Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-01-12

w most prolific peop'e in the United
States, when they are classified ac-
cording t. occupa len, are foremen, over
seers and inspectors of mines. The wives of
these men bear on an average as children
per wife and each of them has on an aver
age of 3.e childre now living.
These interesting figures OF the prolifera-
ton of mine foreme Have just been issued
by the bureau Of census as a part of a long
tabulation of the American birth rate ac-
cording tu occupation. 1t is a most interest
ing tabulation and a somewhat bewldering
one in way. It upsets our preconceived no.
lions as to what kinds of people have the
most children and why. 1t also sheds some
light on that much-discussed question as to
whether the native population IF the United
States is maintaining itself or slowly dying
out and leaving the country to the immi
gra IS.
But before we proceed to congratulations
let us note some of the astonishing figures
which the census bureau has brought out
Next to mine foremen, we find that the most
prolific occupationcl class in the United States
is that of foremen and overseers on steam
and electric RAILROADS. The wife Of a traction
foreman bears on an average AZ children, of
which 3.8 survive. Thi average mortality of
less than one-half child per family is es-
pecial1y creditable to the transportation bust
ness.
Foremen and overseers of all kinds seem
to have lot of children and they seem to
have good luck in raising them Perhaps this
is not surprising. A foreman or overseer is
he of Of in
telligence who has worked his way up, and
who receives a good income Naturally, hav-
ing lived on day wages for long time, his
standard of living will not be as high as that
of lawyer or doctor He will not spend as
much on luxuries, and so will be more in
clined to raise Childbirth.
The Janitor's Family
So much for the foreman. The next most
prolific occupational class we find to be that
of janitors and sections. The janitors wives
average Al children per wife. and no less
than ga Of these children on an average
survive to cry at night, steal milk bottles
and put dead cats in the dumb-waiter. Why
as many an apartment dwo.ler has doubt
less asked before-should janitors be SO
philoprogenitive? OF course, they get rent
me- for the kids to play around in. But 1t
is surely surprising to find that in the whole
United States, only these two kinds of fore
men, janitors and sections and one other class
succeed in begetting an average of four or
more children per family. In all Of the other
occupational classes listed the average num-
Der of children born is less than four, and
in none of them is the average number Of
children living as much as four The mine
foreman, with his 3.9 smiling babes, has the
largest average family in the country. For
the registration area OF the United States
the average number of children born per
mother was 3.3, nd the average number of
children living per mother was rs.
What we have always heard about the
birth rate is that the population is dying
at the top by which 1t Is meant that PEG
pie Of wealth and people in the professions
have small families, while the laborers and
very poor people generally have large fami-
lies. We are usually told that the average
woman must raise three children in order
to keep up the population and increase it
little. If this is true, the population of the
country as a whole is just barely being
maintained by the people in it, and the in