infantile diarrhea tunder two
years OF age), giving rate Of fifty
one deaths per 100000 inhabitants
This is the lowest death rate on rec
ord for this disease, The previous
tz,.x ra,or1 fQ1- i1t6 in
which Of each years the rate was s5
per 100. 900 inhabitants. BY way
Of showing the remarkable decrease
in the death rate from this disease at
ten.ion is called to the fact that the
average annual death rate from in
fantile diarrhea for the hve-year period
fe67-lai1, inclusive, was las per
100000 and the lowest rate recorded
during that period was i2o.
There was no death from scarlet
fever in Richmond during 1918, this
being the fourth year since 1872 with
no deaths from this disease
The year 1918 was not measles
year" There were eight deaths from
this disease. giving rate OF SO per
100 geo mhs Infants.
The mortality from whoopsns
cough was neither remarkably high
nor remarkably low. there hasini
been twenty-five deaths. which gives
rate pf iS+F pet l""sooe iahA"i'
tanss.
Diphtheris was responsible foi
thirteen deaths, equivalent TO rate
of ST. per 100 900 inhabitants. This
is the highest death rate from this
disease since 1911, and with the ex-
ception of 1910 and 1911. IT Is the
highest rate since 1907.
There were 3,Sts births reported In
lpfs. which Is equivalent to rate OF
2s.s4 births per 1000 Inhabitants
This is slightly under the rate re-
ported in 1916 and 1917. and assum'
ing that there was no falling on IN
the completeness of the returns
would seem TO he explained by the
number of men who were drafted into
the service OF the army and navy.
The comparative mortality TOT
white and colored races shows, as
usual sn excessively nigh rate
among the negroes. but this excess il
far less notable IMAM IN previous
years The colored death rate was
only IS per cent In excess OF the
white rate, while the excess In pre-
vious years has usually been al least
50 per cent. This is apparently ex-
planned not SO much by decrease IN
the colored death rate as oy the iac'
that influenza, which was responsive
for SO large preportion or az
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