Evening star., 1936-01-05
CENSUS REVEALS
ALCOHOL DEATHS
-Four States Dry in 1884
Show Biggest Gain in
10 Leading States.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A special study by the Census Bu-
reau disclosed yesterday that four of
the States that were dry during the
first full year of repeal were among
the 10 which had the biggest gains
In deaths from alcoholism that year.
And, on the other side, New York
had the biggest drop in the number
Of persons who drank themselves to
death in 1894.
The 10 States that had the big
eest gairs in the number of deaths
from alcoholism between 1888 and
1894 were California, Georgia. Massa-
chusetts, Missouri, North Carolina,
Ohio. Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas
and Virginia.
Numerically, Massachusetts, Penn
sylvania and Ohio led, the two former
having IS such deaths, each, more
than they had in 1888 and Ohio
gain of 50.
Georgia, North Carolina. Oklahoma
and Texas were still dry in 1884, OF
the four, Texas so far is the only
one that has legalized the, sale of
hard liquor.
New York Decrease 81.
New York, Kentucky and Wiscon-
sin were the three States that had
the biggest drop in deaths from al
coholism. New York had 81 fewer
than in 1888, Kentucky % fewer and
Wisconsin 18 fewer.
addition RI thoco f1rpa 0thpr
States and the District of Columbia
had slight drops in the number of
deaths ascribed to alcoholism. The
twelve were Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota,
Montana, New Hampshire. North Da-
kota, oregon, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee
and Utah.
Maryland and Mississippi had the
same number of deaths attributed to
that cause in both years. All others
showed gains. The national increase
was 358, the total for 1884 being
1855.
Figures on which to base calcula-
ton of the death rate for 1884 from
this cause were not available. but the
bureau found that in 1888 the deaths
ascribed to this cause were 2.6 per
hundred thousand of population.
That was the year that ended pro-
hibition and brought beer back. The
rate rose L per hundred thousand
over the year before-equivalent to one
more such death out of each million
Inhabitants.
First Gain Since 1929.
That was the first increase the death
rate from alcoholism had shown since
1927 and 1928 when it reached its
prohibition peak to stand for those
two years at four deaths out of each
hundred thousand. During the de-
preston years that followed, it had
declined to low of 2.5 in 1882.
The high for the entire "a years
covered by the Census Bureau study
was SO per hundred thousand in the
prohibition year of 1913. Then
the figures sagged and rose again to
So in 1916.
1t began to shrink under the gradu-
ally increasing grip of prohibition in
1918 and 1919 and reached its lowest
spot in l920-the first full year OF
prohibition. That year there was only
one death in each hundred thousand of
population attributed to alcoholism.
There were almost twice as many
such deaths in the second year of pro-
hibition, however, and the rate rose to
18 AS the bootlegger rose to prom
inence, the rate mounted with each
succeeding year of prohibition until
it reached the highs of 1927 and 1928.
In the a-arid years of 1919, 1920
and 1921, when private stocks of pre-
prohibition liquors supplied most of
the fluid for drinking, the death rate
was 1.6, 10 and 1.8, respectively, the
only three years covered by the study
in which it was below two deaths per
hundred thousand.